Name
Date
Birds and Beaks
By Sheri Skelton
Birds don't have teeth, but they do have beaks. Birds use their beaks to
get food. Their beaks are different shapes and sizes. Another name for a
beak is a bill.
Sparrows and cardinals like to eat seeds. They have short, fat beaks that
are shaped like cones. These beaks are called "crackers" because the
birds use them to crack open seeds. Then the birds swallow the seeds.
Hummingbirds have beaks that probe or hunt deeply for food. Their
beaks are long and thin like needles. They stick their beaks into flowers
and lap up nectar with their long tongues.
Some birds have beaks that are shredders. Their beaks are very sharp so they can tear food. An eagle flies over a
stream and catches a fish. Back at its nest, the eagle uses its beak to tear the skin off the fish and pick the meat off
the bones.
Woodpeckers have beaks that are chisels. Their beaks are strong and straight. Woodpeckers drill holes into wood
with their beaks. They find insects to eat in the wood. Sometimes the woodpeckers store seeds in the holes they
make.
The heron has a beak that is like a spear. The heron walks through shallow water and uses its beak to stab a fish.
Then the heron swallows the fish.
Some birds have beaks that act like strainers. The flamingo stands in shallow water and lets the water run through
its beak. The beak has a strainer that catches tiny plants and animals for the flamingo to eat.
Some birds have beaks that work the same as a pair of tweezers. Warblers use their thin, pointed bills to eat
insects. Robins use their beaks to grab earthworms from the ground.
Crows have beaks that are often called Swiss army knives because their beaks are used to eat many different kinds
of food. Their beaks are strong and sharp. Crows can eat fruit, insects, fish, dead animals, and even garbage.
Birds sometimes use their beaks for things besides eating. Some birds carry twigs with their beaks to build nests.
Others use their beaks to dig holes in the ground for their homes. Some birds, such as the toucan, like to show off
their huge, colorful beaks.
Birds and Beaks
Questions
1. What do birds use their beaks for?
A. eating
B. carrying twigs
C. showing off
D. all of the above
Name
Date
2. Sparrows eat seeds with beaks called ______.
A. shredders
B. crackers
C. chisels
D. strainers
3. Robins pull earthworms from the ground with beaks that work like ______.
A. Swiss army knives
B. chisels
C. strainers
D. tweezers
4. What kind of bird has a beak that is long and thin like a needle?
A. a cardinal
B. a woodpecker
C. a crow
D. a hummingbird
5. Flamingos have beaks that work like ______.
Write a story about a bird with a very unusual beak. What special things can the bird do with its unusual beak?
Name
Date
Write a story about a bird who doesn't like its beak. What kind of beak would the bird like to have instead?