The Project > Ask the Peregrine Chick
Ask the Peregrine Chick - How it Works
birdnut:
What is the relationship between the peregrines and crows/ravens?
birdcamfan:
Thank you. Nothing I read described the anatomical difference that makes this possible. The first time I saw a tiny stone owl eat a mouse whole I panicked thinking that there was no way that could happen. Great explanation. Thanks again.
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: birdcamfan on May 11, 2012, 21:09 ---I understand the anatomy but if it looks equivalent to what I imagine a human would look like if they tried to swallow their pet dog whole! Doesn't it occlude their airway?
--- End quote ---
If you check out the relative size in the diagram, a bird's airway and throat (simple terms) are much larger than ours. That and the mouth is only so big, they aren't like snakes and a few other reptiles who can "dislocate" their jaws in order to eat much larger prey. And if something is larger/longer than they can manage, they hack it up ... watch this year when the chicks eat a leg and the foot is sticking out their mouth because the leg is longer than the distance between their mouth and the bottom of their crop. Takes a bit of manuevering but they get it out and generally don't try it again. Could there ever be tragic results from lets say, errors in judgement? Probably, but that's part of the evolutionary process I'm afraid.
birdcamfan:
I understand the anatomy but if it looks equivalent to what I imagine a human would look like if they tried to swallow their pet dog whole! Doesn't it occlude their airway?
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: birdcamfan on May 11, 2012, 18:52 ---TPC, I hope you can answer this question which is about owls (Sorry, I know this is a PF site). I have looked everywhere for the answer but have not been able to find it. I have watched owls choke down their prey basically whole. Even the chicks seem able to swallow something that is only slightly smaller than themselves. It sometimes takes up to a minute. How do they do this and breathe at the same time??
--- End quote ---
Same way you can breathe and chew at the same time :) The esophagus leads to the crop and their airways are totally separate.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/PigeonAnatomy.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_anatomy)
Hope this helps, or at least is a start ...
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