Beaks and Bills

BirdNote^® 
Beaks and Bills 
Adapted from a script by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

          [Waves and Great Blue Heron calls]

A bird’s bill is perhaps one of nature’s most incredible multi-tools — good for preening feathers, self-defense, scratching, displaying, building a nest, and turning eggs. The bill of each bird species is perfectly adapted to meet the needs of that species...  whether it’s probing for worms, cracking open seeds, or tearing into fresh meat. And a bird’s bill must do things that other animals accomplish with paws or other appendages.

        [Great Blue Heron call]

In a marsh or wet meadow, you might see a Great Blue Heron impale a fish with its massive spearhead of a bill.

        [Mallard call]

Or perhaps you’ll spot a Mallard using its spatula-like bill to sift tiny animals and plants out of the water.

        [Wilson’s Snipe call]

The Wilson’s Snipe uses its long, slender bill to probe the dirt for earthworms, while a Peregrine Falcon uses its sharp hooked beak to tear apart its prey.

        [Peregrine Falcon call kee keee keee keee]

Call it a beak or call it a bill, for each and every bird, it tells a story. Next time you go birding, see what a bird’s beak can tell you.

        [Downy Woodpecker drilling]

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

Did you know BirdNote delivers the wonder and joy of birds directly to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter at BirdNote.org to get a weekly preview of our shows, stories, photos, and more.

### 
Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Downy Woodpecker drilling recorded by G.A. Keller; Great Blue Heron by W.H. Gunn. Mallards by A.A. Allen; and Wilson’s Snipe by R.S. Little. Peregrine Falcon ML136378 recorded by M Anderson. Ambient shoreline recorded by C. Peterson. BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2019 BirdNote   December 2011 / 2019 / November 2022 / July 2025 
Narrator: Micheal Stein

ID#   110205billKPLU   bill-01b