Beak

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The beak - otherwise known as the bill - is the only device a bird has for consuming food. Birds have no teeth so they must swallow their food whole. A bird's beak can vary in size and shape depending on the nature of their diet. Some birds such as the falcons have evolved to have a cutting type beak which allows them to tear through flesh, whereas the hummingbird has a probe like beak which allows them to drink the nectar from certain flowers. The beak is composed of an upper jaw called the maxilla, and the lower jaw called a mandible (Gilbertson, 1999).

References

• Gilbertson, Lance; Zoology Lab Manuel; McGraw Hill Companies, New York; ISBN 0-07-237716-X (fourth edition, 1999)