Knowra Bird Bird A bird is a feathered, warm-blooded vertebrate in the class Aves. Living birds have beaks, lay hard-shelled eggs, and belong to a lineage descended from theropod dinosaurs.
Feather : A keratin structure that grows from a bird’s skin and provides insulation, display, or aerodynamic surfaces. Feathers are the defining covering of birds and support insulation, signaling, and flight.
Bird flight : Powered aerial locomotion in birds, produced by wings, flight muscles, and aerodynamic control. Flight is a conspicuous but not universal mode of bird locomotion.
Archaeopteryx : A Late Jurassic fossil genus combining feathers and wings with several traits of non-avian dinosaurs. Its fossils document an early combination of avian and dinosaur features.
Seed dispersal : The movement of seeds away from parent plants, often by animals that eat fruit or carry seeds externally. Fruit-eating birds disperse seeds and influence plant distribution.
Mammal : A vertebrate in class Mammalia, typically characterized by hair and milk-producing mammary glands. Mammals are also endothermic, but belong to a separate amniote lineage.
Avian skeleton : The skeletal framework of birds, including fused bones and adaptations that vary with movement and feeding. Its lightweight, specialized structure supports many bird forms and modes of movement.
Avian respiration : Bird breathing through lungs and air sacs, with largely unidirectional airflow across gas-exchanging surfaces. This airflow supports the high oxygen demands of many active birds.
Feathered dinosaurs : Non-avian dinosaurs known from fossils preserving feathers or feather-like coverings. They show that feathers evolved before modern bird flight.
Pollination : The transfer of pollen from anther to stigma, enabling fertilization in seed plants. Some birds transfer pollen while feeding on nectar.
Crocodilian : A reptile in the order Crocodylia, including crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gharials. Crocodilians are birds’ closest living relatives outside the bird lineage.
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