Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves /ˈeɪviːz/, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which evolved from forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming.
Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs. Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians. Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx) which first appeared about 160 million years ago (mya) in China. According to DNA evidence, modern birds (Neornithes) evolved in the Middle to Late Cretaceous, and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 mya, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-avian dinosaurs.
Many social species pass on knowledge across generations, which is considered a form of culture. Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, but rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching.
Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement) is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry.
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Spearow -
Tyrannosaurus rex (InGen Clones) -
Glamrock Chica -
Milton Midas -
Darkwing Duck -
Eris (Legends of Chima) -
Dolf (Alfred J. Kwak) -
Wan Shi Tong
All items (466)
- Baby Huey
- Banjo and Kazooie
- Bankivoide (Huevocartoon)
- Baron Von Sheldgoose
- Bash (Dash Dash)
- Battle Kukku 16th
- Bean The Dynamite Duck
- Bemstar
- Bernadette the Chicken
- Beverly Plume
- Bia, Carla, and Tiago
- Big Bird
- Big Z
- Bird Brain
- Bird of Kildarby
- Birdie (Sesame Street Divorce)
- Birdie the Early Bird
- Birdnardo Birdolucci
- Biyomon
- Black Heron
- Blu (Rio)
- Blue (Jurassic World)
- Blue Parrot Betty
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- Bomb (Angry Birds)
- Bow Sparrow
- Bradford Buzzard
- Braviary
- Brooks & Elwyn
- Bubbles (The Angry Birds Movie)
- Bubo
- Buck the Vulture
- Buhduece
- Bushroot
- Buzz Buzzard
- Captain Celaeno
- Captain Kaos
- Ceridwen (MLP)
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- Chatot
- Check "Grin" Hardwing
- Chica the Chicken
- Chicken
- Chicken Boo
- Chicken Buddies
- Chicken Joe
- Chicken Little
- Chill Penguin
- Chilly Willy
- Chiquis (Huevocartoon)
- Chirp (character)
- Chuck (Angry Brids)
- Chuck Chicken
- Clockwerk
- Clockwork Kazooie
- Clucers
- Cockle
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- Colt (Hunter x Hunter)
- Combusken
- Corviknight
- Corvisquire
- Cosmic Raptor
- Cozy Heart Penguin
- Cramorant
- Crazylegs Crane
- Cybuster
- Daddy Dodo
- Daffy Duck
- Daisy Duck
- Danger Duck
- Dannan O'Mallard
- Dark Raven (Billy Hatcher)
- Darkwarrior Duck
- Darkwing Duck
- Dartrix
- Dash (Dash Dash)
- Death Dodo
- Dee, Don, and Dex
- Delibird
- Della Duck
- Deneb (Kamen Rider)
- Dera Mochimazzi
- Di (Huevocartoon)
- Digit
- Dim-Witty Duck
- Dodrio
- Doduo
- Dolf (Alfred J. Kwak)
- Donald Duck
- Donnie Dodo
- Downy McDuck
- Dr. Mingo
- Drake (The Pebble and the Penguin)
- Drascua
- Ducklett
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- Duke L'Orange
- Dyna Blade
- Gabby McStabberson
- Gabriela
- Gander
- Gannetwhale
- Ganymede
- Gatchako
- Gavin, Gertie and and Roger
- Gege
- Gene the Genie
- General Ironbeak
- General McGuffin
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- Georges (5, Rue Sésame)
- Giant Condor
- Gladstone Gander
- Glamrock Chica
- Gogo Dodo
- Goldie O'Gilt
- Golduck
- Gosalyn Mallard
- Grand Duke of Owls
- Granny Bird
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- Great Battle Kukku 15th
- Great Owl
- GUMI's Biyomon
- Gundel Gackerburg
- Gyro Gearloose