Back to  How Do Birds Eat Corn?

Well, they can't use their fingers. We asked Marisa R., about this and here is her answer.

Different birds eat different things. There are five main sources of food, and a great variety of beaks to cope with them. Birds do not have any teeth to bite and chew their food. Therefore, their beaks are very important. The shape of a bird's beak shows the sort of food the bird eats.

{diagram from compton's}

Some birds eat fruit, others eat insects, fish or meat. The seed eaters (the ones who eat corn, for example, have short beaks ending in a point. The beak is strong enough to crack the husks or shells of seeds. Watch the birds around a bird feeder and note the shape of their beaks and how they use it to crack the seed.

Seed eater birds have also a stomach called gizzard, lined with very strong muscles. When the muscles of the gizzard move the food around it grinds it up small. Seed-eating birds sometimes swallow grit to help the gizzard to grind up the food.

Books in Grant Library: The Life of Birds - Maurice Burton Code No. 598 BVR
Birds - Childrens Britannica Vol. 3. Code No. Ref. 032 C41 V3.

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