MECHANICAL MARVELS carefully designed for obtaining food, bird beaks occur in hundreds of forms. Clockwise from upper left: Flamingo has built-in filter sieve in its bill which sifts small shellfish and other bits of food from the mud of shallow water; mallard duck has strainer bill; crossbill uses beak to pry apart pinecones and extract seeds; hummingbird has beak shaped like a syringe for extracting nectar; pelican has mechanical scoop for catching fish and holding food to feed the young; bald eagle has incisor beak for tearing apart prey; ivory-billed woodpecker (center) has hard chisel-like beak for hammering into trees to find insects. - See PDF for Pictures