Is Shearwater a bird?

How did the shearwaters fly over our boat?

Thousands of sooty shearwaters flew by both sides of the boat in long lines, flapping hard and fast low over the ocean and then soaring up above the horizon in arcing, stiff-winged glides. Two common murres flushed off the water in front of our boat, flying straight away from us over the waves.

Is Shearwater journeys pelagic birding in Monterey Bay?

Going on a Shearwater Journeys pelagic birding trip in Monterey Bay had been a dream of mine ever since my dad read The Big Year by Mark Obmascik out loud to my brother and I a few years ago. The Big Year is a goofy book that follows three birders competing in a North American Birding Big Year.

What kind of bird has a metallic sheen?

Their plumage is typically dark with a metallic sheen. The mimids are a family of passerine birds that includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers, and the New World catbirds. These birds are notable for their vocalizations, especially their ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors.

How does the Shearwater use energy to fly?

The answer is that the shearwater does not use its own energy to fly. The shearwater’s means of travel is not at all like that of their land-lubbing brethren, nor even like that of their remote cousins, the herring gulls. Land birds (with the exception of the larger birds of prey) flap their way through the air.

How did the Aequornithes become sea birds?

As a clade, the Aequornithes either became seabirds in a single transition in the Cretaceous or some lineages such as pelicans and frigatebirds adapted to sea living independently from freshwater-dwelling ancestors. In the Paleogene both pterosaurs and marine reptiles became extinct, allowing seabirds to expand ecologically.

What clades are included in Aequornithes?

Aequornithes includes the clades Gaviiformes, Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, Ciconiiformes, Suliformes and Pelecaniformes. It does not include several unrelated groups of aquatic birds such as flamingos and grebes ( Mirandornithes ), shorebirds and auks ( Charadriiformes ), or the Anseriformes .

What is the meaning of Aequornithes?

Aequornithes (from Latin aequor, expanse of water + Greek ornithes, birds), or core water birds are defined as “the least inclusive clade containing Gaviidae and Phalacrocoracidae”. The monophyly of the group is currently supported by several molecular phylogenetic studies.

What is Aequorlitornithes?

Aequorlitornithes is a clade of waterbirds recovered in a comprehensive genomic systematic study using nearly 200 species in 2015. It contains the clades Charadriiformes (waders and shorebirds), Mirandornithes (flamingos and grebes) and Ardeae ( Eurypygimorphae and Aequornithes ).

Is there a monophyly of Aequornithes?

The monophyly of the group is currently supported by several molecular phylogenetic studies. Aequornithes includes the clades Gaviiformes, Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, Ciconiiformes, Suliformes and Pelecaniformes.

What are notches and emarginations in birds?

A pronounced narrowing at some variable distance along the feather edges at the outermost primaries of large soaring birds, particularly raptors. Whether these narrowings are called notches or emarginations’ depends on the degree of their slope. An emargination is a gradual change, and can be found on either side of the feather.

Are Aequornithes supraordinal?

Aequornithes) are supraordinal groups, and some of which (e.g. Opisthocomiformes) are orders with no close relatives (Prum et al. 2015, Suh et al. 2016). The nocturnal caprimulgiform birds and related apodiforms define a spectacular basal adaptive radiation of Neoaves.

Were enantiornitheans more advanced than modern birds?

Enantiornitheans were more advanced than Archaeopteryx, Confuciusornis, and Sapeornis, but in several respects they were more primitive than modern birds, perhaps following an intermediate evolutionary path. A consensus of scientific analyses indicates that Enantiornithes is one of two major groups within the larger group Ornithothoraces.

What is Enantiornithes?

Enantiornithes is a group of extinct avialans (“birds” in the broad sense), the most abundant and diverse group known from the Mesozoic era. Almost all retained teeth and clawed fingers on each wing, but otherwise looked much like modern birds externally.

What does Aequornithes stand for?

Aequornithes (from Latin aequor, expanse of water + Greek ornithes, birds), or core water birds are defined as “the least inclusive clade containing Gaviidae and Phalacrocoracidae”.

What clades are Aequornithes?

Aequornithes includes the clades Gaviiformes, Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, Ciconiiformes, Suliformes and Pelecaniformes. It does not include several unrelated groups of aquatic birds such as flamingos and grebes (Mirandornithes), shorebirds and auks (Charadriiformes), or the Anseriformes.

What are the wings of Enantiornithes called?

Like modern birds, Enantiornithes had alulas, or “bastard wings”, small forward-pointing arrangements of feathers on the first digit that granted higher maneuverability in the air and aided in precise landings. Several wings with preserved feathers have been found preserved in Burmese amber.

Do Enantiornithes have claws?

While most Enantiornithes had claws on at least some of their fingers, many species had shortened hands, a highly mobile shoulder joint, and proportional changes in the wing bones similar to modern birds.

What is an a notch on a bird?

A notch is an abrupt change, and is only found on the wider trailing edge of the remiges. The presence of notches and emarginations creates gaps at the wingtip; air is forced through these gaps, increasing the generation of lift. See alternate plumage. The scientific study of eggs. Plural: opercula.

Where is the emargination on the primary feather?

(Both are visible on the primary in the photo showing the feathers; they can be found about halfway along both sides of the left hand feather—a shallow notch on the left, and a gradual emargination on the right.)

What are notches or emarginations?

The outermost primaries of large soaring birds, particularly raptors, often show a pronounced narrowing at some variable distance along the feather edges. These narrowings are called either notches or emarginations depending on the degree of their slope.

Are enantiornithes Ornithothoraces?

Enantiornithes were more advanced than Archaeopteryx, Confuciusornis, and Sapeornis, but in several respects they were more primitive than modern birds, perhaps following an intermediate evolutionary path. A consensus of scientific analyses indicates that Enantiornithes is one of two major groups within the larger group Ornithothoraces.

Why do Enantiornithes have so many different body plans?

As a very large group of birds, the Enantiornithes displayed a high diversity of different body plans based on differences in ecology and feeding, reflected in an equal diversity of wing forms, many paralleling adaptions to different lifestyles seen in modern birds.