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Do birds have a tongue? |
by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author
Tongue Twister!
Have you ever heard of a Tongue Twister? These silly games are like little rhymes or stories which are very hard to say, and get your tongue all twisted up in a knot!
Try saying this bird-based twister three times fast!
“Thirty dirty purple birds sitting on a curbstone, chirping and a-burping and a-eating dirty worms!”
Even though they mostly don’t use it the same way as we do, birds do indeed have tongues! The biggest difference between a bird’s tongue and your own is that most birds have bones in their tongues, meaning the tongue is less flexible but much tougher.
For example, woodpeckers have very long tongues with points on the end that help them stab and catch the bugs they eat! A penguin’s tongue, on the other hand, has prickly barbs that help it to swallow fish. Birds who eat lots of liquids like nectar also sometimes have tube-shaped tongues. These special tongues help the birds slurp up a delicious meal!
Bird tongues can be a number of different colors like pink, brown, and even black. If you ever see a bird say “Aahh,” try to get a peek inside its mouth and see what you notice!
For example, woodpeckers have very long tongues with points on the end that help them stab and catch the bugs they eat! A penguin’s tongue, on the other hand, has prickly barbs that help it to swallow fish. Birds who eat lots of liquids like nectar also sometimes have tube-shaped tongues. These special tongues help the birds slurp up a delicious meal!
Bird tongues can be a number of different colors like pink, brown, and even black. If you ever see a bird say “Aahh,” try to get a peek inside its mouth and see what you notice!
Tongue Twister!
Have you ever heard of a Tongue Twister? These silly games are like little rhymes or stories which are very hard to say, and get your tongue all twisted up in a knot!
Try saying this bird-based twister three times fast!
“Thirty dirty purple birds sitting on a curbstone, chirping and a-burping and a-eating dirty worms!”
