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The term is derived from the Sicilian pizzu ('beak'). To "let someone wet their beak" ( Sicilian language fari vagnari u pizzu ) is to pay protection money. The practice used to be widespread in Southern Italy , [ citation needed ] not only by the Sicilian Cosa Nostra but also by the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria and the Camorra in Campania .
The colour of a bird's beak results from concentrations of pigments—primarily melanins and carotenoids—in the epidermal layers, including the rhamphotheca. [39] In general, beak colour depends on a combination of the bird's hormonal state and diet. Colours are typically brightest as the breeding season approaches and palest after breeding. [40]
In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, [1] rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is called the rhinarium (colloquially this is the "cold wet snout" of some mammals).
Their wingspans can be over 3.1 m (10 ft). [15] Compared to the closely related geese, they are much larger and have proportionally larger feet and necks. [16] Adults also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill. The sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females. [13]
Some have other adaptations such as allowing their body temperature to rise, saving on moisture loss from evaporative cooling or panting. [164] Seabirds can drink seawater and have salt glands inside the head that eliminate excess salt out of the nostrils. [165] Most birds scoop water in their beaks and raise their head to let water run down ...
[13] [14] The sketch is reprised in Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album, where the customer (Graham Chapman) says he does not like the gannet because "they wet their nests." [15] In Series 1, Episode 3, of The F Word, Gordon Ramsay travels to the northwestern coast of Scotland and is shown how to prepare, cook and eat gannet. [16]
[77] (p20) A number of species use a gaping, open beak in their fear and/or threat displays. Some augment the display by hissing or breathing heavily, while others clap their beak. Red-bellied woodpeckers at bird feeders often wave their formidable beaks at competing birds who get too close, clearly signaling "this seed's mine, you can't have it."
They are typically larger than the other sunbirds, with drab brown plumage that is the same for both sexes, and long, down-curved beaks. [ 4 ] In metabolic behaviour similar to that of Andes hummingbirds, [ 6 ] species of sunbirds that live at high altitudes or latitudes will enter torpor while roosting at night, lowering their body temperature ...