Curved Beak !!

Every morning as I feed, 2 or 3 dozen or more of Pigeons come flying down – in a few months, I have taken hundreds of photos and capturing them on flight is challenging ! 

Here are couple of photos taken recently – a White and a Brown Pigeon -  and in the 2^nd one I found something different – notice  the beak ! 

The pigeon uses its beak to eat, probe for food, preen, feed its young, courtship and fight. I have noticed that the top beak is looking  more curved over the lower beak.  The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. 

Not all beaks are same ! different birds have them different depending on their needs !! 

Birds like Crow, Jays, Magpies, Orioles, Robins, Thrushes, etc. exhibit a generalized type of beak, adapted for a wide diet. They have All-purpose bill that allows them to eat fruit, seeds, insects, fish and other animals. The large, strong bill is a tool useful for many purposes. Birds of prey like Harriers, Falcons, Eagles, Vultures and Owls have sharp, curved bills for shreading and tearing meat. Raptors also have a unique “tooth” tucked inside their upper bill. This “tooth” is shaped like a small triangle and is called a tomila. It helps the bird kill its prey quickly by cutting the prey’s spinal cord. 

Seed eaters like Sparrows, Pigeons, Peacock and Finches have short, thick and conical bills. The cone shaped bill helps the birds to crack seeds and nuts for food easily. The edges of the lower mandible (the lower bill) fit into special grooves in the upper mandible (upper bill). These type of bill is also known as “Cracker”. 

Although the word "beak" was, in the past, generally restricted to the sharpened bills of birds of prey, in modern Ornithology, the terms beak and bill are generally considered to be synonymous. The word, dating back to  13th century, comes from the Middle English bec (via Anglo French), which itself comes from the Latin beccus. 

Sometimes a Pigeon’s upper beak will  longer than it should, usually in a downward curve or a hook.  This will eventually make picking up seed impossible and the pigeon will  have difficulty in eating, though it can easily harm other Pigeons in a fight.  

With regards – S Sampathkumar
2.3.2024