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A comprehensive listing of all the bird species confirmed in the United States follows. It includes species from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as of July 2022. Species confirmed in other U.S. territories are also included with other "as of" dates.
The scientific question of within which larger group of animals birds evolved has traditionally been called the "origin of birds". The present scientific consensus is that birds are a group of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs that originated during the Mesozoic Era.
In this list of birds by common name, a total of 10,976 extant and recently extinct (since 1500) bird species are recognised. Species marked with a "†" are extinct. [1] This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
May 1, 2024 · Bird, any of the more than 10,400 living species unique in having feathers, the major characteristic that distinguishes them from other animals. They are warm-blooded vertebrates more related to reptiles than mammals. Learn more about birds in this article.
Bird anatomy, or 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 circulatory and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly.
Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds.
The origin of birds is one of the most interesting questions in palaeontology and evolution. Birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs during the Mesozoic era. Thomas Henry Huxley ("Darwin's bulldog"), who was a comparative anatomist, made a study of this nearly 150 years ago.
