Summary ²

Birds (Aves) are a group of endothermic vertebrates, 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 cm (2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at approximately ten thousand, with more than half of these being passerines, sometimes known

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Kenny P., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/23084352@N00/499334547
2. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aves

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• change linear sequence of orders to place Galliformes and Anseriformes after Tinamiformes
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• VertNet

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