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Notes on Seabirds
Seabirds - Birds are homeothermic vertebrates
- They are also endothermic
- Their bodies have feathers, which helps conserve heat
- They have light and hollow bones, allowing them to fly
- Sea birds spend most of their lives at the sea and tend to feed on different marine organisms.
Penguins - Penguins don't fly, but very good swimmers.
- They have a streamlined body structure with dense bones.
- The bones are denser than other birds, allowing reduced buoyancy.
- Penguins are adapted to cold temperatures thanks to the layer of fat located under their skin and their dense feather.
- Penguins usually hunt for fish and krill.
Gulls - Gulls are scavengers and predators
- Gulls help make up the largest variety of sea birds
- We commonly see them on the piers, eating almost everything we give them.
Pelicans - One of the unique features of the pelicans is their pouch that is below their beaks.
- Pelicans like to plunge into the surface waters in order to catch fish
- Pelicans were once victims of DDT pollution.
- DDT interfered with the reproductive system of the pelicans; the eggshells were easily breakable because of DDT.
Tubernoses - Tubernoses often migrate and breed in Antarctica, then migrate across the ocean and onto the Arctic to feed during the summer.
- Example of tubernoses: albatross
Shorebirds |
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