WFC 111 Avian feeding

Rhamphotheca

vascularized keratinous covering

nasofrontal hinge

allows movement of upper jaw

Raptorial bills

adapted for cutting and tearing meat, hooked tip with tomial tooth

Parrot bills

similart ot raptors but for cutting fruit and nuts; often manipulate food with feet

spearlike bills

laterally compresses bill; s-shaped neck helps

fish eating species

often have serrations, hooks, etc to help grasp slippery prey

woodpeckers

laterally-compressed chisel like bill; tounge wraps around brain to cushion and capture prey

nectarivores

long bills for accessing nectar, often co-evolved with plant species

filter feeders

lamellae: teeth-like structures along edge of bill; anseriformes and Phoenicopteriformes (flamingos)

Probing shorebird bills

very diverse, but long and thin 

seed eaters and ground foragers

short stubby bills for plucking and crushing, tapered conical shape for more muscle attachment

leaf gleaners

small delicate precise bills to pick off insects

ariel insectivores

wide bills with wide gape; often well-developed rictal bristles

herbest corpuscles

mechanoreceptors on bill to feel vibrations; most common in probing species

esophagus

where food enters the mouth

crop

modified section of esophagus for food storage

proventriculus

chemical breakdown of foods 

gizzard

mechanical breakdown of foods; serves the function of teeth in mammals

small intestine

absorb nutrients from digested food

caeca

residual breakdown of food using bacteria; ost prominent in birds that feed on tough plant material

large intestine

connection btn intestines and excretion, absorbs some water

cloaca

all purpose exit

liver

proportionally larger syn protein, filter waste, store carbs and fatpa

pancrease

secreate insulin, break down protein and fat