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Birds: Diet, Habitat, Adaptations

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Birds: Diet, Habitat, Adaptations

Read the information, then help Isla and Mele sort out how birds’ diets, habitats and adaptations are connected. Use evidence from the text.

Birds in Aotearoa New Zealand

At a natural history museum, Isla and Mele are studying birds that live in Aotearoa New Zealand. A habitat is the place where a living thing finds what it needs, such as food, water and shelter. Birds’ diets and habitats often help explain their adaptations—features or behaviours that help them survive. A tūī visits forests and parks, where it feeds on nectar from flowers and fruit. Its brush-tipped tongue helps it drink nectar. A kererū eats fruit and helps spread seeds: seeds may pass through its body and grow in new places. It has a strong beak for eating fruit. A pūkeko often lives in wetlands, where plants, shallow water and muddy edges provide food and shelter. It eats shoots, seeds and small animals. Its long toes help it walk over soft ground and floating plants. A pied shag fishes in coastal waters and estuaries. It dives to catch fish, using its streamlined body to move through water and its hooked bill to grip slippery prey. Feathers help birds fly, keep warm and protect their bodies. Not every adaptation is useful in every habitat: webbed feet can help a swimming bird, while long toes can help a bird walk on soft ground. Birds with different diets and ways of finding food may have different beaks.

Museum Sorting Challenge

Use the reading to complete each task.

1.What does the word habitat mean in the reading?

The place where a living thing finds what it needs
The shape of a bird’s beak
The food a bird eats

2.Match each bird with its main food described in the reading.

Tūī
Kererū
Pūkeko
Pied shag

Shoots, seeds and small animals
Nectar and fruit
Fruit
Fish

3.Isla says, “A kererū helps plants grow in new places.” Is this true or false? Explain how the bird helps.

4.Complete the sentence: A tūī’s brush-tipped tongue helps it drink from flowers.

5.Which feature helps a pūkeko walk over soft ground and floating plants?

Long toes
A brush-tipped tongue
A hooked bill

6.A pied shag catches fish underwater. Name one adaptation that helps it move through water and one that helps it grip fish.

7.Choose the best habitat for each bird from the reading: tūī, pūkeko and pied shag. Give one reason for each choice.

8.Mele thinks all birds should have the same beak because they are all birds. Use two examples from the reading to explain why different beaks can be helpful.

9.Name two jobs feathers do for birds, according to the reading.

10.Isla is making a museum label for a bird that lives around shallow wetlands and walks over soft ground. Which bird from the reading is the best match? Give one piece of evidence.