Ornithology

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ORDER PELICANIFORMES

You must know the order, family, common name, habitat, and habits and be able to identify by sight each species. There are 3 species on the list.  In addition, you will be expected to learn the vocalization for any species labeled with a  symbol. You can get extra credit for learning the vocalizations of any species labeled .

 

Order Pelicaniformes   Pelicans, Cormorants, Gannets, etc
Characteristics of the order:
worldwide, more common in tropics Totipalmate feet, gular sac, short legs and long wings Monogamous  Bi-parental care
Family Sulidae   Gannets and Boobies
Characteristics of the family:
DISTRIBUTION: Tropical and temperate oceans     DESCRIPTION: Head and/or bill – Bill, bare facial skin, unfeathered gular region, bill stout, conical, with sharp cutting edge; nostrils absent;  Legs and/or feet – feet often brightly colored Body –  Tail -  Wings - pointed wings  Plumage - sexes similar, adults white with black or brown, immatures brown     HABITAT: Ocean    HABITS: Feed on fish by plunging from the air, sometimes diving underwater;       hunt from the wing like frigatebirds and tropicbirds     FOOD:  Fish    BREEDING: Colonial; incubate with vascularized feet; 1-4 egg clutches
	Northern Gannet	Morus bassanus
Family Pelicanidae       Pelicans
Characteristics of the family:
DISTRIBUTION: Lakes and coastal regions worldwide     DESCRIPTION: Head and/or bill – Long bill with terminal hook; extensive unfeathered, expandable gular pouch, flexible lower mandible; nostrils absent; Legs and/or feet –  Body –  Tail -  Wings - pointed wings  Plumage - sexes similar, one species brown others white with black in wings    HABITAT: Ocean    HABITS: travel long distances by soaring, Feed either from the water surface         or by diving from the air, gregarious waterbirds    FOOD:  Fish    BREEDING: Colonial; some are cooperative hunters; 2-3 egg clutches
	Brown Pelican	Pelecanus occidentalis
Family Phalacrocoracidae            Cormorants
Characteristics of the family:
DISTRIBUTION: Lakes, rivers, and coastal regions worldwide     DESCRIPTION: Head and/or bill – bill, bare, facial skin, unfeathered gular region, bill slender, hooked; nostrils absent  Legs and/or feet – feet often brightly colored Body –  Tail -  Wings -  Plumage - sexes similar, typically black with varying amounts of white and gray    HABITAT: Ocean    HABITS: Foot-propelled divers, plumage wets easily, pursue prey underwater; perched with crook in neck, often seen with wings fanned out as vultures    FOOD:  Fish    BREEDING: Colonial (e.g., guano birds); large population fluctuations in some    species; 3-4 pale blue or green eggs
	Double-crested Cormorant	Phalacrocorax auritus