bill

The beak of the yellow-billed hornbill Tockus flavirostris, common in dry bush country from Ethiopia to South Africa, illustrates one of the extremes to which beaks have evolved. There is, however, no satisfactory explanation for this bizarre adaptation. This species lacks the prominent casque found in some of the larger members of the family.

In birds, the projection of the skull bones covered with a horny sheath. It is not normally sensitive, except in some aquatic birds, rooks, and woodpeckers, where the bill is used to locate food that is not visible. The bills of birds are adapted by shape and size to specific diets, for example, shovellers use their bills to sieve mud in order to extract food; birds of prey have hooked bills adapted to tearing flesh; the bills of the avocet and the curlew are long and narrow for picking tiny invertebrates out of the mud; and those of woodpeckers are sharp for pecking holes in trees and plucking out insects. The bill is also used by birds for preening, fighting, display, and nest-building.