NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



I 



.t scoops. It chomps. It 

 dices and slices. The bill of a 

 shorebird is the perfect gadget. 



What does the bird eat? How 

 does it hunt for food? Just look at its 

 bill. The feathered fowl might not 

 speak, but its beak can tell quite a 

 story. 



If you've been to the coast, 

 you've seen a seagull, but have you 

 ever really noticed its beak? The 

 next time you spot a herring gull — 

 a large, smooth, white bird with 

 black-tipped gray wings — take a 

 closer look. Notice how sturdy and 

 heavy its yellow bill appears. 

 Observe the spot of red on its lower 

 mandible. Note the ever-so-slight 

 downward curve of its upper 

 mandible. 



When you discover what the 

 seagull eats, the versatility of its bill 

 design makes sense. This scavenger gobbles 

 up a diverse diet by foraging through 

 garbage dumps or snatching bait and fish 

 from behind fishing boats, places where 

 competition with other scroungers can be 

 fierce. It needs a bill strong enough to break 

 bones and shells and to tear flesh and 

 muscle, yet sharp and sturdy enough to pick 

 up food scraps rapidly. 



The gull also works the tidal flats for 

 crabs and snails, so an extended upper 

 mandible helps to extract these minimeals 

 from sand, shells and debris. 



This versatile beak is one reason for the 

 gull's extensive domain. The ability to eat 

 such a variety of foods makes the seagull 

 one of nature's most adaptable birds. 



Next time you visit the marina, check 

 out the beak of the quirky bird that sits atop 

 the pier posts and pilings. The brown 

 pelican's long, bulky beak is not as precise 

 as the herring gull's. But don't let that fool 

 you. Its design is performance related too. 



When the pelican is waterborne and 

 bobbing on the waves, its tucked-in brown 

 and yellow beak contrasts brightly with its 

 dark brown and gray plumage. 



When airborne and soaring up to 50 



Hening gull 



feet above the water, 

 the bird's beak, 

 despite its gargantuan 

 proportions, is 

 streamlined, aerody- 

 namic and poised for 

 action. Spotting prey 

 from this lofty 

 position, the pelican 

 dips into a swooping 

 dive, beak and neck 

 extended, to spear 

 through the water with 

 a loud splash. 



Beneath the 

 water's surface, the beak and lower throat 

 undergo an amazing metamorphosis. As the 

 pelican submerges itself and opens its beak, 

 as much as 2.5 gallons of seawater flood into 

 its lower throat area expanding it dramati- 

 cally. The result is a balloonlike sack that 

 filters the seawater as it rushes out between 

 the mandibles, leaving behind Atlantic 

 menhaden, mullet or other small fish. 



Not only is the amazing bill of this bird 

 an efficient food catcher, it also functions as 

 a feeder for chicks. When it's time to feed 

 the little ones, the adult regurgitates food, 



Brown pelican 



opens its beak wide, and the babies, blind 

 at birth, grope inside with their own tiny 

 beaks. The straight, thin upper beak acts as 

 an effective lid, jutting over the bottom 

 beak in a downward-curved hook just as a 

 latch would. 



The sanderling, a type of sandpiper 

 that weighs a mere 2 to 3 ounces, has more 

 limited food foraging needs than both the 

 seagull and the brown pelican. Its beak 

 design reflects this. 



You may have noticed this midget 

 "wave catcher" scuttling back and forth 



30 HIGH SEASON 1998 



