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House Sparrow tongue closeup
© 2012 by Rottlady
I finally cleaned my windows so I could get some bird feeding pictures and it's amazing how much better the images turn out when you don't have to look through smudges.
I was surprised when I was able to capture these birds either with a mouth full of seed or as you see in the first image, a bird tongue! I did a little Google search this morning on the House Sparrow and found this per Wikipedia:
Sparrows are physically similar to other seed-eating birds, such as finches, but have a vestigial dorsal outer primary feather and an extra bone in the tongue.[2][3] This bone, the preglossale, helps stiffen the tongue when holding seeds.
I also found this description of a bird's tongue here:
Most birds have tongues, though unlike ours. A bird's tongue has 5 bones in it that support and strengthen it, together they are called the 'Hyoid apparatus'.
There is also a great deal of variation in bird tongues. A bird's tongue is generally harder and less flexible than ours. Most birds have a relatively simple tongue, a flat triangular blade in shape with a few backwardly pointing papillae at the back of the mouth which help to ensure food only goes in one direction.
Or maybe this one is just wagging it's tongue with a bunch of gossip? I only wish I could come up with some really good captions for these images. So, if you want to help out just post your captions below and help me out.
© 2012 by Rottlady
House Sparrow
I want to thank MalamuteMan for helping me with enhancing this image. You are the best!
© 2012 by Rottlady
House Finch eating sunflower seed
© 2012 by Rottlady
Northern Cardinal eating a seed.
That's the best bird images I had so next I'll show you a couple of sunsets I caught while sitting on my front porch.
© 2012 by Rottlady
If you wait until the sun has gone below the horizon, sometimes you get a really colorful shot.
© 2012 by Rottlady
Ozarks sunsets always make me smile!
