Getting the Bill – Taste, Touch and Smell in Birds
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 18, 2012
A Dominican missionary in Mozambique in the 16th century was astounded to find honeyguides eating the wax from his altar candles! The Herbst touch receptors found in bills can also be found in the tongues of many birds and this may aid birds like hummingbirds and woodpeckers that use their tongues extensively in foraging.
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