Bird beaks

are adapted to

the food the bird eats.

by Moira Whitehouse PhD

The shape of the bird’s beak depends on what it eats.

Robins primarily eat worms buried in the soil or grass.

Their beaks are shaped to allow it to dig in the grass and pick up worms

Sparrows primarily eat seeds.

Their short, pointed, but powerful beaks are adapted to pick up and grind small seeds.

It has strong, pointed beak that it uses to drill into bark to find insects. It has a very long tongue with a glue-like substance on the tip for catching the insects.

A woodpecker mainly eat insects in the bark of trees.

A kind of shallow water duck feeds along the surface of the water or tips headfirst into the water to graze on plants that live in the water. They also forage on land for seeds and insects.

These ducks have flat, broad bills that scoop up water plants. Their bill has rows of notches to help the duck grip its food so that it does not slip off.

The hummingbird has a long pointed beak which he uses like a straw to suck nectar out of a flower.

Birds of prey use their strong curved beaks to catch their prey and tear it apart.

adapted

However, they do have beaks that allow them to get food and/or to tear it up, crack it open or grind it up.

Since all birds do not eat the same kind of food, each species has a special beak that is adapted to getting and eating the kind of food they most often eat.

Birds do not have teeth.