Under these drastically changing conditions, the struggle to survive favored the larger birds with deep, strong beaks for opening the hard seeds. Smaller finches with less-powerful beaks perished.

Pipping is when a baby bird uses its beak to crack open its shell, and a pip watch is the online vigil and hoopla surrounding that activity. “Tears of joy!!!” responded one person on Facebook ...

The outer sheaths of birds’ beaks grow continually throughout their lives, but when they are properly aligned, the tips wear each other away and the beak stays straight and normal in length.

He's the best little dust bunny/baby bird I've ever met ... they pounce from treetops and use their big, hooked beaks to ...