Guira Cuckoo
This gaping Guira Cuckoo is giving a great view of its tongue, which is very different from our own. The human tongue is muscular and is used to manoeuvre food around the mouth for chewing before swallowing. But birds don't chew their food before swallowing, as the "chewing" takes place in the gizzard further down. If you look closely at this Cuckoo's tongue you will see two backward-pointing spikes. When the Cuckoo has something in its bill it wants to swallow, it thrusts its tongue forwards until the spikes are in front of the food. Then it retracts its tongue with the spikes pulling the food straight down its gullet. And it's not just Cuckoos that have this tongue adaptation. Here's a Fieldfare swallowing some fruit where you can see the tongue shape quite well: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/25824498057/in/photolist
I photographed this Guira Cuckoo at Costanera Sur near Buenos Aries.
Guira Cuckoo
This gaping Guira Cuckoo is giving a great view of its tongue, which is very different from our own. The human tongue is muscular and is used to manoeuvre food around the mouth for chewing before swallowing. But birds don't chew their food before swallowing, as the "chewing" takes place in the gizzard further down. If you look closely at this Cuckoo's tongue you will see two backward-pointing spikes. When the Cuckoo has something in its bill it wants to swallow, it thrusts its tongue forwards until the spikes are in front of the food. Then it retracts its tongue with the spikes pulling the food straight down its gullet. And it's not just Cuckoos that have this tongue adaptation. Here's a Fieldfare swallowing some fruit where you can see the tongue shape quite well: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/25824498057/in/photolist
I photographed this Guira Cuckoo at Costanera Sur near Buenos Aries.