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STRUTHIONIFORMES
- Ex. Ostrich
- Largest living bird: 2.5 m (8') tall. Flightless. Bill flattened.
- 2 toes per foot.
- thighs & most of neck bare, remiges & rectrices ornamental.
- Male plumage black & white, female's brown. Lack keel
Location: Africa
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Rheiformes
- Ex. Rheas
- huge (1.5 m tall)
- Flightless.
- Bill-flattened.
- 3 toes per foot.
- Neck and thighs feathered.
- lack rectrices but remiges present. Wings short & inconspicuous. Plumage soft & filmy, grayis
- plumage soft & filmy, grayish. Lack keel.
Location: South America
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Tinamiformes
- Ex. Tinamous
- Medium to large fowl-like birds with short wings, very short tails. Bills chicken-like, but mandibles tripartite (have 3 bones), nostrils covered with cere.
- Halux elevated or absent.
- Plumage brownish with cryptic patterns.
- Reduced keel.
Location: South America
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Casuariiformes
- Ex. emu & cassowaries
- huge (1.5-1.8 m tall)
- Flightless.
- Bill flattened or laterally compressed.
- [Some species have casque on head]
- 3 toes
- Wings reduced, remiges are absent or only a few quills
- Rectrices absent
- plumage coarse (presenting a mop-like appearance), black or brown.
- Lack keel.
Location: Austalo-papuan region
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APTERYGIFORMES
- Ex. kiwis
- Large.
- Flightless
- nostrils at tip of long, flexible decurved bill
- Halux elevated
- Wings greatly reduced (not usually apparent)
- plumage hair-like
- lack tail
- Brown or grayish
- Lack keel
Location: New Zealand
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Anseriformes
- Ex. waterfowl & screamers
- Location: Worldwide
- Medium to very large
- Relatively long-necked, short-legged waterbirds [or large fowl-like birds - Screamers]
- (Mergansers) bill broad, flattened, lamellate or slender, serrate with nail at tip
- feet palmate, legs short
- Wings usually narrow, pointed [or broad, rounded, with 2 spurs at bend]
- Variable in color.
Location: Worldwide
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Galliformes
- Ex. Gallinaceous birds
- Location: Worldwide
- Medium to very large.
- Fowl-like, terrestrial birds.
- Bill short, stout; culmen decurved & overlaps lower mandible.
- Legs, feet, claws, strong.
- Hallux present.
- Wings short, rounded.
- Often cryptically colored, sometimes very bright or intricately patterned
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Phoenicopteriformes
- Ex. flamingoes
- Location: tropical areas
- Very large.
- Extremely long-legged & long-necked.
- Bill thick, bent downwards, & lamellate
- Feet palmate.
- Wings large, tail short.
- Mostly pink
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Podicipediformes
- Ex. grebes
- Location: worldwide
- Med to large
- Waterbirds with feet set well back on body; necks slender.
- Bill pointed; lores bare
- Feet lobate (all 4 toes), tarsi scutellate & laterally conpressed.
- Claws flattened, nail-like.
- Wings short, pointed.
- Plumage dense, hairlike; rectrices rudimentary.
- Predominantly brown.
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Phaethontiformes
- Ex. tropicbirds
- Location: tropical areas
- Medium watbirds.
- Bill moderately to very long, pointed or hooked
- feet totipalmate
- Legs short
- Wings large.
- Plumage mostly black & white, some brown; bare areas colorful
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Mesitornithoformes
- Ex. mesites
- Location: Madagascar
- Small terrestrial birds.
- Weak fliers, typically found on ground or in low scrub.
- All three species are endemic to Madagascar and omnivorous
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Pteroclidoformes
- Ex. sandgrouse
- Location: Southern Eurasia & Africa
- Med sized.
- Short-legged, short-necked, somewhat fowl-like birds.
- Bill short, conical, chicken-like, with decurved culmen.
- Tarsi short, feathered
- Hallux absent or elevated.
- Wings & tail long & pointed
- Cryptically colored in browns & grays.
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Eurypigiformes
- Ex. sunbittern & kagu
- Location: New Caledonia, Central & South America
- Med. sized.
- Two distinctive species that both have intricately-pattered wings with contrasting bands; the wings are held stiffly outward in displays, but birds are otherwise cryptic.
- Produce power-down.
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Columbiformes
- Ex. pigeons & doves
- Location: worldwide
- Med. sized.
- Compact, with large breast, short neck, & small head
- Bill fairly short, slender, swollen at tip; fleshy cere.
- Legs short; halux incumbent or slightly elevated. Plumage dense, loose; colors variable, but soft pastel grays, greens, browns predominate.
