romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
Many bird species migrate to take advantage of global differences of seasonal temperatures, therefore optimising availability of food sources and breeding habitat. These migrations vary among the different groups. Many landbirds, shorebirds, and waterbirds undertake annual long distance migrations, usually triggered by the length of daylight as well as weather conditions. These birds are characterised by a breeding season spent in the temperate or polar regions and a non-breeding season in the tropical regions or opposite hemisphere. Before migration, birds substantially increase body fats and reserves and reduce the size of some of their organs. Migration is highly demanding energetically, particularly as birds need to cross deserts and oceans without refuelling. Landbirds have a flight range of around 2,500 km (1,600 mi) and shorebirds can fly up to 4,000 km (2,500 mi), although the bar-tailed godwit is capable of non-stop flights of up to 10,200 km (6,300 mi). Seabirds also undertake long migrations, the longest annual migration being those of sooty shearwaters, which nest in New Zealand and Chile and spend the northern summer feeding in the North Pacific off Japan, Alaska and California, an annual round trip of 64,000 km (39,800 mi). Other seabirds disperse after breeding, travelling widely but having no set migration route. Albatrosses nesting in the Southern Ocean often undertake circumpolar trips between breeding seasons.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When do birds substantially increase body fats and reduce the size of some of their organs?
A: Before migration', '
Q: What is the flight range of landbirds?
A: 2,500 km (1,600 mi)', '
Q: What is the flight range of shoebirds?
A: 4,000 km (2,500 mi)', '
Q: Which bird is capable of non-stop flights of up to 6,300 miles?
A: bar-tailed godwit', '
Q: Which birds often undertake circumpolar trips between breeding seasons?
A: Albatrosses nesting in the Southern Ocean']
Some bird species undertake shorter migrations, travelling only as far as is required to avoid bad weather or obtain food. Irruptive species such as the boreal finches are one such group and can commonly be found at a location in one year and absent the next. This type of migration is normally associated with food availability. Species may also travel shorter distances over part of their range, with individuals from higher latitudes travelling into the existing range of conspecifics; others undertake partial migrations, where only a fraction of the population, usually females and subdominant males, migrates. Partial migration can form a large percentage of the migration behaviour of birds in some regions; in Australia, surveys found that 44% of non-passerine birds and 32% of passerines were partially migratory. Altitudinal migration is a form of short distance migration in which birds spend the breeding season at higher altitudes elevations and move to lower ones during suboptimal conditions. It is most often triggered by temperature changes and usually occurs when the normal territories also become inhospitable due to lack of food. Some species may also be nomadic, holding no fixed territory and moving according to weather and food availability. Parrots as a family are overwhelmingly neither migratory nor sedentary but considered to either be dispersive, irruptive, nomadic or undertake small and irregular migrations.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In Australia, what percentage of non-passerine birds were partially migratory
A: 44%', '
Q: In Australia, what percentage of passerine birds were partially migratory
A: 32%', '
Q: What is most often triggered by temperature changes?
A: Altitudinal migration', '
Q: Which family of birds are neither migratory or sedentary but considered to be dispersive, irruptive or nomadic?
A: Parrots']
The ability of birds to return to precise locations across vast distances has been known for some time; in an experiment conducted in the 1950s a Manx shearwater released in Boston returned to its colony in Skomer, Wales, within 13 days, a distance of 5,150 km (3,200 mi). Birds navigate during migration using a variety of methods. For diurnal migrants, the sun is used to navigate by day, and a stellar compass is used at night. Birds that use the sun compensate for the changing position of the sun during the day by the use of an internal clock. Orientation with the stellar compass depends on the position of the constellations surrounding Polaris. These are backed up in some species by their ability to sense the Earth's geomagnetism through specialised photoreceptors.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In which type of migration do birds use the sun to navigate by day and a stellar compass at night?
A: diurnal migrants', "
Q: Some species use specialised photoreceptors to sense what?
A: the Earth's geomagnetism", '
Q: What do birds to compensate for the changing position of the sun during the day?
A: internal clock']
Birds sometimes use plumage to assess and assert social dominance, to display breeding condition in sexually selected species, or to make threatening displays, as in the sunbittern's mimicry of a large predator to ward off hawks and protect young chicks. Variation in plumage also allows for the identification of birds, particularly between species. Visual communication among birds may also involve ritualised displays, which have developed from non-signalling actions such as preening, the adjustments of feather position, pecking, or other behaviour. These displays may signal aggression or submission or may contribute to the formation of pair-bonds. The most elaborate displays occur during courtship, where "dances" are often formed from complex combinations of many possible component movements; males' breeding success may depend on the quality of such displays.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What allows for the identification of birds, particularly between species?
