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Bird Adaptations

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Beaks• Probing – hummingbird• Drilling – woodpecker• Cracking – macaw, finch• Spearing – great blue heron• Tearing – hawk• Filtering - duck

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Probing beak• The hummingbird’s

beak allow it to sip nectar from flowers. Some birds have probing beaks that allow them to find food in sand or mud.

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Drilling beak• Also referred to

as a chisel-type beak, a woodpecker can locate and extract insects below the surface of a tree’s bark.

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Cracking beak• Many birds that

eat seeds must be able to crack open the hull that surrounds the seed. Birds such as finches and sparrows do this.

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Spearing Beak• These birds have a

beak with serrated edges and a hooked tip that helps them catch fish or minnows. The heron is such a bird.

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Tearing Beak• Birds of prey such

as the eagle, hawk, falcon, and owl use their beak to tear their food into small pieces they can swallow.

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Filtering Beak• The bill of a duck

is fringed to allow mud and water to escape while straining plants, seeds, and small animals for it to eat.

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Beaks 1st Trial 2nd Trail 3rd Trial 4th Trial 5th Trial Average

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Activities• http://askeric.org/Virtual/Lessons/

Science/Biological/BIO0116.html - Animal Adaptations: Focus on Bird Beaks

• http://www.tenet.edu/teks/science/stacks/instruct/vistas/5th_grade.html - Eaks! Beaks!

• http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/pershing/birds/designabird.htm - Design a Bird