|
Flight |
How will you
describe the birds flight? |
Soaring |
Use vertically
rising air - like thermals |
|
Gliding |
Uses horizontal
air over the wing with very little wing flapping |
|
Flapping |
Are the wing
flapping fast or slow, continuous or interspersed with glides. |
|
Food |
What food does
the bird eat and how does he get hold of it? |
Animal Food |
Fish |
Fish can be
caught in a number of ways for instance by underwater pursuit, from above
water, wading birds, fishing from a perch, fishing in flight or from the
water surface (Pelicans). |
|
Meat |
Meat can
basically be acquired in two ways by active predation or by scavenging. |
|
Insects |
Insects can be
caught in a variety of ways - foraging in trees, ground and air. |
|
Other anthropods
that are eaten by birds are crabs, spiders, millipedes and centipedes |
|
Molluscs such as
snails and mussels. |
|
Plant food |
Plant food can be
divided into seeds, nectar and fruit. |
|
Behaviour |
The day-to-day
behaviour of a bird can be sorted into different categories. |
Maintenance
activities |
Preening - this
includes the bird preening itself or others - known as allopreening. |
|
Scratching - ever
observed how a bird scratch his head? Some species do it over the wing
others under the wing. |
|
Stretching -
three types of stretching are recognised namely wing-and-leg stretching,
both-wings stretch and a jaw stretch. |
|
Shaking - birds
can shake there whole body or only the head or tail. |
|
Bathing - water-bathing (including plunge-bathing by swifts),
sun-bathing and dust-bathing. |
|
Anting - a
fascinating activity where birds will allow ants to walk over them, or a bird will
take an ant in its beak and scratch it over its body. |
|
Resting and
Sleeping - where do they roost at night, what posture do they take when
sleeping and for how long do they sleep? |
|
Conflict
behaviour |
Any response of a
bird to a situation of conflict or contest. |
|
Sexual behaviour |
This can include
a male defending his territory, courtship display and copulation. |
|
Parental
behaviour |
This include
brooding eggs and chicks, defense of the eggs and chicks and feeding. The
begging behaviour of immature birds and the possible help of other birds in
the raising of chicks are also important. |