How are birds different? How are they the same?
So Many Birds!
Image: Public Domain
Check Out These Birds!
How are they different?
How are they similar?
What questions do you have about birds?
What Makes a Bird, a Bird?
While there are many differences between bird species, all birds share some common characteristics:
Let’s learn more about bird feathers, eggs, and beaks!
Spangled Drongo © Hayley Alexander / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 311237241)
What makes me a bird?
Birds of a Feather
Birds are the only living creatures with feathers. Some mammals and insects have wings and can fly, but birds are the only animal with feathers.
Feathers help birds fly and stay warm and dry. Some birds use colorful feathers to attract mates. Other birds blend in with patterns of brown, gray, black, or white feathers.
Although feathers come in a variety of colors and types, they are all made out of keratin. Keratin is a protein that is also in your hair and nails.
Lapland Longspur © Michel Bourque / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 311211761)
My feather’s are pretty handy!
5 Types of Feathers
Wing Feather
They have Velcro-like structures that create a windproof surface perfect for flight.
Tail Feather
They have Velcro-like structures that help birds steer in flight .
Contour Feather
They cover birds’ bodies. They help keep birds dry and warm.
Semiplume Feather
These are hidden beneath other feathers and help birds stay warm.
Down Feather
These feathers help trap birds’ body heat and stay warm.
Images: Review Credit Guidelines
Rainbow Scavenger Hunt
Birds come in all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Plus blacks, browns, and whites.
Visit here and conduct a scavenger hunt to find all the rainbow colors using birds, along with black, brown, and white. Write down each bird’s name. Or you may choose to the draw the bird or make a digital collage.
Image: Public Domain
Egg-cellent egg Layers
All birds lay hard-shelled eggs. The color and size of eggs differs.
Different bird species build various kinds of nests in different places.
Left:Spotted Nothura © Tomáš Grim / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML204765791 ); Middle: Veery © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML246091821) Right: Sardinian Warbler © Pierandrea Brichetti / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 204520691)
Beautiful Beaks
Birds have a beak with no teeth. Birds have different kinds of beaks depending on what they eat.
Herons (top photo) have long, pointy beaks for stabbing prey. Warblers (bottom photo) have small beaks for grabbing insects.
Have you noticed different beaks on different birds?
Top: Great Blue Heron © Ryan Schain/ Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 122610421)
Bottom:Yellow Warbler © Ryan Schain / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 101369381)
Check It Out!
Take a look at the Great Blue Heron and the Mourning Dove.
How are they similar? How are they different?
Write down your ideas.
Image: George Hodan, Public Domain
Tip: Click on the links. Listen to their sounds, too!
Celebrating Bird Diversity through Art!
Click to play video.
Explore the Wall of Birds
What birds do you see and hear? Click the image to visit it online.
Interesting Birds
What bird on the wall is…
Write or draw your answers.
What do you think?
Write down your answers to the follow questions.
Why are Birds So Diverse?
There are more than 10,000 bird species. They live and breed on all 7 continents. Birds can vary in size and shape, ranging from a small hummingbird to a towering Ostrich.
Why do you think birds are so diverse?
Left: Bee Hummingbird © Christoph Moning / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 89854291)
Right: Common Ostrich © Laurie Ross / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 170804301)
Why are Birds So Diverse?
Birds live in a variety of different habitats!
Birds that live in different habitats will encounter different foods, different places to make a home, and different predators.
Birds have adaptations that help them survive in their habitat. These adaptations can be physical or behavioral.
The bird in the picture has long legs that help it wade in the water and find food. This is an example of an adaptation!
Red-capped Plover © Zebedee Muller / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML 303216741)
Get Creative! Invent a New Species
Imagine you have just discovered a brand new bird species!
Make: Draw it, build a model, or design it using a computer.
Write: Name your bird. Write about its behavior. How does your species survive where it lives?
Tip: Use your imagination! Combine parts of your favorite birds, or create something unique and entirely new!
Image: Public Domain
Keep exploring!
Thanks for discovering bird diversity with us. Keep the fun going by trying some of these Quests with your family!