1. Class Aves: The Aquatic Birds Of Southeast Texas

2. What makes a bird AQUATIC? Beak structure Foot structure Leg length Neck length

3. A spearlike beak indicates a fish diet! Common Egret Snowy Egret Long legs indicate a stalking method of hunting.

4. Great Blue Heron Yellow-crowned Night-heron Green Heron

5. More fish-eaters, but short legs indicate a swimmer! Anhinga Double-crested Cormorant

6. Common Merganser Common Loon

7. Short neck and legs, no webbed feet, but spearlike beak – how does this bird fish? A – by diving Belted Kingfisher

8. The chickenlike beak alllows these birds to eat plant material. Pied-billed Grebe Common Moorhen American Coot

9. The Sora – another chickenlike aquatic bird.

10. The gull’s and killdeer’s beaks allow for general purpose feeding, while the sandpiper’s bill makes an excellent probe. Killdeer Ringed-billed Gull Spotted Sandpiper

11. Long legs allow ibis and storks to wade, but with narrower decurved beaks, they feed on invertebrates. White Ibis

12. Scooped bill makes an excellent strainer for plants, invertebrates, even small fish! Northern Pintail Hooded Merganser Northern Shoveler Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Webbed feet and short, powerful legs for effective swimming Blue-winged Teal Wood Duck Mallard

13. A Crayfish’s nightmare: Hawks by day, Owls by night Red-shouldered HawkBarred Owl

14. Strong talons and heavy beaks allow these raptors to prey on fish! Bald Eagle Osprey

15. Swallows are often seen by water because their wide gapes and fluid flight make them supreme insectivores! Purple Martin Barn Swallow

16. Warblers and wrens also hunt for insects, using their needle-like beaks to probe amongst the foliage. Marsh Wren Common Yellowthroat

17. The triangular beak of the Red-winged Blackbird, signifies an all omnivorous diet of insects, fruits, and seeds. Male Female

18. Avian Aquatics Assignment Avian Construction With your partner, draw OR make a model of TWO imaginary aquatic birds – one plant eater, one fish eater - then describe in a brief paragraph the features you have included the make it suitable for an aquatic lifestyle. DUE tomorrow – Friday, 3 December, at beginning of period.

19. Place the birds in this presentation in their proper order. Then find the family of each. Construct a cladogram with this information. Order Gaviiformes Order Anseriformes Order Coraciiformes Order Strigiformes Order Gruiformes Order Ciconiiformes Order Passeriformes http://www.earthlife.net/birds/orders.html