What are the most distinctive physical features of birds? Any five-year-old kid should be able to

answer that question, right? Birds have wings, feathers, and beaks. 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.

Yes, there are some non-avian critters out there with beak-like structures in the vicinity of their mouth

holes. Turtles have beaks, octopuses and squid have beaks, some fish have them, and a bunch of dinosaurs had them, too.

There are even some mammals that have beaks of a sort, you know, like the duck-billed platypus

and the short beaked echidna. But the bills of birds differ from those of all other living animals.

They have a unique origin and a unique anatomical structure.

Birds use their beaks for all sorts of tasks.

These appendages are vital tools used for getting food, for grooming, for communication, and more.

Without a beak, how could a woodpecker excavate a rotting tree to find beetle grubs? Without a beak, how could a hummingbird probe deep

into a flower to suck out the sweet nectar? Or without a beak, how could an angry Canada goose

in your neighborhood park chase you around and

bite you on the shin hard enough to draw blood?

Hello and welcome. This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode, which is number 86, is all about bird beaks. This will be an overview of beak anatomy, function, evolution, and diversity. My supporters on Patreon helped me

choose the topic for this episode. As one perk they get for being paying supporters, my patrons get to

vote in polls. For this episode, the choice was between the digestive system and bird beaks.

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