Do you ever wonder how a bird gathers and eats its food? Over time, birds
have developed special characteristics or adaptations that help them pick up
the food in their environment. If a species’ natural environment is disrupted the
species must change in order to adapt. The species adaptations that occur
happen as a process over a period of time and may not be seen immediately.
Can you think of some adaptations that animals have gone through because
their environment changed? The adaptations or characteristic changes that
animals develop may be the one thing that sustains its species.
Comparing the different types of bird beaks that exist shows how similar
animals have adapted to different environments. Bird beaks come in all shapes
and sizes. From the powerful beak of a pelican that is used to eat fish to the
long beak of a hummingbird used to drink nectar from flowers, birds use their
beaks in many ways. Some birds use their beaks for scooping, probing,
shoveling, and grasping. Scooping beaks gather tiny aquatic plants and animals.
Probing beaks help birds to suck nectar from flowers. Shoveling beaks gather
seeds and fruit from the ground. Grasping beaks pluck insects from cracks in
trees. Each type of beak is just like a tool. The bird uses its tool to gather and
eat its food. If a bird is unable to use this special tool it might starve to death.
What type of beak do you think the elusive Australian cassowary has? The first
thing to think about is that the cassowary is a large bird that eats the fruit of
large rainforest trees. The bird has a long, thick beak which helps it pick up fruit
that has fallen on the ground. Thinking about the type of environment that an
animal lives in, how big the animal is, how it moves, what its mouth and body
parts are used for and if the animal has enemies is a great way to find out what
adaptations a species might have gone through to survive. Identifying an
animal’s adaptation gives us a little insight into how that animal might live its life
on a daily basis.
