Beaks

Eating

Different species' beaks have evolved according to their diet; for example, raptors have sharp-pointed beaks that facilitate dissection and biting off of prey animals' tissue, whereas passerine birds that specialize in eating seeds with especially tough shells (such as grosbeaks and cardinals) have large, stout beaks with high compressive power. Diving or fishing birds have beaks adapted for those pursuits; for example, kingfishers have long, pointed beaks adapted for diving into water, while pelicans' beaks are adapted for scooping up and swallowing fish whole. Woodpeckers have thick, pointed beaks adapted for pecking apart wood while hunting for arthropods and insect larvae.