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Information about Flightless

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A well-known example of flightless birds
Flightless birds are birds which lack the ability to fly, relying instead on their ability to run or swim, and are thought to have evolved from their flying ancestors.[1] There are about forty species in existence today,[2] the best known being the ostrich, emu, cassowary, rhea, kiwi, and penguins. It is believed by some that most flightless birds evolved in the absence of predators, on islands, and lost the power of flight because they had few enemies — although this is likely not the case for the ratites; the ostrich, emu and cassowary, as all have claws on their feet/wings to use as a weapon against predators.

Two key differences between flying and flightless birds are the smaller wing bones of flightless birds and the absent (or greatly reduced) keel on their breastbone. The keel anchors muscles needed for wing movement.[2] Flightless birds also have more feathers than flying birds.

New Zealand has more species of flightless birds (including the kiwis, several species of penguins, and the takahe) than any other country. One reason is that until the arrival of humans roughly 10000 years ago, there were no large land predators in New Zealand; the main predators of flightless birds were larger birds.[3]

Some flightless varieties of island birds are closely related to flying varieties, implying flight is a significant biological cost.

The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island Rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird, is the Ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg) (although some extinct species grew to larger sizes).

Flightless birds are the easiest to take care of in captivity because they do not have to be caged. Ostriches were once farmed for their decorative feathers. Today they are raised for meat and for their skins, which are used to make leather.

There were also other families of flightless birds, such as the now extinct Phorusrhacidae, that evolved to be very powerful terrestrial predators.

List of recent flightless birds

Ratites

Grebes

Pelican-like birds

Petrel-like birds

Kingfishers and relatives

Duck-like birds

Rails and relatives

Gulls and relatives

Parrots

Doves and relatives

Owlet-nightjars

Songbirds

See also

References

1. ^ TerraNature. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.
2. ^ The Bird Site: Flightless Birds. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.
3. ^ New Zealand's Icon:Flightless. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.

External links

Struthionidae
Vigors, 1825

Genus: Struthio
Linnaeus, 1758

Species: S.
..... Click the link for more information.
Emu may refer to:
  • Emu, a large, flightless bird
  • Emu (journal) (Emu - Austral Ornithology), a scientific journal
  • Emu Field (alternatively known as Emu or Emu Junction), the location of the first atomic test that occurred on the Australian mainland in 1953

..... Click the link for more information.
Casuarius
Brisson, 1760

Species

Casuarius casuarius
Casuarius unappendiculatus
Casuarius bennetti
Cassowaries (genus Casuarius
..... Click the link for more information.
Rheidae
Bonaparte, 1849

Genus: Rhea
Brisson, 1760

Species
  • R. americana
  • R. pennata


Rheas, also known as ñandú
..... Click the link for more information.
KIWI

City of license McFarland, California
Broadcast area Bakersfield, California
Branding KRAB Radio
Slogan La Que Toca Puras Buenas!
First air date 1989
Frequency 102.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sphenisciformes
Sharpe, 1891

Family: Spheniscidae
Bonaparte, 1831

Modern genera
  • Aptenodytes
  • Eudyptes
  • Eudyptula
  • Megadyptes
  • Pygoscelis

..... Click the link for more information.
Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Struthioniformes
Latham, 1790

Families

Struthionidae (ostriches)
Rheidae (rheas)
Casuariidae (emus etc.)
†Aepyornithidae (elephant birds)
†Dinornithidae (moa)
Apterygidae (kiwis)

A ratite
..... Click the link for more information.
Struthionidae
Vigors, 1825

Genus: Struthio
Linnaeus, 1758

Species: S.
..... Click the link for more information.
Emu may refer to:
  • Emu, a large, flightless bird
  • Emu (journal) (Emu - Austral Ornithology), a scientific journal
  • Emu Field (alternatively known as Emu or Emu Junction), the location of the first atomic test that occurred on the Australian mainland in 1953

..... Click the link for more information.
Casuarius
Brisson, 1760

Species

Casuarius casuarius
Casuarius unappendiculatus
Casuarius bennetti
Cassowaries (genus Casuarius
..... Click the link for more information.
Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
..... Click the link for more information.
KIWI

City of license McFarland, California
Broadcast area Bakersfield, California
Branding KRAB Radio
Slogan La Que Toca Puras Buenas!
First air date 1989
Frequency 102.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sphenisciformes
Sharpe, 1891

Family: Spheniscidae
Bonaparte, 1831

Modern genera
  • Aptenodytes
  • Eudyptes
  • Eudyptula
  • Megadyptes
  • Pygoscelis

..... Click the link for more information.
A. rogersi

Binomial name
Atlantisia rogersi
Lowe, 1923

The Inaccessible Island Rail, Atlantisia rogersi, is a small bird of the rail family, Rallidae.
..... Click the link for more information.
Struthionidae
Vigors, 1825

Genus: Struthio
Linnaeus, 1758

Species: S.
..... Click the link for more information.

..... Click the link for more information.
The Holocene epoch is a geological period, which began approximately 11,550 calendar years BP (about 9600 BC) and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Neogene and Quaternary periods.
..... Click the link for more information.
Struthionidae
Vigors, 1825

Genus: Struthio
Linnaeus, 1758

Species: S.
..... Click the link for more information.
Emu may refer to:
  • Emu, a large, flightless bird
  • Emu (journal) (Emu - Austral Ornithology), a scientific journal
  • Emu Field (alternatively known as Emu or Emu Junction), the location of the first atomic test that occurred on the Australian mainland in 1953

..... Click the link for more information.
D. baudinianus

Binomial name
Dromaius baudinianus
Shane A. Parker, 1984

Synonyms
Dromaius minor

Kangaroo Island Emu (Dromaius baudinianus
..... Click the link for more information.

..... Click the link for more information.
Casuarius
Brisson, 1760

Species

Casuarius casuarius
Casuarius unappendiculatus
Casuarius bennetti
Cassowaries (genus Casuarius
..... Click the link for more information.
MOA is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:
  • Magnetic Field Oscillating Amplified Thruster, a novel propulsion system with several terrestrial applications

..... Click the link for more information.
Aepyornithidae

Genera

Aepyornis
Mullerornis

Elephant birds are an extinct family of flightless birds comprising the genera Aepyornis and Mullerornis.
..... Click the link for more information.
KIWI

City of license McFarland, California
Broadcast area Bakersfield, California
Branding KRAB Radio
Slogan La Que Toca Puras Buenas!
First air date 1989
Frequency 102.
..... Click the link for more information.
Rheidae
Bonaparte, 1849

Genus: Rhea
Brisson, 1760

Species
  • R. americana
  • R. pennata


Rheas, also known as ñandú
..... Click the link for more information.
P. taczanowskii

Binomial name
Podiceps taczanowskii
(Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1894)

The Junin Flightless Grebe Podiceps taczanowskii, also known as the Puna Grebe and the
..... Click the link for more information.
Centropelma redirects here. This was also also the initial, preoccupied name of the spider genus Nicodamus.

Titicaca Flightless Grebe

Conservation status

Endangered (IUCN)

..... Click the link for more information.
P. gigas

Binomial name
Podilymbus gigas
(Griscom, 1929)

The Atitlán Grebe (Podilymbus gigas), also known as Giant Grebe, Giant Pied-billed Grebe, or Poc
..... Click the link for more information.


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