Bill? Or beak. (1 Viewer)

[marcbarger]

What do you feel diffirentiates a bill from a beak?

A Cardinal has a beak. Does a Hummingbird have a bill? A duck has a bill. Does a Blue Jay have a beak? Or do all song birds have bills and birds of prey have beaks? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

 

[AlexC]

I was under the impression that they could be used interchangably, however, people tend to use them where connotation seems to suit it best.

 

[cuckooroller]

Absolutely indifferent as far as I know. Personal preference - bill.

 

[dafi]

Good question i was under the impresion that if it was wide and flat as in duck or spoonbill and used in a siveing fasion then its a bill .If its thin narrow pointed and used to pick and peck then its a beak. Is that correct or is it to arbitary a discription

 

[gerdwichers8]

Oxford about bill:"the beak of a bird, especially when it is slender, flattened, or weak, or belongs to a web-footed bird or a bird of the pigeon family."

In case of beak, Oxford doesn't give much detail but some other dictionaries relate it to 'pointed' or 'hooked'

 

[dantheman]

I'm thinking the opposite of the above! Bill is the more general term used in most families, beak being used just for ducks and suchlike. Sparrows have bills, not beaks. But I guess you could always just use 'mandibles'. (The hummingbirds elongated mandibles allow it. . . . ) Hhhmmmm. . .


Donald Duck has a comedy yellow beak. (or is it bill?) Beak, quack, duck all end in 'k'. . .
Plants like Cranesbill and Storksbill- very slender, like the mandibles of the bird, but pointed.

My Collins Gem, for what it's worth has;
beak: projecting horny jaws of a bird (!)
Bill: bird's beak

Sorry, absolutely no help at all then!!!

 

[Pete Mella]

I'm thinking the opposite of the above! Bill is the more general term used in most families, beak being used just for ducks and suchlike. Sparrows have bills, not beaks. But I guess you could always just use 'mandibles'. (The hummingbirds elongated mandibles allow it. . . . ) Hhhmmmm. . .

Sword-billed Hummingbird? Duck-billed Platypus?

I always thought they were more or less interchangable, but imagine beaks to be sturdier (Pine Grosbeak), and bills to be pointier. But then again Crossbill and Hornbill disprove this.

Maybe it is all interchangable after all.

 

[dantheman]

In non-specific circumstances using 'bill' sounds much less naff than beak. ie unidentified bird with a yellow beak when writing a description; bill sounds so much better!!!!

 

[dafi]

I asked my misses what she thought the diffrence was and she said "The bill send you up the beak sends you down". Not mutch help there then.

 

[Colin Key]

Having spent a large part of my formative years (six years as a student) in East London (QMC in the Mile End Road), I can assure you that any Cockney will be quick to tell you that "bill" means "police" and that "beak" means "magistrate or judge".

Not that I have had any experience with either ("know what I mean John?").

Colin o

 

[Nicola Main]

I thought they were both the same thing? I also thought that non-birders used the term 'beak' and birders said 'bill'?

 

[lostinjapan]

Put forth today is the very mysterious case of the missing beak:

Monsieur le Advocat: May I call the first witness.

Sir Waxwing Stickybeak: You may.

Avocet: I call Mr Bill Shank to the stand..erm Bill. Now when did you first notice your short fat little beak was missing?

Mr Bill 'Red' Shank: Well..it was last Wednesday when I noticed the fad of calling so many Avian protruberence 'beak' had fallen by the wayside.and mine had been replaced by the longer slender bill that you so admirably display yourself.

Monsieur le Advocat: Your honor the defence rests,but in my defence i would like to say I was born with it an don't wish to lord it over other less fortunate beaked bretheren.

Sir Waxwing Stickybeak: I see. Mr Jack Raven for the defence do you have any witnesses to call?

Jack Raven: No your honour..we don't want to crow or make a song or dance about it or indeed stick our beak in where it is not wanted...we leave the matter uncontested.

Sir Waxwing Stickybeak. Then I declare that the prosecution has regained the right to the beak, and can no longer be discriminated against for not having a long slender bill. However, this is not a time for the prosecution to bill and coe over the their victory for I have always felt that though the beak mayb be short, fat and wide and the bill long and slender..it really should not matter in this new age of Avian brotherhood.

 

[dafi]

im still intrested to find out if there is a diffrence between a bill and a beak im shure there is but dont realy know beyond my explanation.There must be some one with a definitive explanation out there in BF land!

 

[dantheman]

Put forth today is the very mysterious case of the missing beak:

And your point is? . . . . .

You don't have a stash of Rupert the Bear annuals over there do you? Somehow reminds me of the Council of Birds from one I read when I was younger!
(And I'm glad to see Bill 'Red' shank hasn't been forced to change his name to 'Red' leg)

Dafi - I have the definitive answer- I asked my girlfriend, she was more helpful, she said ducks have beaks, birds have bills.

 

[jocateme]

I've always been confused with this. I tend to use bill, but definately don't know whether there are differences or not. Just an example of two different expressions for the same type of bird:
Silver-beaked Tanager
Cone-billed Tanager

 

[lostinjapan]

I don't think that my answer was unhelpful..obviously not a fan of bad absurdist humour Dantheman..

I would think that the words are interchageable. Check out Wikipedia and Dictionary.com for more definitive answers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beak
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beak
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bill

However, in the birding world I think 'beak' tends to be used less frequently than beak these days.

 

[Sue Wright]

I had it in mind to put the same as Colin, being a law-abiding citizen.

However, I wouldn't have thought it mattered too much, though I think most of us use it according to the Bird in question at the time.

Come to think of it, there is the joke about the Tax Man and the Pelican....though I'm too much of a lady...but both involve BILLS!!!

Sue.

 

[dantheman]

I don't think that my answer was unhelpful..obviously not a fan of bad absurdist humour Dantheman..

Apologies, I very much liked your account, was merely trying to engage in a humorous manner (but failing badly in this case!). Note the smilie. . . ('Bad absurdist humour' - Your term or someone else's? Who should we be aware of in terms of absurdist humour. . .)

I agree that birds with 'beaks' should henceforth not be discriminated against, maybe a 'bill of rights' should be drawn up to ensure this does not happen. Cheers. Dan

Sean??

 

[dafi]

Dafi - I have the definitive answer- I asked my girlfriend, she was more helpful, she said ducks have beaks, birds have bills.[/QUOTE]


sorry dan but i reckon its the other way about.
If a duck was in a hotel paying for his meal he wouldnt be putting it on his beak would he?

 

[dantheman]

sorry dan but i reckon its the other way about.
If a duck was in a hotel paying for his meal he wouldnt be putting it on his beak would he?

Ducks in hotels paying bills??? I think you're quacking up, mate. . .