The Nose Has It!

Birds have external nostrils, called nares.  They are not always obvious, but in this picture of a seagull below, you can see the bird's left nare quite clearly.  It is the oval-shaped hole in the upper beak.

Seagulls and a couple of other bird families have unique nares, in that you they don't have a dividing wall between them (a septum).  So in gulls, like this one, you can look through one nostril and clear through to the other side.

Some birds, like adult cormorants, don't have functional nares.  This makes sense, because they are constantly diving and it wouldn't be healthy for water to flood their respiratory system through an open nare.

Most birds seem to have exposed nares, but some are covered with feathers.  The ptarmigan is one of these.  The theory behind this is that the feathers help warm the frigid, arctic air where ptarmigans live before being taken into the body.

Beaks & Bills - Part 3

Continuing in my series on beaks and bills, we are going to take a quick look at woodpeckers and pelicans today.

Woodpeckers obviously have specialized beaks.  They are short, strong, and chisel-shaped - perfect for pecking holes in trees.  They also use these tapered beaks to get  into and under the tree bark in order to find insects to eat.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers, who are in the woodpecker family, use their beaks to "drill" holes into trees until they can get to the sap running underneath.  Rather than sucking up the sap, as their name erroneously implies, they lap up the sap with their tongues.  (For a picture of their handiwork, go to this previous post:of mine, "Evidence of Wild Animals" and look at the last photo in the post, here:   http://foundonthetrail.blogspot.com/search/label/Amphibians .)
.
Compare those little beaks to the relatively enormous beaks of pelicans.  Pelican beaks have a flexible lower portion that can stretch and contract.  Look at the difference in beaks between these two pelicns in this picture below:

The lower bird has its beak neatly "folded", while the upper bird has just finished dipping his beak into the water, which is how they fish.  They scoop up fish and water - up to three gallons at a time.  The water drains out and the fish remain.

Beaks & Bills - Part 2

As I said in yesterday's post, some bird beaks are shaped to tear, such as this one (below).  This bald eagle was injured and is now a resident at a local zoo.  That is the only reason I was able to get such a clear shot of its beak with my camera.  You can see the sharp, pointed hook on the curved tip of the upper beak - the perfect tool to help birds of prey open their meals.  You also get a sense of how powerful this bird's beak really is when you look at it up close like this.

On the other hand, some birds have long, spear-like beaks, such as this great blue heron (below).  Heron's need such long, sharp bills for their water fishing.  They can actually spear their prey (usually fish) with their powerful, tapered beaks.

Their beak fits their carnivorous dietary requirements and their watery habitats.  That is why a much smaller, cone-shaped bill, such of that of the seed-eating grosbeak, wouldn't work on the heron.  Seeds are not generally what they are after. although they do consume them at times.

Beaks & Bills - Part 1

Can you identify this bird?  I couldn't, at first.  When I photographed it, it was too far away in the trees for me to see it properly.  When I saw this picture up close, thanks to the zoom feature in my photo program, I still had to stop and think about it.  The most easily identifiable feature of this bird was hidden from view on its breast, but I didn't know that.

The back view of this bird was not familiar to me.  All I could see was a black-head bird, a black back with white feathers, and whitish side breasts.  Woodpeckers have black and white backs, but this bird wasn't shaped like a woodpecker.  It was more round.  The beak really gave it away.  It is more massive than a woodpecker's beak.  Sure enough, when I did a little research, I was able to confirm that this is a Red-breasted grosbeak.

Had I seen it from the front, I would have been able to identify it very quickly.  To see what I mean, look here:  http://foundonthetrail.blogspot.com/search/label/Rose-breasted%20Grosbeak .

"Beak" is self-explanatory, but what about "gros"?  It comes from French, and means large, or thick.  Cardinals have this same powerful, cone-shaped beak.  It is a great for cracking open seeds, which is the main part of their diet.

Now take a look at this wren's bill, below.  ("Beak" and "bill" can be used interchangeably, but beaks are more for tearing, like an owl would do with their prey, and bills are more for catching insects from the air.)  You can see how thin and elongated this wren's bill is, compared to the grosbeak above.

Beak and bill shapes can reveal a lot about a bird's diet, and are key features to observe when you are trying to identify birds.