| Eocuculus Temporal range: Oligocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | † Eocuculus Chandler, 1999 |
| Species: | †E. cherpinae |
| Binomial name | |
| †Eocuculus cherpinae Chandler, 1999 | |
Eocuculus cherpinae is a prehistoric bird, known from postcranial remains from the late Eocene Florissant beds in Colorado. [1]
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds is called ornithology.
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds.
Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae of the order Sphenisciformes. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapted for life in the ocean water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage and flippers for swimming. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch with their bills and swallow whole while swimming. A penguin has a spiny tongue and powerful jaws to grip slippery prey.
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates. In addition to speed and strength, these predators have keen eyesight for detecting prey from a distance or during flight, strong feet with sharp talons for grasping or killing prey, and powerful, curved beaks for tearing off flesh. Although predatory birds primarily hunt live prey, many species also scavenge and eat carrion.
In biology, nidifugous organisms are those that leave the nest shortly after hatching or birth. The term is derived from Latin nidus for "nest" and fugere, meaning "to flee". The terminology is most often used to describe birds and was introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1816. The chicks of birds in many families, such as the waterfowl, waders, and gamebirds, are usually nidifugous.
Bird flight is the primary mode of locomotion used by most bird species in which birds take off and fly. Flight assists birds with feeding, breeding, avoiding predators, and migrating.
Kuszholia is the name given to a genus of primitive birds or bird-like dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous. They were possibly coelurosaurs close to the ancestry of birds, although most scientists have considered it an avialan. Fossils were found in the Bissekty Formation in the Kyzyl Kum desert of Uzbekistan.
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world.
eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project expanded to include New Zealand in 2008, and again expanded to cover the whole world in June 2010. eBird has been described as an ambitious example of enlisting amateurs to gather data on biodiversity for use in science.
The uninhabited Plover Islands are an archipelago, members of the Arctic Archipelago and the Ungava Bay Archipelago, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. They are located in western Ungava Bay, just northeast of the Arnaud River and the community of Kangirsuk on Quebec's Ungava Peninsula.
The uninhabited Bird Islands are located in Foxe Basin, closer to the Melville Peninsula than to Baffin Island. They are part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
The Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary lies in kadalundi grama panchayat of Kozhikode district and vallikunnu Grama Panchayat of Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It spreads over a cluster of islands where the Kadalundipuzha River flows into the Arabian Sea. The Sanctuary hill is around 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level. It is located 19 kilometres (12 mi) away from the Kozhikode city centre.
Dibble Glacier in Antarctica is a prominent channel glacier flowing from the continental ice and terminating in a prominent tongue at the east side of Davis Bay. It was delineated from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump (1946–47), and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Jonas Dibble, ship's carpenter on the sloop Peacock of the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–42) under Charles Wilkes. Dibble is credited with leaving his sick bed and working 24 hours without relief with other carpenters to repair a broken rudder on the Peacock, when the ship was partially crushed in an ice bay in 151°19′E and forced to retire northward.
The Salikuit Islands are an uninhabited island group in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. The 103 island archipelago is located in eastern Hudson Bay between the Belcher Islands and the western coast of Quebec. The closest communities are the Inuit hamlets of Umiujaq, Quebec, 60 km to the east on the coast of Hudson Bay, and Sanikiluaq, 75 km (47 mi) to the west on Flaherty Island.
The Dawson-Lambton Glacier is a heavily crevassed glacier entering the south-eastern Weddell Sea immediately west of the Brunt Ice Shelf. It was discovered in January 1915 by a British expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. He named it for Elizabeth Dawson-Lambton, a benefactress of the Shackleton expeditions.
Eufalconimorphae is a proposed clade of birds, consisting of passerines, parrots, falcons, caracaras, and forest falcons. It has whole-genome DNA support. This clade was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Falco subbuteo and Passer domesticus". Eufalconimorphae birds are characterized by their strong and hooked beaks, sharp talons, and powerful wings. They have excellent eyesight, which allows them to spot their prey from great distances. The Eufalconimorphae is noted to produce aerodynamic force during the upstroke of flight to help create a vertical flight pattern.
Australaves is a clade of birds, defined in 2012, consisting of the Eufalconimorphae as well as the Cariamiformes. They appear to be the sister group of Afroaves. This clade was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Cariama cristata and Passer domesticus".
Cerebavis is an extinct genus of ornithurine dinosaurs that lived during the middle Cenomanian of the Late Cretaceous period, and is known from a single partial skull found in the Melovatskaya Formation of Volgograd Region in Russia. The skull was initially described as the fossilised brain of an enantiornithean by Russian palaeornithologist Evgeny Kurochkin and colleagues in 2006. Kurochkin and colleagues described Cerebavis as having a notable mixture of ancestral traits, such as a well-developed olfactory system, with derived traits of modern birds like a large cerebrum. At the same time, they identified various unusual and unique features not seen in the brains of reptiles or birds. These include well-developed auditory tubercles on the midbrain, as well as a prominent parietal organ compared to living birds or Archaeopteryx between them.
Father of the Bird is a 1997 traditionally animated Looney Tunes short film directed and co-produced by Stephen A. Fossati and produced by Chuck Jones and Linda Jones Clough starring Sylvester. This short only had a limited theatrical release and was the only other Sylvester short Jones' team worked on in which the character speaks. This was also the final Sylvester cartoon Chuck Jones was involved with. It was also the final Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies short to have Jones involved in and to use traditional cel animation.
Telluraves is a recently defined clade of birds defined by their arboreality. Based on most recent genetic studies, the clade unites a variety of bird groups, including the australavians as well as the afroavians. This grouping was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Accipiter nisus and Passer domesticus". They appear to be the sister group of the Phaethoquornithes.
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