The bill of a scavenger—the vulture.

The bill and knob of a domesticated Chinese goose, highly exaggerated by farm selection.

Northern Gannets billing.

The bill of the Greater Flamingo

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which, in addition to eating, is used for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, probing for food, courtship, and feeding their young. The term also refers to a similar mouthpart in some cephalopods and cetaceans. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2336x2336, 4052 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Beak User:Thermos Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2336x2336, 4052 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Beak User:Thermos Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Orders Falconiformes (Fam. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1440x960, 746 KB) Summary Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1440x960, 746 KB) Summary Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Domesticated geese are descendants of wild geese now kept as poultry. ... Image File history File links Morus_bassanus_billing. ... Image File history File links Morus_bassanus_billing. ... Binomial name Morus bassanus Linnaeus, 1758 Northern Gannet range The Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus, formerly Sula bassana) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1750x1216, 308 KB) Greater Flamingo at Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1750x1216, 308 KB) Greater Flamingo at Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. ... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... A domestic cat grooming itself by licking its fur clean Personal grooming, sometimes called preening, or simply grooming, is the art of cleaning, grooming, and maintaining parts of the body. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Orders Subclass Nautiloidea †Plectronocerida †Ellesmerocerida †Actinocerida †Pseudorthocerida †Endocerida †Tarphycerida †Oncocerida †Discosorida Nautilida †Orthocerida †Ascocerida †Bactritida Subclass †Ammonoidea †Goniatitida †Ceratitida †Ammonitida Subclass Coleoidea †Belemnoidea †Aulacocerida †Belemnitida †Hematitida †Phragmoteuthida Neocoleoidea (most living cephalopods) ?†Boletzkyida Sepiida Sepiolida Spirulida Teuthida Octopoda Vampyromorphida The cephalopods (Greek plural (kephalópoda); head-foot) are the mollusk class... Suborders Mysticeti Odontoceti (see text) The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. ...

A- Nectar feeding (eg: Sunbird) B- Insectivore (eg: Flycatcher) C- Granivore (eg: Grosbeak) D- Specialist seed eater (eg: Crossbill) E- Fishing (eg: Kingfisher) F- Netting (eg: Pelican) G- Filter feeding (eg: Flamingo) H- Surface probing (eg: Avocet) I- Probing (eg: Ibisbill) J- Surface skimming (eg: Skimmer) K- Raptor

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Anatomy

Beaks can vary significantly in size and shape from species to species. The beak is composed of an upper jaw called the maxilla, and a lower jaw called the mandible. The jaw is made of bone, typically hollow or porous to conserve weight for flying. The outside surface of the beak is covered by a thin horny sheath of keratin called the rhamphotheca. Between the hard outer layer and the bone is a vascular layer containing blood vessels and nerve endings. The rhamphotheca also includes the knob which is found above the beak of some swans, such as the Mute Swan, and some domesticated Chinese geese (pictured). The maxillae are the largest bones of the face, except for the mandible, and form, by their union, the whole of the upper jaw. ... The mandible (from Latin mandibÅ­la, jawbone) or inferior maxillary bone is, together with the maxilla, the largest and strongest bone of the face. ... Microscopy of keratin filaments inside cells. ... f you all The blood vessels are part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body. ... Binomial name (Gmelin, 1789) Synonyms Anas olor Gmelin, 1789 Cygnus olor immutabilis var. ... Domesticated geese are descendants of wild geese now kept as poultry. ...

The beak has two holes called nares (nostrils) which connect to the hollow inner beak and thence to the respiratory system. The nares are usually located directly above the beak. In some birds, they are located in a fleshy, often waxy structure at the base of the beak called the cere (from Latin cera). Hawks, parrots, doves, skuas, and budgerigars are among the birds that have ceres. Budgerigars are dimorphic in that the males' ceres turn bright blue upon maturity, while the females' ceres turn tan. The female budgies' ceres also appear wrinkled, to a greater extent during periods of fertility. Immature budgies have pale pinkish ceres which are smooth and shiny. This article is about nares, the scientific term for a birds or a frogs([[for Mr. ... A nostril is one of the two channels of the nose, from the point where they bifurcate to the external opening. ... Human respiratory system The lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Genera Accipiter Micronisus Melierax Urotriorchis Erythrotriorchis The term hawk refers to birds of prey in any of three senses: Strictly, to mean any of the species in the bird sub-family Accipitrinae in the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. ... It has been suggested that True parrots be merged into this article or section. ... Subfamilies see article text Feral Rock Pigeon beside Weiming Lake, Peking University Dove redirects here. ... For other uses: see Skua (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805) The Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus, nicknamed budgie), the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus, is a small parrot belonging to the tribe of the broad-tailed parrots (Platycercini); these are sometimes considered a subfamily (Platycercinae), which may be correct, in which the budgerigar is... Female (left) and male Common Pheasant, illustrating the dramatic difference in both color and size, between the sexes Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. ...

On some birds, the tip of the beak is hard, dead tissue used for heavy-duty tasks such as cracking nuts or killing prey. On other birds, such as ducks, the tip of the bill is sensitive and contains nerves, for locating things by touch. The beak is worn down by use, so it grows continuously throughout the bird's life.

Unlike jaws with teeth, beaks are not used for chewing. Birds swallow their food whole, which is broken up in the gizzard. The gizzard is an adapted stomach that is found in birds, earthworms, and other animals. ...

Examples of birds with unusual beaks include the hummingbird, the toucan and the spoonbill. Subfamilies Phaethornithinae Trochilinae For a taxonomic list of genera, see: List of hummingbirds in taxonomic order For an alphabetic species list, see: Alphabetic species list Hummingbirds are small birds in the family Trochilidae, native only to the Americas. ... Genera Andigena Aulacorhynchus Baillonius Pteroglossus Ramphastos Selenidera Toucans are near passerine birds from the neotropics. ... Genera and Species See text Spoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises. ...

Billing

During courtship, mated pairs of a variety of bird species touch and clasp each other's bills. This is called billing, and appears to strengthen the pair bond (Terres, 1980). Gannets raise their bills high and repeatedly clatter them (pictured); the male puffin nibbles at the female's beak; the male waxwing puts his bill in the female's mouth; and ravens hold each other's beaks in a prolonged "kiss". In biology, a pair bond is the strong affinity that develops in some species between the male and female in a breeding pair. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Species Fratercula arctica Fratercula corniculata Fratercula cirrhata For prehistoric species, see article text. ... Species B. garrulus B. cedrorum The waxwings are a group of passerine birds characterised by soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. ... Species See text. ...

See also

• Bird anatomy

External anatomy of a typical bird 1 Beak, 2 Head, 3 Iris, 4 Pupil, 5 Mantle, 6 Lesser coverts, 7 Scapulars, 8 Coverts, 9 Tertials, 10 Rump, 11 Primaries, 12 Vent, 13 Thigh, 14 Tibio-tarsal articulation, 15 Tarsus, 16 Feet, 17 Tibia, 18 Belly, 19 Flanks, 20 Breast, 21...

References

• Gilbertson, Lance; Zoology Lab Manual; McGraw Hill Companies, New York; ISBN 0-07-237716-X (fourth edition, 1999)
• Terres, John. K. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980. ISBN 0-394-46651-9

External links

• http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=15&cat=1829&articleid=2752
• http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww53eiv.htm
• http://qp-society.com/qpserc/beak.html
• Photo of a male budgie's cere