Birds have an amazing range of bill shapes and sizes, allowing birds to hammer grubs from tree trunks, search out the tiniest seeds, tear
meat and sip nectar. And if they can't reach what they're seeking, some of them use tools to help get a meal.
| 1:30 |
Eurasian Jay feeds on acorns |
2:25 |
European Goldfinch feeds on
Common Teasel seeds |
2:40 |
Blue Tit cracks small seeds |
| 2:50 |
Greenfinch can remove outer shell of rose hips with tongue |
3:10 |
Hawfinch eats cherry stone: cracks shell, then removes papery husk |
3:55 |
Common Crossbill opens green pine cones, swallows clay to absorb resin (California) |
| 6:12 |
Eurasian Jay stores up to 9 acorns in crop, buries up to 3,000 a month. |
7:35 |
Acorn Woodpecker stores up to 60,000 acorns in tree - constant maintenance (north America) |
10:20 |
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drills holes and sips pine sap |
| 12:10 |
Yellow-rumped Warbler drinks from Sapsucker wells on aspen |
12:40 |
Bullock's Oriole and
Ruby-throated Hummingbird drink from Sapsucker wells on birches |
13:45 |
Scale Insect drinks tree sap, hummer and warblers drinks from honeydew (Mexico) |
| 16:00 | Cows chew on leaves |
16:20 |
Barnacle Goose feeds on grass and poops undigested parts; can fly straight up. |
17:35 |
Speckled Mousebird feeds on Acacia leaves, digests in sunlight (South Africa) |
| 18:30 |
Hoatzin has bacteria in 2nd stomach to ferment leaves (South America) |
19:15 | Plants attract birds with nectar |
19:30 |
Rainbow Lorikeet has brushy tongue to lap nectar (Australia) |
| 21:00 |
Orange-breasted Sunbird pollinates Heather plant (South Africa) |
21:50 |
Golden-winged Sunbird pollinats
Lion's-Claw flower (Mount Kenya) |
23:10 |
Black Flower Piercer steals nectar from hole in trumpet of
Datura flower (South America) |
| 24:20 | Hummingbird drinks from hole made by Flower Piercer |
24:50 |
Sword-billed Hummingbird pollinates long trumpet of Datura plant and
Banana Passion Flower flowers |
25:30 | Hummingbird tongue adapted for nectar feeding |
| 26:10 |
Purple Coral Tree attracts many birds (Thailand) |
27:30 |
Knobbed Hornbill disperses seeds (Indonesia) |
28:05 |
Bohemian Waxwing disperses berries (northern Europe) |
| 28:30 |
Kokako disperse berries (New Zealand) |
28:40 |
Resplendent Quetzal dosperses avocado seeds (South America) |
29:35 |
Rufous-tailed Jacamar catches
Peleides Blue Morpho Butterfly |
| 30:15 |
Rufous Woodpecker eats ants, has stiff tail feathers (southern India) |
31:45 |
Eurasian Nuthatch picks insects out of bark (Europe) |
32:25 |
Greater Spotted Woodpecker chisels for grubs in bark, has harpoon at tip of tongue |
| 33:30 |
Woodpecker Finch uses cactus spine to dig grubs from trunk (Galapagos) |
36:05 |
New Caledonian Crow uses stick to irritate huge grub from log |
40:45 |
European Robin finds grubs rooted out by
Wild Boar and humans |
| 42:20 |
Seychelles Magpie finds grubs kicked up by
Seychelles Giant Tortoise (Seychelles) |
43:45 |
Cattle Tyrant follows
Capybara (South America) |
45:35 |
Red-billed Oxpeckers feed on ticks on
Hippopotamus : 2 toes forward and 2 back for clinging |
| 46:40 | Oxpeckers eat earwax and dandruff on Zebras and Giraffes, and drink blood from
Impala |
49:10 | Giant crane used to study canopy of tropical rainforest (Venezuela) |
49:30 |
Emerald Toucanet disperses avocado seeds;
Red-and-green Macaw eats the seeds |
| 51:00 |
Hyacinth Macaw eats palm seeds |
51:40 |
Yellow-crowned Parrot and various parrots ingest clay to counteract poison in seeds |
| |
Index 
Peter Chen
