THE human species really is arrogant and this also applies to far too many scientists.

Take, for example, a birds beak. The bill is described as a "dead" opening to the mouth, less efficient than ours because birds have no teeth and no sense of taste or touch.

A bird's bill is one of its most vital organs and is much more sensitive than is often realised. This week I was watching curlews feeding on the banks of Foulridge Reservoir.

They were pushing their long curved bills into the soft ground and extracting invertebrates with great skill.

The bill is actually sheathed in a flexible skin and embedded in this are nerve cells which are sensitive to temperature, texture and movement.

Some suggest that there may well also be some taste buds. The curlew is therefore aware of what it is searching for and can distinguish food from stones.

Do not treat any bird's bill with contempt. It is the bill which determines the diet of all species.

They are of different shapes to prevent the various species competing against each other.