Beaks

[TheAlphaWolf]

I've always wondered about beaks.
How exactly do beaks grow? or do they?
How do they change shape as they grow? (you know how at first all birds are born with their wide ugly beak and then as they grow they get their mature shape?)
do they have nerves? blood vessels?

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

They're like claws or fingernails. The very end part is dead--no nerves or blood vessels. It can be scraped off or cut off with no pain. You have to be careful with domestic parrots to give them something abrasive to grab or play with so they can use it to keep their beaks trimmed, or they grow too long and get in the way. Like having to trim your dog's nails if he only walks on soft surfaces.

The tip is like the tip of a claw. It gets hardened so it can be used to crack seeds or bark or whatever the particular species of bird has to deal with to get its particular food source. The part behind it has blood vessels and nerves. They grow from that part, which forces the dead part forward as it builds more dead tissue behind it. Just like fingernails.

The exterior hardened part of a beak is keratin, just like fingernails.