CONTENTS What Is a Bird How to Use This Book 6 Flightless Birds Ostrich Southern Cassowary 8 9 Shorebirds Killdeer Three Banded Plover American Avocet Peruvian Thick knee Bar Tailed Godwit Spotted Sandpiper.34 35 36 37 38 39 Ducks Geese and Swans Mallard Pink Eared Duck Canada Goose Magpie Goose Black Swan Tundra Swan 10 11 12 13 14 15 Ground Dwelling Birds Gambel's Quail 40 Vulturine Guinea Fowl.41 Southern Screamer 42 Wild Turkey.43 Other Swimming Birds Common Loon 16 Pied Billed Grebe 17 Anhinga 18 Flightless Cormorant.19 Chinstrap Penguin 20 Horned Puffin 21 Birds of Prey Red Tailed Hawk Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Gyrfalcon Burrowing Owl Great Horned Owl 44 45 46 47 48 49 Aerial Waterbirds Brown Pelican Northern Gannet Magnificent Frigate Bird Blue Footed Booby Bridled Tern Laughing Gull 22 23 24 25.26 27 Medium Sized Land Birds Mourning Dove Common Pigeon Tawny Frogmouth Mexican Whip Poor Will Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Cuban Trogon Elegant Trogon.50.51 52.53.54.55.56.57 Wading Birds Hamerkop Saddle Billed Stork Yellow Billed Spoonbill Demoiselle Crane Black Crowned Night Heron Great Blue Heron 28 29.30 31 32 33
Kingfishers Bee Eaters Songbirds and Rollers Rifleman 80 American Pygmy Kingfisher 58 Blue Gray Gnatcatcher.81 Laughing Kookaburra.59 Common Nightingale 82 Northern Carmine Bee Eater 60 Warbling Vireo.83 European Bee Eater.61 Indigo Bunting 84 Lilac Breasted Roller.62 Black Capped Chickadee.85 Indian Roller.63 Painted Redstart 86 Eurasian Blackcap.87 Hummingbirds Australasian Pipit 88 and Sunbirds Blue and White Mockingbird 89 Red Billed Streamertail.64 Cardinals Grosbeaks Blue Throated Hummingbird 65 Olive Backed Sunbird 66 and Tanagers Beautiful Sunbird.67 Northern Cardinal 90 Pyrrhuloxia.91 Swifts Swallows Crimson Collared Grosbeak 92 and Flycatchers Blue Grosbeak 93 Common Swift 68.94 Paradise Tanager 95 Australian Swiftlet Western Tanager 69 Barn Swallow.70 Thrushes and Purple Martin 71 African Paradise Blackbirds Flycatcher.72 American Robin 96 Vermilion Flycatcher.73 Groundscraper Thrush 97 Brown Headed Cowbird.98 Crows Jays Red Winged Blackbird 99 and Magpies Long Tailed Meadowlark 100 101 Eurasian Jackdaw 74 Western Meadowlark Pied Crow.75 Eurasian Jay.76 Sparrows and Finches Green Jay.77 102 House Sparrow Black Billed Magpie.78 Dark Eyed Junco 103 Red Billed Blue Magpie.79 American Goldfinch 104 European Goldfinch 105 Zebra Finch 106 Woodpecker Finch 107 Glossary To Learn More Photo Credits 108 109 110
WHAT IS A BIRD Birds are animals with backbones and they are the only vertebrates with feathers and wings Feathers and wings are very important to these animals for different reasons Birds need their feathers to survive Feathers help birds fly and swim protect their skin from injury and also trap heat to keep them warm Brightly colored feathers help birds get mates Feathers can also help a bird blend into its surroundings so predators can't see it Different birds have different wing sizes and shapes Many large birds have long wings that let them glide without flapping Smaller ds often have wings that let them fly in and out of vegetation Even though all birds have wings some cannot fly However their wings are still important For example ostriches use their wings for balance when they run OTHER IMPORTANT BIRD PARTS Most birds have hollow bones Humans have cartilage between their bones but birds bones are fused together which makes the bones strong That strength along with the air inside the bones makes it easier for birds to fly Most birds have nine air sacs located in their bodies and hollow bones The sacs store air and help push air through the lungs A bird's nose is on its beak otherwise known as its bill Birds use their beaks to find food tear food into smaller pieces and drink water Birds also use them to attack predators and to communicate 4
IDENTIFYING BIRDS There are an estimated 18,000 bird species in the world Birds from the same species might look different depending on what region they live in With so many birds out there it can be hard to identify them It gets even more complicated when males and females have different color patterns Males are usually brighter than females Young birds also look different from older birds And birds feathers often look different during breeding season than during nonbreeding months 5
