(c) Kelda Tench
Summer Holidays at The Cut: Beaks, Feet & Feathers
193 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6AH
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About the event
Don’t birds come in a remarkable variety of shapes and designs? Why don’t they all look the same? Each species has evolved for a particular lifestyle. Find out what their jobs are and how their design fits them for it. What do they have I their toolkit? Beaks for chiselling wood, picking up tiny spiders, tearing met or grazing, and feet for paddling, perching, climbing, grabbing prey or walking through marshes. How does a puffin keep all those fish in its beak while it catches another? Why don’t ducks’ feet freeze?
Think of Darwin’s Galapagos finches! Their different forms helped the great man to prove his theory of evolution.
Fun facts and quizzes, and a chance to enhance your bird watching skills.
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The event is free, but donations are appreciated to cover the cost of materials and support our work.Know before you go
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(c) Duncan Rennie
(c) Cath Price
Fun bird facts!
Puffins use their tongue to push fish against the backward-facing spines n the beak while they carry on hunting for more fish. Puffins usually carry around 10 fish at a time but Dr Ellie Owen from the RSPB told Planet Puffin that the most fish she's ever heard of a puffin carrying is 126!
The grip strength of a golden eagle’s talons is around 500 psi, which is strong enough to burst a car tyre. They can carry 8lb in flight despite weighing a maximum of 14lb themselves.
The mute swan is our heaviest flying bird – up to 15kg.
Owls have huge eyes, taking up to 70% of the space in the skull. In tawny owls they’re the size of a human child’s in a skull the size of a golf ball!