Masthead
Media
Title
Bird Facts
Cards
Body
Most people know a bird when they see one. It has feathers, wings and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with special songs and calls.
Taxonomically, birds are a “class” of vertebrates. Other classes include the bony fishes, the amphibians, the reptiles, and the mammals.
Birds are subdivided into orders, including groups like:
- Ducks, geese, and swans
- Pheasants, grouse, turkeys, and quail
- Pigeons and doves
- Owls
- Hummingbirds
- Woodpeckers
- Songbirds, or perching birds
About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 species have been recorded within our borders. There are about 10,000 species of birds in the world.
Title
Birds are important to humans and nature
Body
- Birdwatching and bird feeding are rewarding activities that engage one-fifth of the population. It’s a $25 billion industry that involves tourism, birdbaths, birdseed, binoculars, and more.
- As predators, birds control thousands of insect species — borers, beetles, caterpillars, and more —many of which harm crops, gardens, and trees or, like mosquitoes, transmit diseases.
- Raptors and owls prey on mice and other rodents that can be destructive to human interests.
- Game birds — turkey, quail, doves, ducks, geese, and others — provide sport and food for humans and are part of the $22 billion hunting industry.
- As grain-eaters and herbivores, birds can be agricultural pests. Birds that eat fish can be problems at fish hatcheries.
- As poultry, domesticated birds provide income for farmers and food for our tables.
- Turkey vultures clean dead animals from our roads and from natural habitats.
- Humans cherish birds as pets. For millennia, falconry has used raptors for sport hunting. Pigeons deliver messages, and doves are released at weddings and other events.
- Soft, insulating body feathers are used in down coats, pillows, and comforters.
- People used to make ink pens from the plumes of birds. Think of the many important books and historical documents that were written with feathers!
- Birds have inspired humans for millennia. They serve as religious and national symbols. They represent beauty, song, flight, and hope, while others — such as owls and vultures — have borne fearful connotations.
- Drastic declines and extinctions caused by unregulated hunting of birds for meat and of egrets for plumes in once-fashionable hats helped spur the conservation movement in the late 1800s.
Image
Caption
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Credit
MDC Staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Small, brown, ducklike birds, pied-billed grebes have thick bills with a dark ring in summer; the ring fades in winter.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
American White Pelican
Credit
MDC
Right to Use
Photo by MDC , courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Cormorants typically stand with wings outstretched: They are allowing their feathers to dry.
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Canada Goose
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Male and female mallard.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The male redhead is an attractive and distinctive duck, with its chestnut-red head, black breast, and gray body.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Bald eagles soar on wings held flat.This helps distinguish them from turkey vultures, which form a shallow V with their wings.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
A key to identifying adult red-tailed hawks in flight is the rufous tail.
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
With their numbers dwindling, greater prairie-chickens need strong conservation support.
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
An adult killdeer is dark brown above and white below, with two black bands on the breast.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The spotted sandpiper is known for its spotted breast, orange bill, and unique teetering, tail-bobbing gait.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The ring-billed gull is Missouri’s most common gull. Adults can be told from our other most common gulls by their yellow legs and yellow bill with a black ring near the tip.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Barred owls help keep rodent populations under control.
Credit
MDC Staff
Right to Use
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
Image
Caption
Although many people hear the evening calls of whip-poor-wills, few ever see them.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Because great crested flycatchers often perch high in trees, learn their distinctive voice and listen for them.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Loggerhead Shrike
Credit
Anonymous
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Singing an incessant series of question-and-answer homilies from dawn to dusk, even through the hottest of summer days, the red-eyed vireo has been called the “preacher bird.”
Credit
Anonymous
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Horned lark upperparts are sandy brown, with a thick black eye line that continues into a streak on the cheek. The black forehead and eyebrow line extends into short “horns” on the rear crown.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The barn swallow's deeply forked tail shape is easy to recognize.
Credit
Missouri Department of Conservation
Right to Use
Photo by Missouri Department of Conservation, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The black-capped chickadee is a favorite visitor to backyard bird feeders.
Credit
MDC Staff
Right to Use
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
Image
Caption
Carolina wrens are small, but they survive Missouri winters. Birds, like mammals, are “warm-blooded.”
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The northern mockingbird can sing endlessly, night and day, repeating phrases from the songs of other birds. Its white wing patches are conspicuous in flight.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
With their smooth gray, brown, yellow, and white, plus black, red, and yellow accents, waxwings are a joy to watch.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The rich, lazy song of the summer tanager is about 2 to 4 seconds long. It is a melodious, slurred, robinlike series, usually with a few "prit-ti-voy" phrases within it.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Male eastern towhees are black above. Underparts are white, with rusty sides and flanks.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
The male blue grosbeak is one of Missouri’s most colorful birds, but the species is uncommon.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Meadowlarks are stout, stocky birds with short tails, rounded wings, and long, sharp bills.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Red-winged Blackbird (male). Male red-winged blackbirds are all black, with a bright red shoulder patch bordered with yellow. Sometimes the shoulder patch is concealed. Their “konk-o-REEE” song likely emanates from every pond in Missouri.
Credit
MDC Staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Male Baltimore oriole.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
In the 1930s, Roger Tory Peterson said the male purple finch looked like “a Sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” They are really not purple at all.
Credit
Anonymous
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Look for indigo buntings and American feverfew in the same kinds of relatively open habitats.
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Turkey vulture
Credit
Noppadol Paothong
Right to Use
Photo by Noppadol Paothong, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Downy woodpecker (male)
Credit
MDC staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
Mourning dove
Credit
MDC staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
American goldfinch (male)
Credit
MDC staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
White-breasted nuthatch
Credit
MDC staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Caption
White-crowned sparrow
Credit
MDC staff
Right to Use
Photo by MDC staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Title
Resources
Link or File
Media
Missouri's Purple Martins562.92 KB
Description
Learn about the natural history of purple martins and how to attract this species to your property.