Tropical Habitats

• Lush tropical vegetation can support large bird populations.rainforest image by Aleksander from Fotolia.com
  
  Avian species must maintain a constant body temperature between 105.8 and 110.3 Fahrenheit in orderly to properly function. Smaller birds tend to lose body heat faster than larger ones. This trait is indicated by the high concentration of small birds in tropical environments. Smaller birds must also eat more than their larger counterparts, making their habitats of tropical forests logical.
  
  

Tropical Flightless Birds

• The ostrich is the most easily recognized flightless bird.ostrich image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
  
  Birds that have evolved to become flightless are part of a group known as ratites. These birds have instead developed other ways to evade predators such as camouflage or increased size and speed. Such birds include ostriches, rheas, emus, cassowaries, kiwis and tinamous. Scientists theorize that the first flightless birds developed on remote tropical islands and a result of narrowing predation.
  
  

Beak Development

• This beak has be specially developed to extract nectar from flowers.hummingbird on a branch image by Clarence Alford from Fotolia.com
  
  Tropical birds have developed a wide array of beak formations to handle the available nutrients of their environments. Coastal tropical birds have long, sharp beaks for spear fishing, such as the darters of South America and Africa. In East Africa the spoonbill has a beak that is represented perfectly by its name. By swinging its beak through the water it collects aquatic insects and small fish. Other tropical birds have small sharp beaks for collecting berries and small insects.
  
  

Senses

• Many tropical birds do not use sense of smell at all.pelican beak image by Xavier MARCHANT from Fotolia.com
  
  Birds have developed incredibly keen senses with which to judge their surroundings. The calls of tropical birds are not only beautiful, but also play a valid role in keep individuals close in dense foliage. For birds, their strongest sense is their sense of sight. They possess color vision, and some can see a full 360 range. Hearing is the second most sensitive sense. The least sensitive is their sense of smell, which some birds do not use at all.
  
  

Breeding

• It is common for more than one bird to tend to a nest in tropical environments.bird nest image by Andrew Gentry from Fotolia.com
  
  Amongst tropical birds, it is common to have more than one individual attending a single nest. This strategy is known as cooperative breeding and is predominant among birds in warmer climates. The care for the young last longer than among colder-climate birds. In tropical environments resources are more abundant, making survival more likely. There are fewer vacancies within the population, encouraging cooperative breeding.