Scientists believe that one of the oldest creatures capable of flight was Archeopteryx. It was related to the carnivorous dinosaurs, a group that included Tyrannosaurus.

The oldest bird, Protoavia (1984), was found in Post, Texas, USA, with an estimated age of 225,000,000 years.

The first birds appeared in the Mesozoic era. The Mesozoic era began 248 million years ago and lasted 183 million years. At this time, the Earth was inhabited by huge dinosaur lizards. The first mammals and birds also appeared.

The appearance of flapping flight

In the Jurassic period, birds acquired the ability to actively fly. Thanks to the flapping of their forelimbs, they were able to overcome the effects of gravity. Flight allowed them to catch insects in the air, avoid predators and choose the most favorable environmental conditions for life.

Archeopteryx is the direct ancestor of modern birds

The remains of an extinct bird resembling a magpie that lived in the second half of the Jurassic period, i.e. 140 million years ago, were discovered in Europe. In the layers of the earth's crust, scientists discovered the fossilized bones of the skeleton of an unknown creature, and nearby the imprints of its feathers. The bird was named Archeopteryx litographica, which means “ancient bird.” This small bird had sharp teeth in cells, a long lizard-like tail and forelimbs with three fingers bearing hooked claws.

Ichthyornis - an ancient gull

Ichthyornis was the same size as Archeopteryx, its body length was about 50 cm, and it weighed 5 kg. Outwardly, he resembled a seagull. Like modern birds, it had no teeth, but its vertebrae were similar to those of a fish, hence its generic name, meaning “fish bird.” His remains were found in the USA. Ichthyornis lived 65-90 thousand years ago.

Hesperornis - an ancient loon

Hesperornis ("western bird") was 1.5–1.8 m long (up to 2 m) and almost wingless. His weight was 40 kg. With the help of huge flipper-like legs extending sideways at right angles at the very end of the body, it apparently swam and dived no worse than loons. It had teeth of a "reptilian" type, but the structure of the vertebrae was consistent with that typical of modern birds. The remains of Hesperornis were found in the USA. This bird lived 70 thousand years ago.

Extinct and endangered birds

The first documented case of this kind was the destruction of the dodo. Mauritian dodos Raphus cuculatus are large flightless pigeons that resemble turkeys in appearance. They were quickly destroyed by humanity almost immediately after their discovery. Over the course of 174 years, the entire population of these birds was exterminated by sailors and the animals they brought on their ships.

Physiology of birds

Birds need wings to fly. But wings are only one of the components of flight. Every part of a bird's body - from the heart and lungs to the lightweight bones - is perfectly adapted for flight. But flight requires a lot of energy. To produce it, birds need a lot of food. The skeleton and plumage of birds also play an important role in flight. The birds have a dense body and a very light skeleton. The plumage creates a smooth body surface and air resistance is reduced.

Amazing plumage

Birds are the only animals that have feathers. Feathers protect the bird from overheating, hypothermia and water. They give the bird a unique appearance. The coloring of feathers saves the bird from enemies, helps it to hide and serves to attract a mate. Feathers are the main "tool in flight". The plumage on the tail and wings regulates flight. Swimming birds, such as penguins, use plumage to travel underwater.

Fantastic outfits

When any bird flies by, it always attracts our attention. But how to determine what kind of bird it is? The plumage of each bird species is characterized by certain colors and shapes. This is exactly what helps to recognize her. The plumage varies in shape and color for many reasons. Birds recognize members of their species by their plumage and “communicate” with them. This is also a camouflage outfit that helps birds hide in the environment. Male birds usually have brighter colored feathers and use this to attract females. Some birds use plumage as protection. For example, a male Indian peacock opens more than 200 tail feathers to form a huge (1.8 m in size) fan, decorated with designs similar to eyes. This scares away enemies.

Nests

How does a bird know how to build a nest? Scientists believe that nest-building is an instinct, since birds do not learn it from other birds. Each individual knows how to build a nest.

Some ancient birds simply covered their eggs with dirt or dry grass to keep them warm. Other birds laid eggs in hollows and crevices in trees. Once birds began using their body heat to incubate eggs, they gradually developed the ability to build nests.

If you've seen nests, they're probably; it was bowl-shaped and built from twigs or grass. But there are hundreds of nests of a wide variety of shapes and built from a variety of materials. Some nests look like holes in the sand or large piles of branches. Some are very tiny, while others are huge. Many nests contain such materials; like hair, paper, foil, rope or feathers. Cliff swallows have round nests made of clay. Puffins and kingfishers dig underground passages and place their nests inside. Orioles build deep, basket-like nests that hang from trees. Bush tits build long, bag-like nests from twigs, roots and moss, which are glued together with cobwebs. The nest is needed to keep the eggs warm and protect the chicks from predators.

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