A: Variation in plumage', '
Q: What do birds sometimes use to assess and assert social dominance?
A: plumage', '
Q: Visual communication among birds may involve what kind of displays?
A: ritualised displays']
Calls are used for a variety of purposes, including mate attraction, evaluation of potential mates, bond formation, the claiming and maintenance of territories, the identification of other individuals (such as when parents look for chicks in colonies or when mates reunite at the start of breeding season), and the warning of other birds of potential predators, sometimes with specific information about the nature of the threat. Some birds also use mechanical sounds for auditory communication. The Coenocorypha snipes of New Zealand drive air through their feathers, woodpeckers drum territorially, and palm cockatoos use tools to drum.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What do some birds use for auditory communication?
A: mechanical sounds', '
Q: What do birds use for evaluation of potential mates and mate attraction?
A: Calls', '
Q: Which birds drum territorially?
A: woodpeckers', '
Q: Which type of birds use tools to drum?
A: palm']
While some birds are essentially territorial or live in small family groups, other birds may form large flocks. The principal benefits of flocking are safety in numbers and increased foraging efficiency. Defence against predators is particularly important in closed habitats like forests, where ambush predation is common and multiple eyes can provide a valuable early warning system. This has led to the development of many mixed-species feeding flocks, which are usually composed of small numbers of many species; these flocks provide safety in numbers but increase potential competition for resources. Costs of flocking include bullying of socially subordinate birds by more dominant birds and the reduction of feeding efficiency in certain cases.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What are the principal benefits of flocking?
A: safety in numbers and increased foraging efficiency', '
Q: What is a cost of flocking?
A: bullying of socially subordinate birds by more dominant birds', '
Q: What is particularly important in closed habitats like forests?
A: Defence against predators']
The high metabolic rates of birds during the active part of the day is supplemented by rest at other times. Sleeping birds often use a type of sleep known as vigilant sleep, where periods of rest are interspersed with quick eye-opening "peeks", allowing them to be sensitive to disturbances and enable rapid escape from threats. Swifts are believed to be able to sleep in flight and radar observations suggest that they orient themselves to face the wind in their roosting flight. It has been suggested that there may be certain kinds of sleep which are possible even when in flight. Some birds have also demonstrated the capacity to fall into slow-wave sleep one hemisphere of the brain at a time. The birds tend to exercise this ability depending upon its position relative to the outside of the flock. This may allow the eye opposite the sleeping hemisphere to remain vigilant for predators by viewing the outer margins of the flock. This adaptation is also known from marine mammals. Communal roosting is common because it lowers the loss of body heat and decreases the risks associated with predators. Roosting sites are often chosen with regard to thermoregulation and safety.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Sleeping birds often use a type of sleep known as what?
A: vigilant sleep', '
Q: What are believed to be able to sleep in flight?
A: Swifts', '
Q: Why is communal roosting common?
A: because it lowers the loss of body heat']
Many sleeping birds bend their heads over their backs and tuck their bills in their back feathers, although others place their beaks among their breast feathers. Many birds rest on one leg, while some may pull up their legs into their feathers, especially in cold weather. Perching birds have a tendon locking mechanism that helps them hold on to the perch when they are asleep. Many ground birds, such as quails and pheasants, roost in trees. A few parrots of the genus Loriculus roost hanging upside down. Some hummingbirds go into a nightly state of torpor accompanied with a reduction of their metabolic rates. This physiological adaptation shows in nearly a hundred other species, including owlet-nightjars, nightjars, and woodswallows. One species, the common poorwill, even enters a state of hibernation. Birds do not have sweat glands, but they may cool themselves by moving to shade, standing in water, panting, increasing their surface area, fluttering their throat or by using special behaviours like urohidrosis to cool themselves.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: These types of birds have a tendon locking mechanism.
A: Perching birds', '
Q: Where do many ground birds, such as quails and pheasants, roost?
A: in trees', '
Q: A few parrots of what genus roost hanging upside down?
A: Loriculus', '
Q: What type of birds go into a nightly state of torpor?
A: Some hummingbirds', '
Q: Birds do not have what type of glands:?
A: sweat']
Ninety-five percent of bird species are socially monogamous. These species pair for at least the length of the breeding season or—in some cases—for several years or until the death of one mate. Monogamy allows for both paternal care and biparental care, which is especially important for species in which females require males' assistance for successful brood-rearing. Among many socially monogamous species, extra-pair copulation (infidelity) is common. Such behaviour typically occurs between dominant males and females paired with subordinate males, but may also be the result of forced copulation in ducks and other anatids. Female birds have sperm storage mechanisms that allow sperm from males to remain viable long after copulation, a hundred days in some species. Sperm from multiple males may compete through this mechanism. For females, possible benefits of extra-pair copulation include getting better genes for her offspring and insuring against the possibility of infertility in her mate. Males of species that engage in extra-pair copulations will closely guard their mates to ensure the parentage of the offspring that they raise.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What percent of bird species are socially monogamous?
