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Avian Anatomy, Physiology and Other Adaptations

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BIRD-SPECIFIC ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY, presented to ABC by Ed Pullen on October 16, 2019

Ed Pullen regales the ABC’ers about Bird Anatomy on October 16, 2019

Ed, already an expert in anatomy and physiology has changed his focus from Homo sapiens to the classification Aves, which share only a backbone and warm blood with humans and other mammals.  The differences were summed up as, “It’s all about flying,” with a deep dive into feathers, how they evolved and possibly why, and the physics of flying. 

Ed uses a feather as a pointer to show the how-to of flight

A major difference between birds and other creatures is their lung action, a topic that includes inspiration, expiration, avian hemoglobin, air sacs including in hollow bones, and the myoglobin in the muscles that’s placed handy to the hemoglobin.  A video shown at the end, helped illustrate this interesting one-way respiration (see link below).  Ed gave the extreme example of Bar-headed Geese which migrate OVER the Himalayas, something that would kill anything else without their super-adaptation of basic bird oxygen usage. 

Ed started out his presentation talking about feathers, here holding up a Steller’s Jay feather with the structural coloration

Ed had bird factoids to illustrate every point, including the amazing story of how Penguins don’t get the bends. 

Eating got a lot of attention, including pregastric adaptations such as the crop, the gizzard, the extremely short small intestine, etc., which all assist with letting the bird eat fast, then digest elsewhere, for safety.

Other amazing aspects of birds’ anatomy included the amazing eyes, their large size, ability to see UV and perhaps magnetic fields.  Also covered were the amazing reproductive systems, allowing some species to actually raise chicks of the gender that are the most likely to survive under prevailing conditions.  Size of the yolk directly matches with altricial (small yolk) vs. precocial (large).

Ed got his points across to the Willettes (Diane, Carol, Faye, & Laurel)

Ed ended his presentation with an amazing set of videos that illustrated many of his  points, as well as entertained us!

ED’S LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT:

birds amazing respiratory system video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWMmyVu1ueY 

Club Winged Manakin making it’s mating song with its wings https://youtu.be/NQRzOqP9iNc 

Bower Bird display   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XkPeN3AWIE   Skeletal Adaptations for Flight  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMba0KByEPY

Bar-headed Geese Fly High  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y9C2Sj-RbQ

Birds of the Mississippi River Delta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjD_ElZDW3A

King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise https://youtu.be/MdNyeasi0GI  King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise