Download BOP Feet and beak adaptations- Answer Key

Bird Beaks and Feet
Introduction: A bird's beak and feet can tell us much about their habitat and lifestyle.
Most birds are even classified according to structural similarities between their beaks
and feet. In this excercise, you will look at pictures of birds and make inferences about
their lifestyles.
Description
Beaks
short & rounded
spear shaped
chisel shaped, flat & pointed
flat and square-shaped
long and fat, like a scoop
hooked
long and tubular
Feet
long muscular legs
long skinny legs
short legs with blunt claws
three toes in front, one behind
webbed
large hook-like claws (talons)
tiny short legs
two toes in front, two behind
Function
multipurpose, eating insects and seeds
spearing fish
drilling for insects
straining algae
scooping up fish
catching and tearing prey
sucking nectar from flowers
running
wading
scratching, ground walking
perching
swimming
grasping prey
hovering
climbing
Examine the images of birds and write your inference about what the bird eats
and where it lives.
Loon
Pheasant
Duck
Eagle
Flamingo
Sparrow
Owl
Kingfisher
Heron
Woodpecker
Pelican
Hummingbird
Data Table
Bird
Type of Feet
Type of Beak
Probable Diet
Probable
Habitat
Loon
Chicken
Duck
Eagle
Sparrow
Flamingo
Heron
Kingfisher
Owl
Pelican
Hummingbird
Woodpecker
Analysis
1. What features of a hummingbird make it adapted for its style of feeding?
Long and tubular beak is used for sucking nectar from flowers.
2. Imagine an ideal flying predator. What type of beak and feet would it have?
A flying predator would have a hooked beak for catching and tearing prey and hook-like claws
on their feet called talons.
3. Owls have large eyes that enable it to see well at night. Both the hawk and the
owl hunt similar things: small rodents or snakes. How do the hawk and the owl
avoid competing with each other?
Owls hunt mainly at night. Hawks hunt during the day. This way the owls and hawks are not
competing against each other.
4. Different birds may have similar beaks and diets. Loons, herons, and kingfishers,
for instance, all have long sharp pointed beaks for spearing fish. Their feet,
however, are quite different. Describe how the loon, heron, and kingfisher differ
in the method by which they hunt for fish (using their feet to help you answer).
Loon- Webbed feet. Loons swim and search for prey, then duck under the water and spear it.
Heron- Long, skinny legs. Herons wade in the water and look for prey to spear.
Kingfisher- Three toes in front, one in back used for perching. Kingfishers watch for prey from
their perch and then swoop down and use their beaks to catch prey.
5. Birds the live on the prairie have short but muscular legs (like the pheasant).
Prairies are large grasslands that have few numbers of trees. What do you think
the legs of a pheasant are adapted for?
Pheasant legs are well adapted for running and this is their primary method to escape danger.
They can fly, but are not good long-distance fliers. This makes sense since there are few trees to
perch on anyways.