Beaks

A male puffin's bright beak will help him attract a mate

Birds don't have bony jaws and teeth for eating: these would make them too heavy to fly. Neither do they have hands for gathering food, since their front limbs have become wings. Instead, they have a special lightweight tool for both jobs: the beak.

Beak construction

A bird’s beak (which can also be called a bill) is made out of keratin, the same as our fingernails. This means that even a huge beak, such as a toucan’s, is surprisingly light. The two halves are called mandibles. Most birds can only move the lower mandible, though some – such as parrots – can move both, to give them a better grip.

Different jobs

A beak is used for many other jobs – not just feeding. It can be a comb for cleaning feathers, or a handy trowel for digging a nest hole. It can perform delicate tasks, such as turning eggs or weaving nest material together. Or it can do some heavy-duty hammering – if it belongs to a woodpecker.

Billboards

Some birds’ beaks help to attract attention. A toucan’s beak is designed to impress a female; the bigger and more colourful the better. The bright colours of a male puffin’s beak come from tiny scales that grow during spring, also to help attract a mate. After breeding, this sheath of scales falls away and the beak becomes duller and lighter.

An extra hand

Parrots have immensely strong beaks, adapted to crushing hard seeds and nuts. This strength also helps them to work as an extra hand – gripping branches, as the bird clambers through the tree canopy.