OutdoorNebraska

A ll birds have feathers. And, wings. All birds have feet, eyes and beaks, too. But, why do some birds have huge beaks and others have tiny ones. And, why are some curved while others are straight. Looking at a bird's beak can be incredibly interesting and give you clues about bird adaptations. Let's take a look at five different birds – bald eagle, rose-breasted grosbeak, red-headed woodpecker, wood duck and long-billed curlew. The beak of each of these species is designed to do one thing – help the bird eat. But, a quick glance will show five very different beak shapes. If they are all designed to help the bird eat, why are they all so different? The answer is in what the bird eats. Let's start by looking at the bald eagle. This large, majestic bird feeds on other animals. It uses its large, powerful talons to capture prey. It is well known that bald eagles eat a lot of fish, but they will also eat rabbits, muskrats, snakes and even amphibians. Once they have captured their prey, they use their talons to carry it to a safe place. Then, they use their large, curved beak to tear apart their meal. Think of their talons and beak as a fork and knife. If the bald eagle had a beak that was long and skinny, they would not be able to rip and eat large prey. Now, how about the rose-breasted grosbeak. Not only is this species much smaller that the bald eagle, but its beak is way different! It is not sharp and curved like the bald eagles, but that is because the rose-breasted grosbeak does not eat the same thing. This songbird is a seed eater. Its short, fat beak is designed for cracking and shelling seeds. Watch a grosbeak at a feeder and you will see it carefully grab one seed with its beak, twist the seed and cautiously crack it open. Then, it will spit out the shell and eat the seed inside. That is hard enough for humans to do with hands, yet this bird does it efficiently with only its beak. That's because the shape of the beak is adapted specifically for eating seeds. The red-headed wood- pecker, on the other hand, does not eat fish or seeds. It prefers to feed on insects found inside the wood of DECODING DECODING BIRD BEAKS BIRD BEAKS Bald Eagle Rose-breasted Grosbeak Red-headed Woodpecker Long-billed Curlew Wood Duck 10 — BIRDOLOGY: A Kid's Book About Birds

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