BIO2242 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Proventriculus, Gastric Acid, The Terminal
Document Summary
Some birds are omnivorous (euryphagous) that will eat whatever is seasonally abundant. Others are specialists(stenophagous) that have the pantry to themselves but at a price. Should the food source be reduced or destroyed for some reason, their survival may be jeopardized. The beaks of birds are strongly adapted to their food habits from generalized types such as strong, pointed beaks of ravens, to highly specialized ones in flamingoes. The beak of a woodpecker is a straight, hard, chisellike structure. Anchored to a tree trunk with its tail serving as a brace, a woodpecker delivers powerful, rapid blows to excavate nest cavities or expose burrows of wood- boring insects. I then uses its long, flexible, barbed tongue to seek insects in their galleries. Because of their intense metabolism, birds are voracious feeders. Small birds with their high metabolic rate eat more food per body mass than large birds.
