biomedicalephemera: Egg of a Phoebe and seven consecutive days of growth. Phoebes, like most passerines, are altricial birds. Another way that birds can be classified is whether they’re altricial (from Latin alere, meaning “to nurse, to nourish”), meaning they’re born helpless and blind, or precocial, where they’re relatively mature and mobile upon hatching.  The spectrum between altricial and precocial is wide, and there’s no set formula for which reproductive strategy birds use. In general, though, passerines (the perching or “song” birds), herons, woodpeckers, and birds of prey are altricial. Book of Birds Common to Town and Country. National Geographic Society, 1915.

biomedicalephemera:

Egg of a Phoebe and seven consecutive days of growth.

Phoebes, like most passerines, are altricial birds.

Another way that birds can be classified is whether they’re altricial (from Latin alere, meaning “to nurse, to nourish”), meaning they’re born helpless and blind, or precocial, where they’re relatively mature and mobile upon hatching. 

The spectrum between altricial and precocial is wide, and there’s no set formula for which reproductive strategy birds use. In general, though, passerines (the perching or “song” birds), herons, woodpeckers, and birds of prey are altricial.

Book of Birds Common to Town and Country. National Geographic Society, 1915.

Posted at 14:48 on 10 February 2012
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