A: Ninety-five percent', '
Q: What do female birds have that allow sperm from males to remain viable long after copulation?
A: sperm storage mechanisms', '
Q: What is extra-pair copulation?
A: infidelity', '
Q: Why do males that engage in extra-pair copulation closely guard their mates?
A: to ensure the parentage of the offspring that they raise']
Breeding usually involves some form of courtship display, typically performed by the male. Most displays are rather simple and involve some type of song. Some displays, however, are quite elaborate. Depending on the species, these may include wing or tail drumming, dancing, aerial flights, or communal lekking. Females are generally the ones that drive partner selection, although in the polyandrous phalaropes, this is reversed: plainer males choose brightly coloured females. Courtship feeding, billing and allopreening are commonly performed between partners, generally after the birds have paired and mated.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Which gender typically performs some form of courtship display?
A: male', '
Q: Most courtship displays involve some type of what?
A: song', '
Q: Which gender generally drive partner selection?:
A: Females', '
Q: Generally, when is courtship feeding and billing performed between partners?
A: after the birds have paired and mated']
All birds lay amniotic eggs with hard shells made mostly of calcium carbonate. Hole and burrow nesting species tend to lay white or pale eggs, while open nesters lay camouflaged eggs. There are many exceptions to this pattern, however; the ground-nesting nightjars have pale eggs, and camouflage is instead provided by their plumage. Species that are victims of brood parasites have varying egg colours to improve the chances of spotting a parasite's egg, which forces female parasites to match their eggs to those of their hosts.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What kind of eggs to all birds lay?
A: amniotic eggs', '
Q: All birds lay eggs with hard shells made mostly out of what?
A: calcium carbonate', '
Q: What type of birds lay white or pale eggs?
A: Hole and burrow nesting species', '
Q: What kind of eggs do open nesters lay?
A: camouflaged eggs']
Bird eggs are usually laid in a nest. Most species create somewhat elaborate nests, which can be cups, domes, plates, beds scrapes, mounds, or burrows. Some bird nests, however, are extremely primitive; albatross nests are no more than a scrape on the ground. Most birds build nests in sheltered, hidden areas to avoid predation, but large or colonial birds—which are more capable of defence—may build more open nests. During nest construction, some species seek out plant matter from plants with parasite-reducing toxins to improve chick survival, and feathers are often used for nest insulation. Some bird species have no nests; the cliff-nesting common guillemot lays its eggs on bare rock, and male emperor penguins keep eggs between their body and feet. The absence of nests is especially prevalent in ground-nesting species where the newly hatched young are precocial.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Where do birds usually lay their eggs?
A: nest', '
Q: What type of birds lay its eggs on bare rock?
A: cliff-nesting common guillemot', '
Q: Where do male emporer penguins keep eggs?
A: between their body and feet', '
Q: Which type of bird nests are no more than a scrape on the ground?
A: albatross']
Incubation, which optimises temperature for chick development, usually begins after the last egg has been laid. In monogamous species incubation duties are often shared, whereas in polygamous species one parent is wholly responsible for incubation. Warmth from parents passes to the eggs through brood patches, areas of bare skin on the abdomen or breast of the incubating birds. Incubation can be an energetically demanding process; adult albatrosses, for instance, lose as much as 83 grams (2.9 oz) of body weight per day of incubation. The warmth for the incubation of the eggs of megapodes comes from the sun, decaying vegetation or volcanic sources. Incubation periods range from 10 days (in woodpeckers, cuckoos and passerine birds) to over 80 days (in albatrosses and kiwis).

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What process optimises temperature for chick development?
A: Incubation', '
Q: When does incubation begin?
A: after the last egg has been laid', '
Q: What are areas of bare skin on the abdomen or breast of incubating birds?
A: brood patches', '
Q: How many days is the incubation period for woodpeckers?
A: 10 days', '
Q: How many days is the incubation period for kiwis?
A: over 80 days']
The length and nature of parental care varies widely amongst different orders and species. At one extreme, parental care in megapodes ends at hatching; the newly hatched chick digs itself out of the nest mound without parental assistance and can fend for itself immediately. At the other extreme, many seabirds have extended periods of parental care, the longest being that of the great frigatebird, whose chicks take up to six months to fledge and are fed by the parents for up to an additional 14 months. The chick guard stage describes the period of breeding during which one of the adult birds is permanently present at the nest after chicks have hatched. The main purpose of the guard stage is to aid offspring to thermoregulate and protect them from predation.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When does parental care end in megapodes?
