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Birds
| Birds are members of the vertebrate class Aves that are bipedal, feathered, lay eggs, have forelimbs modified as wings, and are capable (most of them) of flight. There are about 9,750 living species. About 2,000 are threatened. They provide biocontrol of insects and rodents, pollination, seed dispersal, human food, decorative feathers, and aesthetic enjoyment. They can be transmitters of disease (avian flu) and crop pests. Hundreds of bird species migrate south to avoid the northern winter. Neotropical migrant wood warblers, waterfowl, shorebirds, as well as some raptors are the major migrants in the New World. For instance, over 20 million North American shorebirds head south in the winter. Bird migration poses unique multinational conservation issues-protecting northern breeding areas, multiple-stop flyways, and overwintering grounds. |  |
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Keywords class Aves, raptors, birds of prey, fauna, conservation, habitat, animals, ornithology, migratory birds, neotropical migrants, endemic, deforestation, habitat conversion, bird migrants, migratory routes, bird migration monitoring, bird species monitoring, flyways, global conservation, deforestation, light pollution, shorebirds, waterfowl, ducks, warblers |
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