### animal | vertebrate | bird:

Martin
* act independently and only defend their specific territory.
* are birds
  - comedians
  - communal nesters and seek out other martins when looking for nesting sites
  - daytime feeders, and feed high in the sky
  - diurnal hunters, meaning that they hunt during the daylight hours
  - gregarious in nature and prefer to nest in groups
  - larger than the other species, and barn swallows have forked tails
  - no match for sparrows in head on interactions
  - primarily diurnal
  - too large to easily enter such nests
* eat honeybees
* feed quite high in the air and mosquitoes typically stay close to the ground.
* generally migrate over land, through Mexico and Central America.
* have a strange sense of humor
  - specific space and habitat requirements
* 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
* like to perch on old tree snags, TV antennas, and utility lines.
* lives in Geneva.
* make nests from twigs, weeds, dead leaves, coarse grasses and similar materials.
* molt during the winter months while in their southern hangouts.
* prefer much larger prey.
* works on the evolutionary ecology of the monotropoid mycorrhizal symbiosis
  - with adult patients who are aphasics

### animal | vertebrate | bird | martin:

Purple martin
* are a kind of swallow, of the genus Progne
  - semi-domesticated bird, and like to be near people
  - aerial insectivores , meaning that they catch insects from the air
  - are active during the day and are most active at dawn and dusk
  - busy feeding young nestlings
  - predators, prey, competitors, and hosts to parasites
  - very friendly towards humans
* can get aggressive if they are threatened.
* communicate by singing and body language.
* compete for nesting sites with house sparrows and European starlings.
* consume water in flight by skimming over water.
* drink while on the wing, skimming over lakes to scoop up water.
* feed entirely on insects.
* glide more than any other member of the swallow species.
* have a limited range in Connecticut and expand into new areas slowly.
* inhabit open woodlands and field edges usually near lakes or ponds.
* prefer open areas near water and also buildings.
* use apartment houses that accommodate numerous families.

Mature bird
* are the ones that show their energy to build up a nest.
* boast a wing span of six feet.
* have a large, forward-projecting knob above their beaks.
* rely on plants.

### animal | vertebrate | bird:

Meadowlark
* Most meadowlarks choose mates.
* Most meadowlarks defend nest territory
* Most meadowlarks eat ants
  - seeds
* Most meadowlarks have breasts
  - diets
  - songs
* Some meadowlarks become birds
  - maintain territory
* Some meadowlarks use muscles
  - strong muscles
* are a year-round bird.
* are ground feeders
  - members of the blackbird family
  - open-country birds
  - relatively silent while they're nesting and caring for the young
* includes air sacs
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - ears
  - flight feathers
  - heads
  - mouths
  - plasma membranes
* is an oriole
* occupy areas.
* prefer mixed fields over fields of pure alfalfa.

### animal | vertebrate | bird | meadowlark:

Eastern meadowlark
* Most eastern meadowlarks choose mates
  - have feathers
* are preyed on by hawks and falcons and occasionally by owls
  - social, forming loose flocks during the fall and winter