The History And Evolution Of Birds
Birds came to be as far back as 150 to 200 million years ago in the pre-historic era of dinosaurs. They originated from a breed of bipedal dinosaurs that were, oddly enough, carnivorous. They have been a part of man’s home life for over 5,000 years and have been used as a collector’s item, as food and as a pet. To this day, over 10,000 breeds of birds have been discovered and documented.
The first documented situation where domestic chickens were involved dates back 5000 years ago in the land of India. Since then, the bird has been a great part of society. To begin with, falcons were used long ago as messengers and also as great hunting companions for man.
They were mostly functional animals to humans until more exotic and colorful breeds of birds were discovered. As far back as 4000 BC, Egyptian rulers and elite began collecting these exotic birds as an exclusive hobby because it showed wealth and prosperity. The Greek civilization era also used exotic birds as a sign of prosperity and the more one had, the wealthier they were considered.
Soon enough, more breeds of birds began to be discovered and were used as high-end gifts for the wealthy and noble. Christopher Columbus, for example, brought back Queen Isabella some Amazon parrots that he discovered during a voyage to the Caribbean and told her and the rest of the New World that the natives kept them as domesticated pets. The Inca Empire also had a large collection of parrots that roamed freely in their airspace and some of their feathers were used by their rulers when they conquered inland communities as a sign of dominance and loyalty.
Birds are warm-blooded animals that walk, swim or fly. Walking species include ostrich, chicken and other domesticated birds. Ducks and swans are examples of those that swim and many other breeds are known for flying. Flying birds are known to have excellent sight, like in the case of the eagle, to hunt for food from the ground. Wings are modified limbs on birds and these enable them to fly. The have toothless beaks and they also have webbed or clawed feet which are used to either wade in water or to hold on to tree branches or other surfaces depending on their habitat of choice. They feed on insect larvae, which is the cocooned state that caterpillars usually are in before they turn into butterflies. They reproduce by laying eggs which will hatch into chicks.
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