Their tools
Thursday, August 31, 2006
The various shaped beaks all have one thing in common - they perform specific functions. Most were shaped by eating habits, though some hornbill species use their great and gaudy bills as a defence against marauding monkeys andsnakes, while the toucan's lobster-claw beak serves as a mark of recognition and may figure in courtship display. The carrion eating king vulture and the caracara havesharp hooks atthe tips of their beaks for tearing hides and meat. the shoebill's beak also ends in a hook, but it is flat and serrated as an aid in holding sleppery frogs. the parakeet's strongcurved bill is well adaptedfor cracking seeds, goaging out chunks of fruit and even for climbing. the protruding lower half of the black skimmer's trowel like beak is useful for scooping up fish out of water.
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posted by wengchun @ 8:09 AM,
