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Bird Beaks: The Right Tool for the Job

An overview of beak anatomy, function, evolution, and diversity.

Episode:
86
Date:
November 10, 2023
Categories:

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Bird Beaks: The Right Tool for the Job

Summary

This episode is all about bird beaks.

This will be an overview of beak anatomy, function, evolution, and diversity.

The head of every bird on Earth is adorned with a beak. A bill. And to the delight of us all, those beaks come in a wild variety of shapes and colors.

Just picture the mugs of toucans, vultures, ducks, parrots, flamingos, and pelicans.

The diversity of beak shapes like these is one of the fascinating things about birds.

Birds use their beaks for all sorts of tasks. These appendages are vital tools, used for getting food, for grooming, for communication, and more.



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Research Citations

Photos

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica).
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) demonstrating rhynchokinesis. Photo by PotMart186/Wikimedia.
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) with Avian Keratin Disorder. Photo by Design Pics Inc/Alamy.
Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris). Illustration by Walter Buller, 1888.
Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans). Photo by Wim/Adobe.
White Storks (Ciconia ciconia). Photo by porojnicu/Envato.

Attributions

  • White Stork sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC824502)

This work by Ivan Phillipsen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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