Bird Beak / Bill Types Flashcards
What birds have a probing shaped bill and what do they eat?
long and thin, designed to probe into small places (flowers, holes, etc)
- Recurved: Curving upwards (upturned)
- Pied Avocet, Terek Sandpiper
- Decurved: Curving downwards
- Sunbirds, Ibis’s, Hoopoes, etc
- Straight: long and uncurved
- Snipes, many sandpipers, etc
What birds have a stabbing shaped bill and what do they eat?
Long, straight and sharp
- African Darter, Herons, Kingfishers, etc
Mainly eat fish
What birds have a conical shaped bill and what do they eat?
Short and stout
- Seed-huskers – finches, weavers, etc
How are raptor beaks shaped and what are they designed for?
Strongly hooked, powerful, for tearing meat
- Raptors (Birds of Prey)
What birds have pointed bills and what do they eat?
Fairly short, tweezer shaped bills – often found on insectivorous birds. Is also a good “generalist” bill shape, being suitable for feeding on seeds and fruit as well
- Flycatchers, Cisticolas, warblers, doves, bulbuls etc
What birds have hooked bills and what do they eat?
More slender than the raptor bills, but also with a slight hook at the end of the bill – suitable for gripping and tearing apart prey items. Usually found on birds that hunt larger insects, small reptiles or small mammals
- Shrikes, rollers, drongos, etc
What birds have chisel shaped bills and what do they eat?
Strong, straight, broad at the base – suitable for excavating wood for prey location or nest building
- Woodpeckers
Eat mainly arthropods: insects and their larvae, worms etc
What birds have latterally flattened bills and what do they eat?
e.g. ducks, bill used to “dabble” for insects, tadpoles, crustaceans and plant material.
What birds are filter feeders and what do they eat?
Flamingo, micro-organism rich water is pumped through cilia on the edge of the bill, food particles are retained by the cilia and eaten. The bill of the Spoonbill, although similar to this is not actually a true filter feeding bill, it is supplied with many nerve endings, the bird sifts through the water and food items are sensed by these nerve endings
What birds have spatulate bills and what do they eat?
Spoon shaped, for filtering small organisms from mud
- African Spoonbill
What birds have skimmer shaped bills and what do they eat?
The lower mandible of the African Skimmer is triangular in cross section and longer than the top mandible. The top mandible fits into the lower section when closed. During feeding the African Skimmer flies low over the water surface with its elongated lower mandible in the water, if a fish is encountered it is quickly caught between the mandibles and swallowed.
What birds have sac shaped bills and what do they eat?
The large sac like bill of the Pelican is used to trap fish . The bird will dive into a shoal of fish and catch fish in its bill in much the same way as a fishing net is used.
