8 FACTS and CARE: BEAK and NAILS

The Parrot's Incredible Beak

Impressive. YES! A pet bird's beak receives a lot of attention-and for good reason. Like the pointed end of a spear it looks threatening and dangerous. The beak intimidates not only natural enemies, but people as well.

Being positioned at the end of a long and flexible neck, birds can swivel their beak quickly in almost any direction. This agility works well for birds and allows them to use their beak for many purposes-and the main function is not as a weapon.

Through a remarkable evolutionary divergence in design, the parrot family was given a beak which can be compared to a set of carpenter's tools (crow bar, wedge, spike, and vise) and a p o w e r f u I group of muscles to work it. The pointed beak can be driven into or under hard objects, and then by wedging a lever action breaks apart materials. The upper and lower beaks combine to be a powerful vise capable of holding or crushing.

If you examined the underside of the hooked beak you would find that there are a series of ridges in a distinctive design somewhat resembling the surface of a craftsman's file. This irregular surface serves to hold any material pressed against it. Birds use these ridges when holding foods with their tongue and grinding them with their lower jaw.

In giving parrots an extraordinary beak, nature allows them to reach a supply of food unavailable to other birds. Much of the subtropical and tropical fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other food sources are protected by rough peels, rinds, horny coatings or hard shells. In addition, a variety of animal life hides under the bark of trees - in stumps of rotten logs, and in soil and decaying vegetation. To other birds, this wonderful food source is unavailable. Only a bird with special adaptations and ingenuity can reach these feasts.

Further, with the beak located at the end of a long and flexible neck, it has an added advantage of being highly maneuverable and accessible.

All these functions involve the beak:

However, it is not all work for parrots. Being curious and fun loving, they want to know what is in, under, behind, and on top of most everything.

Structure of the Beak
It would be easy to surmise that the beak is composed of solid bone, and if you saw a parrot crack a large seed that would require a man with a hammer to open, you would be convinced. So strong and yet so lightweight, the beak functions as though it is solid bone and yet is hollow, except for fine, bony struts. The structure of the beak is well designed for birds' needs, but is not indestructible. When the beak is used for the purposes intended, such as cracking seed, removing the shell, and for other purposes listed, it serves birds well. BE AWARE! Unnatural forces applied to the beak may split and crack it.

The beak consists of a relatively thin, horny covering over a hard, bony structure. This outer horny covering or coreum is made up of material similar to the horns or antlers of other wild animals, and its normal appearance in birds should be smooth and uniform in color and texture. The coreum grows continuously, but the rate of growth varies in different species of birds.

Rate of Growth of Upper Beak (Approximate)

If the tissue beneath the coreum were solid bone, the weight of the beak in a bird as large as a parrot could upset his sense of balance and equilibrium. Instead, the bony portion is porous and the center is hollow (pneumatic) connecting with the respiratory system. In spite of being porous, the bony structure gives the beak its shape and strength.