יומן של Birds and their Diet

One adaptation that all the observations in your group project have in common:
Since our observations entail a wide variety of organisms, as seen with the diverse set of birds, the plants, and the insects that make up their diet, it was extremely difficult to come up with a single adaption for all of them. Comparing birds, insects, and plants, and trying to come up with one generalization was near impossible. However, focusing on the diverse observations of the birds present, it is clear that they have collectively adapted their diet to their habitat. As seen, the birds found in this project are from many different places in the world, thus having different food sources available. As a result, there is a diverse set of beaks that each bird has, corresponding with the food that they eat found in their area. For instance, the Sparrows have one of the smallest and sharpest beaks, that allow them to eat small seeds and pick small insects, while Rose Ringed Parakeets have large beaks that allow them to eat dates and large seeds. An adaption seen with plants in Saudi, are that some are more lower to the ground than others, as seen withe the Dicots, Caribbean Agave, and Plume Albizia. Plants that are lower to the ground require less water, and have higher water retention in the roots, which is useful in the dry Saudi weather.

2.Identify one unique adaptation for one of your observations. Add this to your journal
entry (1-2 sentences):
One of the unique adaptations is seen with the Rose-ringed Parakeet/Psittacula krameri. The Rose Ringed Parakeet is a vibrant green colour that allows it to blend in well with the tall date trees. As seen in the observation, the parakeet seemed to blend in very well with the tree, providing protection from any possible predators. Another unique adaptation is the beak shape of the Rose Ringed Parakeet, that differs from other parakeets. Rose Ringed Parakeets have large, wide beaks that allow them to eat some of the foods found Saudi Arabia, such as dates, seeds, berries, etc. The large beaks allow them to fit and chew the large dates, and other foods, which other birds with smaller beaks cannot eat.

1. Pick one observation and locate that species on a phylogenetic tree:
   Rose-ringed Parakeet/Psittacula krameri
   Archaea and Eukaryotes--> Eukaryotes --> Animals, Fungi and more --> Animals and more --> Animals-->
   Bilaterally Symmetrical Animals --> Deuterostomes --> Chordates --> Jawed vertebrates --> Bony vertebrates --> Lobe Finned Fishes including Tetrapods--> Lungfishes and Tetrapods--> Tetrapods--> Amniotes--> Sauropsids--> Birds, turtles and Crocodilians--> Birds and Crocodilians--> Birds--> Neognaths --> Passerines, birds of prey, gulls, and more--> Parrots--> Rose Ringed Parakeets.

"Birds and their Diet" project includes various birds and their diet, consisting of insects and plants. While there is no common adaptation amongst all observed species, there are similar adaptations between the observed birds and plants. All observed bird species adapted to different beak shapes and sizes to accommodate their local resources in terms of food. Example of different beak adaptations are as follows; a seagull observed in Turkey adapted to a curvier, longer beak to catch fish, a parakeet in Mauritius adapted to a sharper beak to eat local seeds and a sparrow in Saudi Arabia adapted to a relatively smaller beak to reach smaller seeds that are inaccessible to other species. Therefore, bird beaks are a common adaptation amongst the project; however, the beak shapes and sizes vary due to the difference in resources amongst our group. In terms of plants, all observed plants are tall, creating a habitat for birds as they nest in their long branches, helping with their diet, producing berries, and seeds.

A unique adaptation for Common Dogwood is that they have adapted to different living conditions in terms of soil. Common Dogwood has adapted to moist soil and dry soil, depending on where they are kept, which is one of the main reasons why Common Dogwood is a widespread species. In other words, Common Dogwood's most unique adaptation is its adaptation over centuries to different terrestrial environments.

Cornus Sanguinea, or more commonly known as Common Dogwood, is one of the many species of the Cornus (Dogwood) genus out of the identified 93 species and belongs to the Cornaceae family. Examples of the different species included in the genus are Bunchberry Dogwood, Flowering Dogwood, and Blackfruit Dogwood. Common Dogwood is closely related to the Japanese Flowering Dogwood and Cornus Monbeigii. Ancestors of Cornus Sanguinea include C.Obliqua, C. ammomum, C.drummondii, and several other species of Dogwood.

1. One adaptation that all observed species in the project have in common:
   All observed species do not have one common adaptation as we have 3 completely different types of organisms. Amongst our observations we have birds which feed on both the plants and the insects that we have observed. However, birds have adapted to their respective diets available to them in their habitats in different parts of the world. Beak size was a common feature observed whereby each bird had beak sizes in accordance to their diet, for example the Red Fody has a small beak allowing it to consume the small fig seeds while the seagull has a large beak allowing it to prey on fish.
   On the other hand, most the plants observed as bird diets, are tall trees, limiting their number of predators to animals with high reach, such as birds, bats etc.

2. One unique adaptation for the Pycnonotus jocosus (Red-whiskered bulbul)
   It is a medium-sized songbird with a sharp beak which is slightly bigger than smaller species. It's sharp, pointy beak allows it to easily pluck off and consume fruit seeds such as the seeds on a fig tree. It's slightly bigger beak size allows it to eat larger insects which smaller-beaked songbirds wouldn't have access to.

3. Phylogeny for Pycnonotus jocosus (Red-whiskered bulbul)

Animals-> Bilaterally symmetrical animals-> Deuterostomes-> Chordates-> Vertebrata-> Jawed Vertebrates-> Bony Vertebrates-> Lobe Finned Fishes including Tetrapods-> Lungfishes and Tetrapods-> Tetrapods-> Amniotes-> Sauropsids-> Birds, turtles and Crocodilians-> Birds and Crocodilians-> Birds-> Neognaths-> Songbirds-> Bulbuls and Tetrakas-> Greenbuls-> Red-whiskered bulbul