Breathing in birds works by means of nine air sacs. The lung itself is immobile. The air is pumped through the lung via the air sacs, both during inhalation and exhalation. Part of the air sacs are connected with pneumatized (airfilled) bones, but not all bird bones are pneumatized.
During adolescense the process of increasing pneumatization of the skull roof can be observed in live birds through the thin scalp. This field practice is called skulling and is restricted to songbirds.
In this talk, Raffael Winkler, will explain us how the penumatization process works and give us real examples with his collection of bird skulls.
