Integrated beak-conditioner
Big toucan, or Ramphastos Toco, is extremely funny bird. His bill is 50 percent of the size of the entire body. Looking at this bird of the South American tropics, could not help wonder: what has prompted nature to give birth to the creation of such a large beak?
According to one theory, a giant beak toucans need in order to obtain food from difficult places. There is also the view that the bill has an indispensable role during mating.
Finally, a group of Canadian and Brazilian biologists presented a new explanation. Experiments have shown that birds can effectively manage the blood supply of its impressive beak and, accordingly, regulate body temperature, as with the air conditioner.
In his experiment, researchers placed a few toucans in Thermal imagers the camera. Temperature in it gradually increased, and the infrared light was clearly seen as the amplified blood flow across the surface of the bird's beak, which the heat transfer in a short period of time increased almost fourfold.
As you know, birds do not sweat. But because the bill devoid of insulation, they can use it to regulate their body temperature. At night, when it becomes cool, toucans beak hidden in the feathers, to protect the body from hypothermia. However, according to scientists, bird's beak may have other functions.