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Caprimulgiformes
- Ex. nightjars & allies
- Location: nearly worldwide
- Nocturnal birds with relatively large head, short neck & legs.
- Bill short, flattened, hooked with a wide gape; usually surrounded by rictal bristles
- Feet small, weak.
- Wings long, pointed or rounded.
- Plumage soft, mottled in cryptic browns & grays
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Apodiformes
- Ex. swifts and hummingbirds
- Location: worldwide
- Tiny to small.
- Highly aerial, with long wings, tiny feet.
- Bill varies: short, flattened, with broad gape (swifts); or very long & slender, straight, straight or decurved (hummingbirds)
- Feet small, weak.
- Wing sickle-shaped: humeri short, digits & primaries long (cannot fold in hummingbirds)
- Color either drab grays & browns (swifts) or colorful, iridescent (hummingbirds).
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Opisthocomiformes
- Ex. hoatzin
- Location: South America
- Large.
- Pheasant-sized, but much slimmer.
- Bill chicken-like
- Long-tailed, long-necked and has a small head; unfeathered blue face with red eyes, and its head is topped by spiky crest.
- Chick has two claws on each budding wing which help it grip branches and clamber about awkwardly.
- Only bird ruminant (enlarged cervical crop to ferment and digest leaves)
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Otidoformes
- Ex. bustards
- Location: Old World
- Med. to large, terrestrial omnivores.
- Often have substantial bills, long legs and a cursorial, ground-nesting lifestyle.
- Sexually dimorphic, with large males often performing elaborate displays.
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Cuculiformes
- Ex. cuckoos
- Location: Worldwide
- Small to large.
- Slender birds.
- Bill moderately long, decurved, sometimes laterally compressed [or chicken-like].
- Feet zygodactyl
- Wings often pointed [or rounded]; tail long & graduated.
- Plumage brown, gray black, or bright metallic greens, often with barring or streaking.
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Gruiformes
- Ex. Cranes, rails, & allies
- Location: worldwide
- Small to very large.
- Structurally diverse
- Bill usually longer than head, slender & acute, or laterally compressed [or hooked].
- Hallux incumbent or elevated [or absent].
- Toes unwebbed, semipalmate, or iobate.
- Wings generally rounded.
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Musophagiformes
- Ex. turacos
- Location: Africa
- Large.
- Arboreal, with longish neck, smallish head.
- Bill decurved, chicken-like, but serrate; but sometimes expended to frontal shield.
- Feet zygodactyl (4th toe reversible)
- Wings rounded, tail long.
- Plumage soft; crested head.
- Either gray or white, blue & yellow, or green or purple with bright red on head & in wings.
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Gaviiformes
- Ex. loons
- Location: Holartic
- Large.
- Waterbirds with feet set well back on body; necks thick.
- Bill strong, pointed.
- Feet palmate, legs short & laterally compressed.
- Wings short, pointed.
- Plumage dense; rectrices short & stiff.
- Black, white, & grey.
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Sphenisciformes
- Ex. penguins
- Location: Southern Hemisphere
- Large to very large.
- Flightless waterbirds.
- Wings paddle-like
- Tail short.
- Bill stout.
- Feet palmate; legs short, set well back on body
- Remiges absent
- Plumage dense.
- Black & white.
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Procellariformes
- Ex. tubenoses
- Location: worldwide, oceans
- Small to very large. Long-winged seabirds.
- Bill stout to slender, hooked, & covered with horny plates.
- Nostrils tubular.
- Feet palmate, halux reduced or absent
- Plumage combinations of black, gray, brown & white
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Ciconiiformes
- Ex. storks
- Med. to very large.
- Long-legged & long-necked wading birds.
- Bill long (longer than head)
- Feet not fully webbed, halux incumbent or slightly elevated.
- Wings long & rounded.
- Various colors but usually simple or no pattern.
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Pelecaniformes
- Ex. pelicans, herons, and allies
- Location: worldwide
- Large to very large waterbirds.
- Bill moderately to very long, pointed or hooked
- Nostrils reduced or absent; legs short.
- Wings long.
- Plumage mostly black & white, some brown; bare areas colorful.
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Suliformes
- Ex. boobies, gannets, & allies
- Location: worldwide
- Large waterbirds.
- Bill moderately to very long, pointed or hooked
- Nostrils reduced or absent
- Gular pouch.
- Feet totipalmate (webbing reduced in Frigatebirds); legs short.
- Wings long.
- Plumage mostly black & white, some brown; bare areas colorful.
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Charadriiformes
- Ex. shorebirds, gulls, & allies
- Location: worldwide
- Small to large.
