How Do Curlews Use Their Beak?

Common Curlews

• Common Curlews mainly use their beak to search and retrieve prey. The beak curves downwards in an arc shape to make it more suitable for collecting prey in muddy and boggy environments. The curlew will achieve this by firstly detecting the worm underneath the surface. The bird will then delve under the surface into the specific location where the prey was detected. If not caught on its first attempt, the curlew will continue to move its bill under the surface in line with and perpendicular to the axis of the bill.

Removal of Prey Without Fracture

• The bill not only enables the Curlew to delve underneath the lands surface, it also allows the bird to remove prey from the ground without fracture or detachment. The downward curvature of the beak allows the animal to pull out worms much more easily than birds with a straight beak. The curvature of the beak enables the bird to pull prey from the ground in a more natural action.

Difficulties of a Straight Beak

• The disadvantages of species similar to the curlews which have straight beaks is their inability to pull prey from the ground effectively. Straight beaks pull prey from the ground from a position further away from the central point of the directional axis the prey is being pulled in. This creates more chance of the prey fracturing and the curlew only receiving a proportion of the nutrients.

Bar-Tailed Godwits

• Another species similar to the common curlew is the Bar-Tailed Godwit. The main difference between this species and the curlew is that the Bar-Tailed Godwit has a straight beak. When hunting for prey, the bird delves beneath the surface of the ground in a similar but more rapid fashion to the curlew. However, in attempting to locate and collect its prey, the bird often quickly pushes its beak in and out of the ground. The bird can also be seen jumping around the perimeter of the hole it has just made