# birds have beaks... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474 "2003-05-01T21:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FuneralUnicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@FuneralUnicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuneralUnicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/1 "2003-05-01T21:04:07Z")
alright, i think thats clear. but what in the hell do things like squids have? dont tell me a beak because i dont want to hear it… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/2 "2003-05-01T21:20:21Z")
[It’s a beak, all right.](http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/squid_eat.html) > [@](#): > > A sharp, horny beak cuts up food into bite-sized chunks. The word “beak” has, as one of its possible derivations, the Celtic _bacc_, meaning hook. So, yes, it does fit that a squid has a beak to eat with. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/3 "2003-05-01T21:26:09Z")
Turtles have [beaks](http://www.reefnews.com/reefnews/photos/bimini/hawkbill.html), too: > [@](#): > > The Hawksbill Turtle gets its name from its hawk-like beak. That is, the top of its beak (also called its bill) overhangs the bottom of its beak. This makes its beak look like the beak of a hawk. ---
**Author:** ![FuneralUnicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@FuneralUnicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuneralUnicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/4 "2003-05-01T21:37:09Z")
NO. it MUST be called something else :@ ---
**Author:** ![Rockford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Rockford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rockford)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/5 "2003-05-01T23:29:43Z")
\*\* [Moderator hat on]\*\* FuneralUnicycle, they gave you a straight answer. A word to the wise: If you’re going to have that kind of attitude then you’ll find your time at this message board very short and turbulent. Don’t do this again. **[/Moderator hat off]** \*(Last edited by Rockford at 17:32, 1/05/03) \* ---
**Author:** ![FuneralUnicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@FuneralUnicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuneralUnicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/6 "2003-05-01T23:40:28Z")
theres no need to become authoritative, friend. im merely searching for a different name that i KNOW the appendage has. i read it someplace before…lets stay calm, shall we? ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/7 "2003-05-02T00:01:14Z")
Well, [here’s more evidence](http://tolweb.org/tree/eukaryotes/animals/mollusca/cephalopoda/glossary/glossaryLichen/beakLichen/BeakTerm.html) that it’s simply called a “beak”. Perhaps you are thinking of one of the parts of the beak…? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/8 "2003-05-02T00:26:13Z")
**FuneralUnicycle** , do you remember anything at all about this alternative word? How long it was, what letter it started with? Gee, **Rockford** , nice “moderator hat” and fake “edited by” code. ---
**Author:** ![stoyel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@stoyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoyel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/9 "2003-05-02T00:32:53Z")
I’ve never heard it called anything else. Sidling over to an online thesaurus, I found: aperture, beak, box, buss, cavity, chops, clam, crevice, delta, door, embouchement, entrance, estuary, firth, fly trap, funnel, gate, gills, gob, harbor, inlet, jaws, kisser, lips, mush, orifice, portal, rim, trap, yap bill, mandible, neb, nib, nozzle, pecker, proboscis, projection, prow, snout Perhaps you remember it as one of these? ---
**Author:** ![FuneralUnicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@FuneralUnicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuneralUnicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/10 "2003-05-02T00:49:51Z")
well it certainly wasnt “mush” :\ maybe ive blocked it out…i am afraid of squids, you know. thanks for trying anyhow you guys! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/11 "2003-05-02T01:06:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FuneralUnicycle \* > lets stay calm, shall we? I suspect we shall – shall you? Your original question might have worked better had it been something along the lines of: “I know the hard thing in a squid is often called a beak. I was wondering if anyone knows another term.” (Uppercase letters inserted at no additional charge.) I have heard this called a “cuttle” or “cuttlebone” but I don’t know if that’s right or just a back-formation from “cuttlefish.” I’ve also heard it called a “pen” and a “calamy” (said to be related to the latin word for pen). But I’ll admit these are vague recollections. ---
**Author:** ![FuneralUnicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@FuneralUnicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuneralUnicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/12 "2003-05-02T01:08:59Z")
thats IT! thats it! thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/13 "2003-05-02T01:25:18Z")
Actually, those words Xema provided don’t refer to the beak. They refer to a different structure that runs along the mantle of the squid. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/14 "2003-05-02T03:30:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \***Rockford \*\* > \*\* [Moderator hat on]** > > FuneralUnicycle, they gave you a straight answer. A word to the wise: If you’re going to have that kind of attitude then you’ll find your time at this message board very short and turbulent. Don’t do this again. > > **[/Moderator hat off]** > > \*(Last edited by Rockford at 17:32, 1/05/03) \* **Moderator’s Notes** , You are not a moderator and you cannot edit your posts. You don’t issue warnings. We do. Consider this a formal warning to you. Don’t ever do that again! ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-have-beaks/172474/15 "2003-05-02T03:48:39Z")
Rockford Files…no, it’s Rockford Flies…sorry.