Can you guess the functions of these bird beak shapes?

Hummingbirds have syringe-like beaks so they can more easily get at flower nectar. Species such as the brown creeper (pictured), meanwhile, use their tweezer beaks to pluck insects from tree bark crevices. The crossbill uses its beak like a rib spreader, to separate the scales of a pine cone. It then uses its tongue to grab the seeds.

Raptors such as bald eagles and red-tailed hawks (pictured) have hook-shaped breaks for ripping apart flesh. They can’t eat prey whole; they have to break it down into smaller pieces. Even the adorable, tiny Northern shrike has a weapon-like bill, all the better to stab, then cut up, mice.

Doves and pigeons, unlike other birds, use their beaks to suck up water. Most species submerge their bills and tip them back in order to drink. Why the difference? We’re actually not sure. Maybe doves and pigeons are just…unusually thirsty all the time.

The belted kingfisher (pictured) has a huge beak—at least, in comparison to its body. That’s so the bird can excavate its six-foot-long sandbank nesting cavity. The evening grosbeak’s giant bill, meanwhile, is useful for crushing cherry pits, the bird’s favourite food. Woodpeckers, on the other hand, have thinner, chisel-like bills to drill into trees.

Soil feeding species such as American woodcocks (pictured) dive face-first into the ground to get at earthworms. A woodcock’s bill is long and thin for this reason. Many shorebird bills have a flexible tip that allows the birds to root for food below the surface of the sand.