Birds Feeding on Plants

For birds that eat plant foods, adaptations are necessary more for handling than capturing food, since seed, grasses, and berries are seldom elusive. Wide differences exist among birds in their methods and abilities for dealing with such plant materials: Blue Jays hammer holes in acorns with their bills; White-winged Crossbills pluck seeds from between the scales of spruce cones; Cedar Waxwings, traveling in flocks, easily gorge themselves on soft berries in treetops; Canada Geese graze on succulent grasses and nibble at ripe grains; Northern Pintails dabble with their bills in shallow water to extract soft tubers and shoots of aquatic plants. Observing how different species handle different foods can be a rewarding pastime for the interested bird-watcher. Start by watching the birds at your feeder. Notice how they choose the foods that are best for their bill sizes

These Brants, like most other forms of geese, depend on grains, grasses and aquatic vegetation to form the bulk of their diet. As with most plant-eating birds, geese are highly sociable and usually feed in flocks.