Mexican+Jay+Bird

=**Mexican Jay Bird**= //aphelocoma ultramarina//

Scientific Classification:

 * Domain || Eukaryote ||
 * Kingdom || Animalia ||
 * Phylum || Chordata ||
 * Class || Aves ||
 * Order || Passeriformes ||
 * Family || Corvidae ||
 * Genus || Aphelocoma ||
 * Species || A. ultramarina ||

Habitat:
This bird can be found in Mexico. It lives in open woodland and in pine and oak trees. They are also common in suburban areas and city parks. The climate is hot in the summer and it rains in the winter. The Mexican Jay Bird eats acorns, pinyon nuts, anthropods, and lizards.

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Anatomical features: The ﻿physiological structure ﻿ of birds﻿﻿' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight. Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatorty and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly. The development of a beak has led to evolution of a specially adapted digestive system. ======

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Respiratory system: Due to their high metabolic rate required for flight, birds have a high oxygen demand. Development of an efficient respiratory system enabled the evolution of flight in birds. Birds ventilate their lungs by means of air sacs. ======

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Digestive system: Many birds possess a muscular pouch along the esophagus called a crop. The crop functions to both soften food and regulate its flow through the system by storing it temporarily. Birds possess a ventriculus, or gizzard, composed of four muscular bands that rotate and crush food by shifting the food from one area to the next within the gizzard. The gizzard of some species contains small pieces of grit or stone swallowed by the bird to aid in the grinding process of digestion, serving the function of mammalian or reptilian teeth. ======

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Circulatory system: Birds have a four-chambered heart, in common with humans, most mammals, and some reptiles (namely the crocodilia ). This adaptation allows for an efficient nutrient and oxygen transport throughout the body, providing birds with energy to fly and maintain high levels of activity. ======

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Skeletal system: Most birds have approximately 175 different muscles, mainly controlling the wings, skin, and legs. The largest muscles in the bird are the pectorals, or the breast muscles, which control the wings and make up about 15 - 25% of a flighted bird’s body weight. The supracoracoideus and the pectorals together make up about 25 – 35% of the bird's full body weight. ======

Species Interactions:
Blue jays use bobbing motions when courting and when fighting. A signal of submission may be the "body-fluff" when the bird crouches down and fluffs up its feathers, holding the crest erect. Blue jays have many calls. The one that is probably most familiar is the "jay" call for which it is named. This probably attracts other jays to join a flock or serves as an alarm call. Another call sounds like a rusty pump handle, and another sounds like a bell. Blue jays also make rattling sounds. In the spring you can hear very soft singing.

**Reproduction:**
Birds reproduce by sexual reproduction. Many birds have courtship rituals. Male and female birds from many bird species develop pair bonds. They actually remain with one another throughout the reproductive season. The male bird's sexual organs consist of paired testes. The female bird's sexual organs consist of only a left ovary and oviduct. This left ovary and oviduct is the only functional ovary that the female birds have.

[[image:http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGIuRC9CYf4swkbRBB5D9NoXph3YWgRAavaBEAA4c5Ob9Ll4CU width="143" height="143"]]
A famous painting of a blue bird.

Works Cited:
[|www.wikipedia.com] [|www.allaboutbirds.org] [|www.ehow.com] [|www.biokids.umich.edu]