### animal | vertebrate | bird:

Songbird
* All songbirds have altricial offspring
  - feet that are specialized for perching
* Many songbirds also thrive in the rejuvenated brushlands
  - are sensitive to size and shape of their habitat
  - migrate at night and stop for food and rest during the day
* Most songbirds adapt to cold temperature
  - winter temperature
* Most songbirds are migratory, migrating to warmer climates in the fall and winter
  - territorial during the breeding season
  - consume seeds
* Most songbirds eat seeds
  - wild seeds from grasses, flowers and trees
* Most songbirds feed on insects and spiders during the spring and summer months
  - protein-rich insects to their growing young
  - go to gardens
* Most songbirds have eyes
  - necks
  - nine or ten secondaries
  - regional dialects for the same reasons that humans have dialects
  - several songs and calls
  - toes
  - incubate their eggs for about two weeks
  - migrate at night using the stars as navigational aids
* Most songbirds sing melody
  - thrive in habitats
  - visit feeders
* Some songbirds are robins, larks, canaries, thrushes, nightingales and crows
  - give birth to animals
* Some songbirds have bills
  - bowerbirds
  - slender bills
  - inhabit tracts
* Some songbirds live in marsh
  - parks
  - wood
* are a diverse group that includes species that use a variety of habitats
* are common in the canopy as well
  - fall and spring
  - especially prone to follow the ridges
  - located in forests
  - most plentiful along the edge of woods that are bordered by a hedge
  - particularly partial to nesting in willows
  - passerines, many of which have beautiful melodic songs
  - software
  - very selective about the structure and placement of their nest
  - virtually silent in the smokey forests
* begin arriving while ducks are passing through
* can recognize the same type of melodic sequence within the same octave
  - take shelter during the winter, and build a nest inside come spring
* distribute modest quantities of seeds in their droppings or by regurgitation.
* eat during the day plus sleep in the day and travel during the night
* eat the berries
  - fruit and the foliage provides good nesting cover
* especially utilize the tall grasses for seeds and shelter.
* feed on the bright red berries as they ripen in summer and fall
* find living fences and shrub beds enticing homes.
* fly back to the nest with food every few minutes from sunup to sundown.
* generally have highly developed syrinxes and thus produce the most complex song.
* have a very poor sense of smell
  - vocal organ called the syrinx located in the throat
  - enemies, both other birds such as hawks and a wide variety of animals
  - poor night vision
  - to keep off the ground to avoid cats and things, and out of the open to avoid owls
  - two sets of vocal chords
* help distribute plants by carrying seeds to new location.
* includes air sacs
  - bird's feet
  - brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - ears
  - faces
  - flight feathers
  - lips
  - mouths
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - rib cages
  - second joints
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - talons
  - vacuoles
  - wishbones
* incubate their eggs a relatively short time.
* make up the largest, most complex and evolved group among all birds.
* migrate in the safety of darkness.
* move through the trees, and ferns and wildflowers grow on the banks and bluffs.
* often nest only once during each breeding season.
* relish and seek the small seeds.
* return to nests.
* revel in brushy evergreen growth.
* sing as shafts of sunlight pierce through the clouds
  - the most about one-half hour before sunrise to four hours after sunrise
  - tunes
* use auditory feedback to guide learning of a song previously memorized from another bird
  - cover for shelter, nesting, and brood rearing
* use song in territory defense and mate attraction
  - to protect their territory , or to attract a mate
  - the Iowa crab's dense thickets for nesting
+ Bird, Behaviour, Communication, Songbirds
  * Songbirds are passerines, many of which have beautiful melodic songs. Songs have different functions. Danger cries are different from territorial songs, and mating calls are a third type. Fledgling may also have different calls from adults. Recognition calls for partners are quite common
  - Communication:
  * All birds make sounds to communicate. The types of noises that they make are different. All birds have 'cries' which are the sounds to communicate. Some birds can also 'sing'. These birds are called 'songbirds'. Some songbirds are robins, larks, canaries, thrushes, nightingales and crows. Birds that are 'not' songbirds are pigeons, seagulls, eagles, owls and ducks. Parrots are not songbirds, even though they can be taught to sing human songs
+ Music, History: Performing arts :: Non-verbal communication
  * Some animals also can use music. Songbirds use song to protect their territory, or to attract a mate. Monkeys have been seen beating hollow logs. This may, of course, also serve to defend the territory.