Discover the Flyway from Home – Resources for Teachers, Parents & Students

Bird Beak Adaptations

Study the photograph below. What can you tell about this bird from its beak and from its surroundings?

 

 

1. Can you identify the shorebird in this photo? What resources are available that might help you identify this bird?

2. Is this a shorebird we might find in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (a freshwater wetland)? Why or why not?

 

 

 

 

Answers: 

1. Black oystercatcher
2. No, we would not see this bird in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area since its beak is adapted for eating oysters, which do not live in the ponds or canals of the Bypass. Oysters live in the ocean.

Photo Credit to Mike Reinhart