Bird+Tongues

=A Tui Tongue in the Allen Centre...=

It's a pretty amazing tongue - especially under the microscope!

 * [[image:P1270866.JPG]] || [[image:P1270865.JPG]] ||
 * [[image:P1270868.JPG]] || [[image:P1270869.JPG]] ||
 * [[image:tui_tongue-8.jpg]]

feathers.
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The feathery brush tip of the Tui's tongue.
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 * [[image:tui_tongue-5.jpg]]

back direct food down the throat.
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pulls it back again.
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 * [[image:tui_tongue-6.jpg]]

The entrance to the Tui's throat.
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mouth ensures the food only goes in one direction.
|| =Tongue-Tools...=

Mallard ducks have less than 500 taste buds, compared to the 10,000 in a human and 17,000 in a rabbit.
Source: Dr David Swanson: http://people.usd.edu
 * [[image:Hyoid-apparatus-of-a-bird.jpg width="354" height="169"]]

transparent flesh in the microscope photographs above.
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bird’s right nostril or around the eye socket.
|| =Interesting tongues:=
 * [[image:thrush.jpg width="211" height="235"]]

move food to their throats.
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nectar.
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sieves in the water.
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 * [[image:woodpecker1.jpg width="208" height="290"]]

tip for stabbing prey.
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help in swallowing fish.
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them 'talk'.
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