Bird Beak Types

Have you ever wondered what types of bird beaks are used for what kinds of foods? This post will give you all the information you need to identify what type of beak a bird has when you are birdwatching or even if you aren't into that, it's fun to know! I hope you enjoy this post, and please complete the poll at the end so that I have some ideas of what to post on next in my Birds Section!

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For Cracking:

Birds with this type of beak: Sparrows and Cardinals

Sparrow’s Diet: Mainly seeds and fruit, such as corn, grain, oats, berries, and nuts, but also insects

Cardinal’s Diet: Seeds, fruit, small animals, and insects, such as sunflower seeds, berries, grasshoppers, and snails

Description of this type of beak: Strong and thick

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for breaking open the tough shells of nuts

For Shredding:

Birds with this type of beak: Eagles and Falcons

Eagle’s Diet: Fish, small mammals, waterfowl, fawns, snakes, rodents, insects, and carrion (decaying animal flesh)

Falcons Diet: Small mammals, shorebirds, songbirds, ducks, fish, insects, and occasionally deer, loons, geese, and gulls

Description of this type of beak: Sharp and hooked

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for tearing meat into easily consumed pieces

For Chiseling:

Birds with this type of beak: Woodpeckers

Woodpecker’s Diet: Mainly insects, such as termites or beetles, and also nuts, seeds, fruit, and tree sap

Description of this type of beak: Long and Strong

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for boring holes in trees in order to get insects out to eat

For Filtering:

Birds with this type of beak: Flamingos and some types of Ducks

Flamingo’s Diet: Algae, shrimp, prawns, crabs, crayfish, mollusks, small fish, and seeds and plant matter

Duck’s Diet: Small frogs, fish, snails, algae, insects, grains, seeds, nuts, and berries

Description of this type of beak: Flat bills

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for skimming the water to filter out animals and bits of plants

For Nectar Feeding:

Birds with this type of beak: Hummingbirds

Hummingbird’s Diet: Mainly nectar, but also mosquitos and spiders

Description of this type of beak: Long and Thin, and possibly slightly curved

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for dipping into flowers in order to lap up nectar

For Spearing:

Birds with this type of beak: Herons

Heron’s Diet: Primarily fish, and other animals, crustaceans and amphibians

Description of this type of beak: Slim and Pointed

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for spearing fish to eat

For Hooking:

Birds with this type of beak: Parrots

Parrot’s Diet: Fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and insects

Description of this type of beak: Curved tip

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for crushing nuts and slicing through thick fruit skins

For Picking:

Birds with this type of beak: Warblers

Warbler’s Diet: Mainly insects, such as grasshoppers and wasps, also berries and nectar

Description of this type of beak: Thin and Precise

Purpose for this type of beak: Used to pick up tiny insects

For Skimming:

Birds with this type of beak: Spoonbills

Spoonbills Diet: Small fish, snails, insects, shrimp, crabs, crustaceans, amphibians, some plants, and aquatic invertebrates

Description of this type of beak: Has sensitive receptors inside

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for sweeping back and forth in the water, and when the sensitive receptors are touched by a food source, the beak snaps shut.

For Fruit Eating:

Birds with this type of beak: Starlings and some Warblers

Starling’s Diet: Seeds, nuts, berries, grains, and spiders, larvae, worms, and caterpillars

Warbler’s Diet: Mainly insects, such as grasshoppers and wasps, also

berries and nectar

Description of this type of beak: Large and Strong

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for collecting and skinning fruit to eat

For Scything:

Birds with this type of beak: Avocets

Avocet’s Diet: Aquatic insects, small crustaceans, and worms

Description of this type of beak:  Upturned

Purpose for this type of beak: Used for sweeping through mud or shallow water to collect small insects and crustaceans

For Probing:

Birds with this type of beak: Ibises        

Ibises Diet: Wide variety of worms, insect larvae, shrimp, small fish, grasshoppers, crabs, spiders, and beetles

Description of this type of beak: Long and Pointed

Purpose for this type of beak: Used to poke holes in the ground in search of insects, worms, or burrowed crustaceans

For Extracting:

Birds with this type of beak: Crossbills

Crossbill’s Diet: Primarily conifer seeds, mostly from pine, spruce, and larch trees

Description of this type of beak: Crossing bill tips

Purpose for this type of beak:  Used to extract the seeds from pinecones

For Netting:

Birds with this type of beak: Pelicans

Pelican’s Diet: A wide array of fish, such as sardines and anchovies, but also small reptiles, amphibians, and crustaceans

Description of this type of beak: Folds of skin on lower mandible - called gular pouch – that can expand and contract

Purpose for this type of beak: Used to scoop up fish from the water into the pouch on the beak, let the water drain, then throw their heads back and swallow the fish.

Which of the example birds should I do a post on in the future?

• CARDINAL
• SPARROW
• BALD EAGLE
• PEREGRINE FALCON

See All Options