- Diverse birds of aquatic habitats.
- Wings long, pointed; tail usually short.
- Either: relatively long-legged, long-necked, & with moderate to long, slender bill, & with halux absent or rudimentary [neck short, bill short & conical, in a few]; OR relatively compact build, with bill laterally compressed, straight or hooked, & feet palmate.
- Plumage dense, usually cryptically colored.
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Acciptriformes
- Ex. vultures, hawks, osprey, & allies
- Location: worldwide
- Med to very large.
- Predatory and scavenging birds.
- Bill strongly hooked.
- Fleshy cere at base of bill.
- Legs & feet stout, strong, with strongly curved claws (=raptorial feet)
- Wings large, variably shaped.
- Color variable.
- Face or head bare in some.
- Generally drab colored, often with streaking or barring
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Strigiformes
- Ex. owls
- Location: worldwide
- Medium to very large.
- Nocturnal, predatory birds with large head, round or heart-shaped facial disc & large forward-facing eyes.
- Bill short, strongly hooked
- Fleshy cere at base of bill.
- Legs & feet stout with strongly curved claws (=raptorial feet)
- Feet zygodactyl (outer toe reversible)
- Tarsi feathered
- Wings rounded.
- Feathers soft, mottled, barred, or spotted in grays, browns, white; many have ear tufts
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Coliiformes
- Ex. mousebirds
- Location: Africa
- Med sized.
- Distinctive compact birds that clamber through vegetation.
- Bill stout, short, decurved.
- Legs fairly short, thick; 1st & 4th toes reversible.
- Wing short, rounded; tail very long, slender, stiffened.
- Plumage dense, soft, almost hair-like; crested.
- Gray or brown.
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Leptosomiformes
- Ex. cuckoo roller
- Location: Madagascar & Comoros Islands
- Small.
- Monotypic order of the distinct Cuckoo Roller, which is a sexually-dimorphic habitat generalist.
- Diet appears to be mostly invertebrates and small vertebrates.
- Nests in cavities.
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Trogoniformes
- Ex. trogons
- Location: Pantropical
- Med sized.
- Arboreal birds with short necks, long tails.
- Bill short, broad, culmen decurved, maxilla often serrate.
- Feet small, weak, heterodactyl
- Wings rounded; tail long, graduated, square-tipped.
- Plumage dense, lax.
- Metallic green, blue or brown above, red or yellow on belly
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Bucerotiformes
- Ex. hoopoes, hornbills, & allies
- Location: Old World
- Small to large birds.
- Omnivorous with generally strong, downcurved bill, which may be very large.
- Often associated with forested habitats, bu some more terrestrial, open country species.
- Cavity-nesters
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Piciformes
- Ex. woodpeckers, barbets, & allies
- feet: zygodactyl
- Location: nearly Worldwide
- Small to large.
- Diverse, arboreal birds.
- Bills variable: straight & chisel-like, needle-like, hooked, short & blunt, or compressed & inflated.
- Feet zygodactyl.
- Plumage color varies.
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Coraciiformes
- Ex. rollers, kingfishers, & allies
- Location: worldwide
- Small to large.
- Diverse, mostly arboreal birds with large heads, large prominent bills
- Bills straight or decurved, pointed or hooker.
- Feet generally small, syndactyl
- Wings & tail variable
- Usually brightly colored
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Cariamiformes
- Ex. seriemas
- Location: South America
- Med sized ground-birds with long-legs, drab plumage. Hooked beaks are used to catch a variety of animal prey, and reptiles are often beaten on the group before consumption.
- Vocal
- Build stick nests
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Falconiformes
- Ex. falcons & caracaras
- Med to large.
- Predatory birds.
- Bill strongly hooked, fleshy cere at base of bill
- legs & feet stout, strong with strongly curved claws (=raptorial feet).
- Wings large, variably shaped.
- Color variable.
- Face or head bare in some.
- Drab colored, often with streaking or barring
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Psittaciformes
- Ex. parrots
- Location: Pantropical
- Small to large.
- Large-headed, short-necked arboreal birds
- Bill powerful, thick, & very strongly curved; upper bill greatly overlaps lower
- Legs short, feet strong, zygodactylWings pointed; tail fanshaped or long & pointed.
- Plumage sparse; generally brightly colored, especially green with red, yellow & blue patterns.
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Passeriformes
- Ex. perching birds
- Location: Worldwide
- tiny to very large.
- Very diverse land birds.
- Bill variable.
- Feet ansiodactyl, with well-developed incumbent halux
- Tarsi usually scutellate, sometimes booted. Shapes & colors very diverse.
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