A: at hatching', '
Q: What type of seabird has the longest period of parental care?
A: frigatebird', '
Q: What is the period of breeding during which one of the adult birds is always present at the nest?
A: chick guard stage']
In some species, both parents care for nestlings and fledglings; in others, such care is the responsibility of only one sex. In some species, other members of the same species—usually close relatives of the breeding pair, such as offspring from previous broods—will help with the raising of the young. Such alloparenting is particularly common among the Corvida, which includes such birds as the true crows, Australian magpie and fairy-wrens, but has been observed in species as different as the rifleman and red kite. Among most groups of animals, male parental care is rare. In birds, however, it is quite common—more so than in any other vertebrate class. Though territory and nest site defence, incubation, and chick feeding are often shared tasks, there is sometimes a division of labour in which one mate undertakes all or most of a particular duty.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Alloparenting is particulary common with what species?
A: Corvida', '
Q: True crows belong to what group?
A: Corvida', '
Q: What is more common in birds than any other vertebrate class?
A: male parental care']
The point at which chicks fledge varies dramatically. The chicks of the Synthliboramphus murrelets, like the ancient murrelet, leave the nest the night after they hatch, following their parents out to sea, where they are raised away from terrestrial predators. Some other species, such as ducks, move their chicks away from the nest at an early age. In most species, chicks leave the nest just before, or soon after, they are able to fly. The amount of parental care after fledging varies; albatross chicks leave the nest on their own and receive no further help, while other species continue some supplementary feeding after fledging. Chicks may also follow their parents during their first migration.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Which chicks leave the nest the night after they hatch?
A: chicks of the Synthliboramphus murrelets', '
Q: Name a species which move their chicks away from the nest at an early age.
A: ducks', '
Q: When do most species of chicks leave the nest?
A: just before, or soon after, they are able to fly']
Brood parasitism, in which an egg-layer leaves her eggs with another individual's brood, is more common among birds than any other type of organism. After a parasitic bird lays her eggs in another bird's nest, they are often accepted and raised by the host at the expense of the host's own brood. Brood parasites may be either obligate brood parasites, which must lay their eggs in the nests of other species because they are incapable of raising their own young, or non-obligate brood parasites, which sometimes lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics to increase their reproductive output even though they could have raised their own young. One hundred bird species, including honeyguides, icterids, and ducks, are obligate parasites, though the most famous are the cuckoos. Some brood parasites are adapted to hatch before their host's young, which allows them to destroy the host's eggs by pushing them out of the nest or to kill the host's chicks; this ensures that all food brought to the nest will be fed to the parasitic chicks.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: What is it called when an egg-layer leaves her eggs with another individual's brood?
A: Brood parasitism", '
Q: How many bird species are obligate parasites?
A: One hundred', '
Q: What type of birds lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics to increase their reproductive output?
A: non-obligate brood parasites']
Birds have evolved a variety of mating behaviors, with the peacock tail being perhaps the most famous example of sexual selection and the Fisherian runaway. Commonly occurring sexual dimorphisms such as size and color differences are energetically costly attributes that signal competitive breeding situations. Many types of avian sexual selection have been identified; intersexual selection, also known as female choice; and intrasexual competition, where individuals of the more abundant sex compete with each other for the privilege to mate. Sexually selected traits often evolve to become more pronounced in competitive breeding situations until the trait begins to limit the individual’s fitness. Conflicts between an individual fitness and signaling adaptations ensure that sexually selected ornaments such as plumage coloration and courtship behavior are "honest" traits. Signals must be costly to ensure that only good-quality individuals can present these exaggerated sexual ornaments and behaviors.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is the most famous example of sexual selection?
A: peacock tail', '
Q: What is intersexual selection also known as?
A: female choice', '
Q: What is it called when individuals of the more abundant sex compete with each other for the privilege to mate?
A: intrasexual competition']
Incestuous matings by the purple-crowned fairy wren Malurus coronatus result in severe fitness costs due to inbreeding depression (greater than 30% reduction in hatchability of eggs). Females paired with related males may undertake extra pair matings (see Promiscuity#Other animals for 90% frequency in avian species) that can reduce the negative effects of inbreeding. However, there are ecological and demographic constraints on extra pair matings. Nevertheless, 43% of broods produced by incestuously paired females contained extra pair young.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is it called when there is greater than 30 percent reduction in hatchability of eggs?
A: inbreeding depression', '
Q: What can reduce the negative effects of inbreeding?
A: Females paired with related males may undertake extra pair matings', '
Q: What percentage of broods produced by incestuously paired females contained extra pair of young?
A: 43%']