Collecting food

1. Finding food is one thing, but collecting or capturing it is quite another.

2. Many animals have specialized body parts such as mouthparts, hands or feet that help them collect their food most efficiently.

3. Hoarding or caching in animal behavior is the storage of food in locations hidden from the sight of both conspecifics (animals of the same or closely related species) and members of other species.

Let us study the food habits of birds and animals in detail.

Picking food with beak: We see hens and crows in our surroundings searching for food. Woodpeckers have a long and strong beak. By using this beak they remove layers of bark and eat ants and pests which lie under the bark. Crane has a long beak to catch fish in water. Parrot, which eats fruits and cracks nuts, has a hooked beak, while the crow doesn't have it. Not only the beak, there are other parts as well that are different to suit the type of food eaten by a bird. Vultures would need sharp claws along with strong hooked beaks to tear flesh, while the humming bird that sucks nectar would need a long thin beak and does not need sharp claws. 

How does a frog get its food:

It is very interesting to watch a frog get its food. A frog throws out its sticky tongue towards an insect. The insect gets stuck on the frog's tongue. Then the frog swallows it.

How does a cow get :

its food We know that many animals like the cow depend on plants for food. They are herbivores. Animals like cow, goat, buffalo, sheep, giraffe, camel, elephant, deer etc. eat different parts of plants like green/dry grass, leaves and branches.

How does a dog get :

Dogs eat food by using their sharp teeth and tongue. Wild animals like lion, fox, wolf, tiger and others also have sharp teeth.

Getting food without hunting:

Some animals get their food by hunting and some others do not hunt. Write about the way in which at least two animals that do not hunt, get their food. It is very interesting to watch how a duck catches its food. Ducks also have teeth, but they are not like the teeth of a cow or lion. They are not useful in grinding food. They act as filters to get food from water.

Food Chain

1. There is a great balance in nature established among different plants and animals regarding their food habits.

2. In a pond, we can see that eggs and larvae are eaten by fish and frogs. Fish and frogs are food for a crane.

3. Food chains cannot always be represented by a straight line. They can be branched with several food chains connected to each other in the form of a web.

4. Food chains form a web where one animal depends upon more than one source and type of food.

5. We use pesticides and insecticides to protect crops but every year a large number of frogs die by eating poisoned insects.