What is the parrot doing? :)

[Tamara]

Hi
Sorry for the (perhaps) strange question

1. Could you give some – natural and adequate for the situation presented – English verbs that would describe the parrot in the picture?



2. What do birds do by their beaks?
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[Conchita]

Trust Tamara to come up with original, unusual and funny questions!

The parrot in your picture is pecking (biting with his beak) someone's finger -- parrots bite a lot and their bites can be very painful (I should know -- I used to have one).

Other things birds do with their beaks include:

Pick up (peck) food
Drink water
Feed their young
Peck (strike) holes in something
Peck something out (dig up, pull out)
Preen and scratch themselves
Attack their enemies
Catch fish and other prey
Make sounds
Caress their mates

When it was hot, my parrot used to open and close its beak, literally panting.

According to One Look, 'beak' can also be used as a verb: hit lightly with a picking motion. Is that what you really wanted to know?

[Tamara]

Hi, Conchita

Thanks a lot for your excellent list – it gives more than I could even expect!

[Conchita]

I know what you mean, Tamara -- I normally associate biting with teeth. If the parrot on the picture isn't biting, then perhaps you could say he's just grabbing the finger or pinching it (?)

[Yankee]

Hi Tamara

Yes, yours is truly an original question.

Birds do peck with their beaks, but I definitely wouldn't call the activity taking place in your picture pecking. Despite the fact that the parrot has no teeth, I do think I'd go so far as to call that biting. You could soften or change it somewhat with an adverb (or adjective -- depending on usage): gently biting or playfully biting.

My cats "bite" me all the time but there is never any broken skin or blood. I think of what my cats do as "affectionate, playful biting" or "nipping".

Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Tamara]

Thanks!

Amy, in Russian it would be different words (but coming from one root) - when you actually bite something (or someone ) and when you 'bite a little' (dearly, fondly, gently,... )
Both imply having teeth. At least two - at the opposite jaws )

OK. Birds must have equal rights!
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