Birds of Prey Vocabulary

Aves -the Latin word for birds; a special class of vertebrates

Binocular vision - seeing only one object at a time; both eyes focus on the same object

Bird of prey - a carnivorous bird (hawk, falcon, eagle, etc.) that kills and eats small mammals and other birds

Carrion - decaying flesh of a dead body

Cere - fleshy area above the beak, where the nostrils of most birds are located

Contour feathers - stiff feathers designed to cover the wings and body of a bird

Crop - a large sac between the esophagus and stomach that stores food until the bird is ready to begin digestion

Down feathers - fluffy feathers designed to help insulate and keep a bird warm

Drag - anything that hinders or hampers the speed; something that pulls you down

Fledge - the rearing of a young bird until it has grown its feathers and is able to fly and leave the nest

Flight feathers - special contour feathers that help a bird get off the ground, move in the air, and land safely

Fovea - a rodless area of the retina enabling a bird of prey acute vision

Gizzard - a special muscle of the stomach that helps the digestive process by grinding and crushing hard-to-digest food; acts like teeth

Keratin - a tough, fibrous protein; the basic substance of hair, nails, horns, feathers, shafts, etc.

Molt - to shed feathers, skin, horns, etc. before replacement with new growth

Monocular vision - seeing two different objects at the same time; a different object per eye

Nictitating membrane - a transparent third eyelid hinged at the lower lid of the eye of raptors, and closes laterally across the eye

Ornithologist - an individual that studies birds

Pellet - the unusable and undigested material that a bird cannot process for nutrients, and is regurgitated in the form of a pellet

Preening - a process that most birds do with an oil secreted from a special gland; involves rubbing the oil over its feathers to protect them

Raptor - of or belonging to a group of birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles, falcons, vultures, owls, etc.; Latin word meaning to seize or capture

Shaft - the stem of a feather; the hollow tube that holds the feathers together and in place

Talons - the lethal weapons of raptors; powerful feet with toes (usually three or four) having sharp ends

Vertebrates - an animal with a backbone or spinal column

Warm-blooded - being able to control and maintain a constant body temperature even when the temperature of the environment changes

Wings - either of the paired organs of flight of a bird, bat, insect, etc.