Yep, my daughter is a big reader and pointed out that birds have scales, which are basically specialized feathers. Many dinosaurs had beaks that look very much like parrot beaks and for the same purpose.
Ashling, you should see the hoatzin. It is similar to your bird that you painted except that it has a claw halfway down the wing to enable gripping. The young birds use it to cling to trees before they can fly. :)
Lines of Evidence: Anatomy, Page 2 of 2
Hoatzin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My daughter has a book called Walking with Dinosaurs that says,
IN the late 1960's John Ostram's study of the raptor Deinonychus . . . revisited characteristics such as the half-moon wrist bone that allowed both raptors and birds to swivel their "hands" sideways. In flight, birds use this ability to draw their wings in during the upward stroke and push them out during the downward stroke . . .
__________________
I'm a full time nursing student, wife of
a very kind, patient husband of 13 years, 2 great kids
A Dozen Peeps Filling My Heart and Home
9 budgies, Moki the Jenday conure and Daisy the Sun conure,and new arrival Nibbles the Cockatiel
The End!!
RIP Sunny
Those who realize that all life is one
are at home everywhere and see themselves
in all beings.
--Taittiriya Upanishad