"Birds are living dinosaurs, just as we are mammals," said Julia Clarke, a paleontologist studying the evolution of flight and a professor with the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

In spite of the physical differences that distinguish all mammals from other species, every animal in that group — living and extinct — can trace certain anatomical characteristics to a common ancestor. And the same is true for birds, Clarke told Live Science.

"They're firmly nested in that one part of the dinosaur tree," she said. "All of the species of birds we have today are descendants of one lineage of dinosaur: the theropod dinosaurs."

https://www.livescience.com/are-birds-dinosaurs.html

Think I'll go with the paleontologist on this one.