Marine Birds

Marine Birds

•Only 3% of birds are marine

•Birds evolved from a group of reptiles

•All marine birds must return to land to lay their eggs

4 Groups of Marine Birds

• Albatross / petrels

• Pelicans

• Gulls / terns / puffins

• Penguins

General Bird Characteristics• Endothermic

• Lightweight hollow bones –Penguins have dense bones to help

them dive

• Eggs with calcium carbonate shell–Parental care of unhatched eggs and

young

General Bird Characteristics

• Feathers attached to skin

– Down feathers-small feathers for insulation

– Contour feathers- large feathers

• Various beak shapes depending on prey (no teeth)

• Various feet structure depending on whether it swims and where it lives

Marine Birds- Some Adaptations• Preening gland- secretes waxes and

fats the bird uses to waterproof feathers

• Powder downs- special feather that breaks apart into dust that waterproofs its feather

• Salt glands- concentrate salt in the blood so it can be sneezed out– Birds can drink salt water

Interesting Fact

• Guano- bird droppings

– High in nitrogen and phosphorus

– Harvested in some places and sold for fertilizer

Albatross / petrels• Largest flying bird / largest wingspan (11ft)

• Many regularly circle the globe

• Tubes along beak ~great sense of smell

• Feed on crustaceans, squid, fish, zooplankton

• Some projectile vomit a noxious oil to ward off larger predatory birds

Pelicans

• Pouch under beak is filled with water and strained for food

• Will eat almost anything (live pigeon?)

Gulls Terns and Petrels

• Near shore aquatic birds

• Very intelligent and can use tools

• Not diving birds

• Medium sized to small

Penguins

• Most aquatic of all seabirds

• Southern hemisphere only

• Clumsy on land but very agile in the water

• Feed on krill, squid and fish

Negative Human Interactions

• Seabirds are often caught accidentally as bycatch

• Some seabirds are feeding on plastic which looks like food and is found in their feeding grounds

• 40% of some albatross chicks die from starvation and dehydration- there’s no room in there stomachs with all the plastic that’s in them

Marine Mammals