Exercises

1. Translate the following words into Russian:

Prey, primarily, keen, sense, vision, define, talon, relatively, large, powerful adapted, tearing, piercing, flesh, female, rapere, insect, ornithology, definition, eyesight, curved, beak, generally, size, carrion, occasionally, vulture, condor, feed, eat, definition, eyesight, strong, feet, holding, curved, tearing, flesh, relative, occasionally, vulture, condor, carrion, exclude, stork, and gulls, which can eat quite large fish, partly because these birds catch and entirely, similarly, bird-eating, skua, fish-eating, penguin, kookaburra, diurnal, formally, currently, accipitridae, hawk, eagle, buzzard, harrier, kite,

observation, otherwise, unrelated, perform, ecological, role, bear, striking, similarity, explain, concept, convergent, evolution, common, reflect relationship.

2. Give Russian equivalents of the following word combinations:

Birds of prey, hunt for food, primarily on the wing, especially vision, including other birds, relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing, larger than the males, specifically to the diurnal group, a wide meaning, very small insects, very good eyesight, for finding food, strong feet for holding food, strong curved beak for tearing flesh, strong curved talons, for catching or killing prey, prey on vertebrates, their main food source, storks and gulls, large fish, catch and kill prey, diurnal birds of prey, five families, unrelated bird groups, similar ecological roles, bear striking morphological, common names, various birds of prey, evolutionary relationships, between the groups.

3. Put special questions to the following sentences:

1. Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision.2.The term "raptor" is derived from the Latin word rapere and may refer informally to all birds of prey, or specifically to the diurnal group.3. Most birds of prey also have strong curved talons for catching or killing prey. Birds of prey generally prey on vertebrates, which are usually quite large relative to the size of the bird. 4.The diurnal birds of prey are formally classified into five families (traditionally of the order 5.The common names for various birds of prey are based on structure but many of the traditional names do not reflect the evolutionary relationships between the groups.

4. Give the definitions:

Birds of prey, raptor, strong curved talons of the birds.

5. Retell the text

Text 10: Variations of birds in shape and size

E agles tend to be large birds with long, broad wings and massive feet. Booted Eagles have legs and feet feathered to the toes and build very large stick nests.

Ospreys, a single species found worldwide that specializes in catching fish, and builds large stick nests.

Kites have long wings and relatively weak legs. They spend much of their time soaring. They will take live vertebrate prey but mostly feed on insects or even carrion.

The true Hawks are medium-sized birds of prey that usually belong to the genus Accipiter.. They are mainly woodland birds that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch. They usually have long tails for tight steering.

Buzzards are medium-large raptors with robust bodies and broad wings, or, alternatively, any bird of the genus Buteo (also commonly known as "hawks" in North America).

Harriers are large, slender hawk-like birds with long tails and long thin legs. Most use a combination of keen eyesight and hearing to hunt small vertebrates, gliding on their long broad wings and circling low over grasslands and marshes.

Vultures are carrion-eating raptors of two distinct biological families,

each occurring in only the Eastern Hemisphere (Accipitridae) or the Western (Cathartidae). Members of both groups have heads either partly or fully devoid of feathers.

F alcons are medium-size birds of prey with long pointed wings. Unlike most other raptors, they belong to the Falconidae, rather than the Accipitridae. Many are particularly swift flyers. Instead of building their own nests, falcons appropriate old nests of other birds, but sometimes they lay their eggs on cliff ledges or in tree hollows. Caracaras are a distinct subgroup of the Falconidae unique to the New World, and most common in the Neotropics – their broad wings, naked faces and appetites of a generalist suggest some level of convergence with either the Buteos or the vulturine birds, or both

Owls are variable-sized, typically night-specialized hunting birds. They fly almost silently due to special feather structure to reduce turbulence. They have particularly acute hearing.

Exercises