Piping Plover
                       Charadrius melodus

Habitat: Breed mostly along the  Atlantic coast, from South Carolina northward to eastern Canada and the French Islands of Pierre and Miquelon.

Domain: Eukaya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Charadrius
Species: melodus

     The piping plover has bilateral symmetry.  They have a sand-colored upper body, a white underside, and orange legs.  One structural adaptation is that their sand color makes them harder to see on the ground.  Another structural adaptation is that they do not have teeth, so they use their gizzard to help digest food.  A functional adaptation is that the adults will fake a broken wing, drawing attention to itself and away from their chicks when a predator is near.  An interesting fact about the piping plover is they will sometimes extend one foot out into wet sand and vibrate it to scare up food items.  This is a foraging technique known as foot-trembling.  Their predators are gulls, crows, skunks, coyotes, raccoons, and foxes.  Their prey are insects, spiders, and crustaceans.  They are heterotrophic and endothermic. 

Spartina Grass

Spartina alterniflora

Spartina grass can be found in brackish marshes, and mud flats.  Spartina Grass is tall and smooth and can grow anywhere from 6 inches to 7 feet.  Its domain is Eukarya, its kingdom is Plantae, its phylum is Magnoliophyta,its class is Liliopsida, its order is Cyperales, its family is Polacca,its genus is Alterniflora, its species is Spartina, and its habitat are Brackish Marshes.  Spartina Grass is an Autotroph.  It has asymmetry and is ectothermic.  Spartina Grass has several adaptations.  A structural adaptation is it’s stem is hollow to float on the water, its grows tall in order to reach the sun and it has small pores to filter the brackish water.  Spartina Grass has no prey - it makes its own food!  Predators of Spartina Grass include clams, oysters, mussels, snails and crabs.  Sometimes it can be found in large clumps, floating on the water. I found this photo from davesgarden.com.

Humans

Homo sapiens

Humans were everywhere on our field trip.  Humans have adapted to living everywhere except Antarctica.  The human has a head, 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 feet, hair, and can be white, tan , black, or brown.  Their domain is Eukarya, kingdom is Animalia, phylum is Chordata, class Mammalia, order Primata, family is Hominidae, genus is Homo, and species is Sapiens.  They are heterotrophs, are endothermic, and have bilateral symmetry.  A structural adaptation is that they have thumbs so they can grab things, they have a great eyesight so they can see around them, and have ears to hear around them.  Humans eat fish, red meat, fruits, and vegetables.  Since the human is the apex consumer no other animal has a human on their diet.  Some humans have lived for over a 110 years!     

                                                        Eastern Oyster
                         Crassostrea virigica


Habitat:  along eastern North America from Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico.

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class:  Bivalvia
Order:  Ostreoida
Family:  Ostreidae
Genus:  Crassostrea
Species:  virginica

     The eastern oyster is asymmetrical.  A structural adaptation is they have thicker shells that are defense against predators.  A behavioral adaptation is that they use their gills to absorb oxygen and strain food from the water.  A functional adaptation is that they make small pearls to surround particles that come in the shell.  An interesting fact about the eastern oyster is that they prevent erosion.  Their prey are plankton.  Their predators are the parasites that cause infection and humans.  They are heterotrophic and ectothermic.

Mason Nistad-Blue Crab

Mason Nistad

Blue Crab

Callinectes sapidus

A blue crab is a crab with a muddy green top shell with hints of bright blue on its claw. Like every other animal they belong to the 8 groups of classification. Its domain is Eukarya, its kingdom is Animalia, its phylum is Arthropoda, its class is Malacostraca, its order is Decapoda, its family is Portunidae, its genus is Callinectes and its species is sapidus. You can find the blue crab in Cape Cod all the way to Uruguay. More specifically you can find the crab in habitats ranging from the saltiest water of the gulf to almost fresh water of the back bays. Especially common in estuaries, this species ranges into fresh water, and may be found offshore. A behavioral adaptation of the Blue Crab is it is aggressive when it is threatened. A structural adaptation of this organism is they have pincers  so the blue crab can defend itself and grab things more easily. A functional adaptation is that the Blue Crab can go down more than 30  miles under the water. The Blue Crab eats mussels, clams,and oysters.. This means that the Crab is heterophic. It is threatened by the ed Drum Fish, Atlantic Croaker, herons, sea turtles, and humans. The blue crab is ​ectothermic and bilateral. This means that if you cut the Blue Crab in half and fold it, it would match up perfectly.

This picture is from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callinectes_sapidus

Mason Nistad-Laughing Gull

Mason Nistad

Laughing Gull

The laughing gull is a pretty small black and white bird with an orange-ish beak and black legs. You can find the laughing gull on beaches and estuary islands. Laughing gulls are mostly found all over the east coast. Every animal belongs to 8 groups of classification. Its domain is Eukarya, its kingdom is Animalia, its phylum is Chordata, its class is Aves, its order is Charadriiformes, its family is Laridae, its genus is Larus and its species is atricilla. This organism is endothermic,heterotrophic and has bilateral symmetry. An interesting fact about this organism is that it is very noisy and can scare away many animals with its loud sounds, that is also a behavioral adaptation that it has. Another behavioral adaptation it has is its aggressiveness that helps it snatch food from other animals and fly off fast with it.The last adaptation it has, which is structural, is its small body, but long wingspan. Its long wingspan helps it glide through the air and helps it fly really fast.(Especially after it takes another bird's food.) The laughing gull eats insects, crabs, fish, and shellfish, and raccoons and  owls is what eats it.

This picture is from:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laughing_Gull_(Leucophaeus_atricilla)_RWD1.jpg

Delsy Daly     6-3

Royal Tern

     This type of bird lives along the East coast, the Gulf of Mexico, around California, and down south. The domain is Eukarya, the kingdom Animalia, the phylum is Chordata, the class is Aves, the order is Charadriiformers, the family is Laridae, the genus is Thalasseus, and the species is maximus. They have a orange beak, has short,little black hair on the back of its head, a white neck, and the rest of the body is gray. The Royal Tern can eat small fish, shrimp, and they are also heterotrophic. The female lays one egg or more, their length can be up to eighteen to twenty inches long, and their wingspan can be up to forty-nine to fifty-two inches long. Both parents help keep the eggs incubated for thirty to thirty-one days, all of the Royal Tern eat near the shore, close to the beach. Last but not least, both parents defecating around the nest. Defecating means poop. When that dries, it could be used for protection around the nest.