Tag: bird anatomy

Let’s Talk About Gizzards

October 1st, 2019

Hector and I were lucky enough to see wood ducks when we visited the Jug Bay Wildlife Sanctuary over the weekend. Jug Bay is a mere 20 miles east of D.C. and well-worth visiting if you have the chance.

Wood ducks are dabbling ducks who like to eat a wide variety of things. The ones we saw were gorging themselves on acorns.

Acorns seem like an odd choice for an animal with no teeth, don’t they? It seems like ducks wouldn’t be able to crack the shell of an acorn to get to the food inside the shell, doesn’t it?

The secret is in their tummies, specifically their gizzards, which are specialized stomachs that can grind up food. Wood ducks are not the only animals with gizzards – all birds have them, and their ancestors, the dinosaurs, had gizzards as well. Gizzards are what make eating something hard and partially undigestible, like an acorn, possible for an animal with no teeth in its mouth.

A wood duck swallows an acorn whole and then the shell is ground off inside the duck’s body: the textured, muscular walls of the gizzard act like teeth, allowing the duck to separate the digestible nut from the undigestible shell. Isn’t that fascinating?

XOXO,
Bernice
Let’s Talk About Woodpecker Feet

August 6th, 2019

I see downy woodpeckers on a daily basis. They seem to love my neighborhood and can be seen and heard pecking away on the trees around here all year round. I enjoy observing downy woodpeckers, but I confess I love seeing less-usual-around-here birds more, so the other day when I saw a pileated woodpecker on an old evergreen tree in my neighborhood, I was thrilled. I was able to watch it for a while as it worked the tree trunk over, diligently hunting for its dinner.

Woodpeckers have many special features to their anatomy, but I thought I would focus on their feet in my post today.

Woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet, which means they have two pairs of toes on each foot. One pair of toes faces forward. One pair faces backward. Woodpeckers are not the only birds with zygodactyl feet. Parrots are another example of birds with this type of toe arrangement.

Zygodactyl feet are great for birds who spend their time hopping up, down, and across tree trunks. The toe arrangement of this kind of foot is also good for clinging to bark while a woodpecker pecks away, looking for delicious insects to eat.
Let’s Talk About Feet

March 19th, 2019

Have you ever wondered how some birds manage to sleep perched in trees? Wouldn’t you think that they would fall off their branches once their bodies relaxed into sleep?

Well, the answer is in the feet. Half of all the types of birds in the world are in a category called passerine. One of the defining features of passerine birds is the way the feet are shaped and function. Passerine (perching) birds have four toes on each foot. Three of the toes face forward. One toe faces backward. When a bird lands on a tree branch, its toes wrap around the branch and then lock into place. This automatic locking of the toes is a very good thing: passerine birds can relax and sleep without worrying their feet will stop gripping their perch.

You can tell a lot about a bird by what kind of feet it has. As another example, if you see a bird with webbed feet, you can bet it is a swimmer. Webbed feet are terrific for swimming because the large surface area of the foot is perfect for pushing water around.

Tag: bird anatomy

Let’s Talk About Gizzards

Let’s Talk About Woodpecker Feet

Let’s Talk About Feet