Anatomical and Morphological Flight Adaptations
Birds have this unique ability to fly which makes them a specially endowed species. With their certain physical features, allowing them to fly, they have intrigued many. This has even led to students being taught about them in school.
Did you know that their ability to fly does not get limited to their lightweight bone structure and of course, their wings? Their ability to fly goes beyond these two factors. You can find that their ability consists of lightweight dress as well as their strength.
Over the years, there have been a few studies that have concluded that their flight adaptations have two types:
One is Anatomical adaptations
And the other is Morphological adaptations
And now, we are going to further discuss these adaptations to help you understand the aerial adaptation in birds in more detail:
Anatomical Adaptations
There are nine categorizations of anatomical adaptations which exhibit the very flight mechanism in birds–
Flight Muscles: Birds have flight muscles that are striated and vascularised. This gives them the ability to adjust to fatigue. They can also control the various actions of their wings. The flight muscles in the birds weigh only one-sixth part of their entire body, making their flight very easy.
Reproductive Organs: When it comes to birds, the reproductive organs do not add a significant amount to their body weight. They only have one functional ovary which lies on the female birds’ left side.
Endoskeleton: Birds gave very thin skull bones. They do not have teeth either. They have rigidity in the Dorsal part of the vertebral column. Apart from this, they also have a breast bone or sternum that easily gets attached to the birds’ flight muscles.
Sense Organs: With birds, the Cerebellum in the brain is well developed. This leads to them having great muscular coordination. A large cerebrum ensures that there are only voluntary movements with their wings. Birds also have enhanced optic lobes.
Digestive System: Birds have a very high metabolism rate leading to a minimum generation of undigested waste. Also, the absence of a gallbladder reduces body weight.
Excretory System: With birds, the semi-solid waste is excreted immediately. And with the nitrogenous wastes, those are can be converted into less toxic forms. As birds do not have a urinary bladder, their body weight is reduced quite substantially.
Respiratory System: Birds have air sacs that reduce specific gravity. Their higher metabolism rate is very much helpful in infusing oxygen into their body tissues.
Warmblood: It is one of the most impressive characteristics of the birds that even if there is a difference in the temperature of the environment during their flight, their body temperature is high. This is due to the aeration of blood in their body.
Circulatory System: Birds, like humans, also have a four-chambered heart. This contributes to a circulatory system that is very much efficient. Furthermore, their oxygenated and deoxygenated blood continues to be separate leading to a double circulation of the blood in their body.
Morphological Adaptations
Flight adaptations in birds are very much important. Other than the anatomical adaptations, there are seven morphological factors as well which enable aerial adaptation in birds:
Compact Body: Birds have a body that is heavy ventrally. With their dorsally light framework and the shape as a spindle, the air resistance is much reduced during the flight.
Forelimbs Converted to Wings: Birds have wings as a specific organ for flight. It is their anterior part of the body as forelimbs which later transform into wings.
Feather Covered Body: Birds have the whole of their bodies covered with feathers, which makes them more streamlined. This helps greatly with reducing the air friction during their flight. They also have the advantage of being protected from any fluctuations that come with the environmental temperature.
Bipedal Locomotion: The hind limbs in birds help in locomotion on the ground as well as to provide support to their weight.
Mobility of Head and Neck: Birds are flexible with their head movement which helps them with defence, preening, and nest building. They also have a horny beak that acts as forceps.
Short Tail: During the flight, a shorter tail for the birds acts as a rudder. This helps them in lifting, counterbalancing, and steering.
Perching: This is a mechanism in birds that helps them with arboreal life. They have a spontaneous bent of toes which helps them to cling to the tree branches as well as collect twigs.
Learn more about flight adaptations with excellent examples to understand how animals have changed their physiological features to fly. Get deeper insights from the best experts of Vedantu and develop a strong conceptual foundation for this remarkable topic.
Do You Know?
Male quetzals, during mating season, grow a long train of tail feathers. The tail can even grow up to one meter long. Due to such a long tail, male quetzals have to tilt backward while preparing a flight from a tree branch. Otherwise, its long train of the tail might rip into shreds!
FAQs on Flight Adaptations
1. What helps birds to fly?
Birds have various abilities and features that help them fly. They are not just limited to their lightweight dress and their feat. Their bones are hollow and light. Their hind limbs bones are typical for walking and perching. Forelimbs of birds are modified into wings which help birds in flight. Their shoulder bones are strong and breast bones are modified to hold muscles of flight which is used to move the wings up and down.
2. What are the features that help a bird to fly?
It might be an obvious answer to say that birds have their wings and a light body to help them fly. But they also have flight muscles, a flexible movement of the head, rigidity in their body, a light endoskeleton, warm blood, and many more things. Birds also have either organs that are short or in smaller form or a few which do not exist. These are good for their smooth flight and even help them with any other abilities as well.
3. Give two structural adaptations in the birds for flight.
Birds, to fly in the sky, have to go through a few structural adaptations which can help them a lot.
Birds usually have a lightweight body. This helps them in a great way to not only launch into a sky but also to stay there. Their lightweight dress also helps them to avoid resistance during their flight.
They have feathers, as we all know. They are their forelimbs in their evolved form. The birds have these to flap and fly.
4. What mechanism helps the birds in their flight?
A bird has wings that help it in lifting and thrust as they go up or down. The air, during their flight, is deflected downwards. The same air also goes to their rear part. The bird has to reduce its angle of attack as well as partially fold its wings as it goes upwards, to pass through the air without any issues. This also helps them with avoiding any sort of possible air resistance during their flight in the sky. Multiple anatomical and morphological adaptations help in the flight of birds. Few anatomical adaptations include a high rate of metabolism and warm-bloodedness. Some morphological adaptations are - feather-covered body and perching.
Other than these, there are a lot of things that help the birds to fly as well as their flight adaptations. From their short tails to the absence of a urinary tract, birds have a number of physical attributes which contribute to their flight.
