Tongues and Bills
Craig Houghton January 9th, 2007
I was going through the photos sitting on my camera from over this last balmy January weekend, and although I didn’t manage to get any ‘keeper’ shots, I found these two pics interesting enough to share:
I never had a chance to see a Northern Flicker’s tongue before. It’s much, much longer than this, but all I managed was a delayed and blurry shot.
And, notice the bill on this Downy Woodpecker? The barring on the bill may only be from the shadows cast by the suet feeder, but that beak looks damned good in stripes. I think it suits their outfit. Since there’s a lighter cast shadow there, the striped might actually exist, but it’s not bloody likely. Either way, I’m still hoping some fashion-based Darwinian selection bias kicks in and the striped bill look takes off.
-Craig
