The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young. The terms beak and rostrum are also used to refer to a similar mouthpart in some Ornithischian dinosaurs, monotremes, cephalopods (see Cephalopod beak), cetaceans, billfishes, pufferfishes, turtles, Anuran tadpoles and sirens.
Although beaks vary significantly in size, shape, color and texture, they share a similar underlying structure. Two bony projections—the upper and lower mandibles—are covered with a thin keratinized layer of epidermis known as the rhamphotheca. In most species, two holes known as nares lead to the respiratory system.
Although the word 'beak' was, in the past, generally restricted to the sharpened bills of birds of prey, in modern ornithology, the terms 'beak' and 'bill' are generally considered to be synonymous.
Although beaks vary significantly in size and shape from species to species, their underlying structures have a similar pattern. All beaks are composed of two jaws, generally known as the upper mandible (or maxilla) and lower mandible (or mandible). The upper, and in some cases the lower, mandibles are strengthened internally by a complex three-dimensional network of bony spicules (or trabeculae) seated in soft connective tissue and surrounded by the hard outer layers of the beak. The avian jaw apparatus is made up of two units; one four-bar linkage mechanism and one five-bar linkage mechanism.
The beak is part of the shell of a bivalve mollusk, i.e. part of the shell of a saltwater or freshwater clam. The beak is the basal projection of the oldest part of the valve of the adult animal. The beak usually, but not always, coincides with the umbo, the highest and most prominent point on the valve. Because by definition, all bivalves have two valves, the shell of a bivalve has two umbones, and two beaks.
In many species of bivalves the beaks point towards one another. However, in some species of bivalves the beaks point posteriorly, in which case they are referred to as opisthogyrate; in others the beaks point forward, and are described as being prosogyrate.
If the beak is not eroded or worn down at all, it may still be capped with the prodissoconch, which is the larval shell of the animal.
Beak (stylized BEAK> and also named Recordings 05/01/09 > 17/01/09) is the self-titled debut studio album by British band Beak>, released by the label Invada in October 2009. It was improvised and recorded in a twelve day period without any overdubbing or repair. It earned generally positive reviews from critics upon release, holding an aggregate of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic.
Beak was written and recorded between 5–17 January 2009, improvised live without any overdubbing, at State Of Art Studios in Bristol, England. The reason for the improvised recording was that, according to member Geoff Barrow, "We’ve all played on really overdub-y records, but we felt like this wasn’t about that. We had enough of a sound between the three of us that we didn’t need to mess around with it." However, in an L.A. Record interview with the entire group, they said there was might've been one tiny overdub, and that was done through discussion.
The recording on each day would start at twelve PM, and last until six. Some songs were played ten times, while some others had two or three versions made, but usually the first take was chosen to be featured on the final product. The only tracks that were done in one take were "Backwell" and "Battery Point". Barrow said about the lyric writing, "I never wrote anything down. And what you hear is what happened in the [recording] room. Non-traditional vocals, really. I’m not a very lyrical person, and I’m definitely not a singer. I felt a little weird about it." The album was engineered by Stuart Matthews, and finally mastered by Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering.
Yo 'Pac yo, I heard you got beat up by the police
Got a big fat lawsuit and everything
Niggaz just wanna know
if you still gon' be on some crooked-ass sheeeit
[2Pac]
Please tell me what's a nigga to do, and it's true
Ain't nuttin new, so I do, what I can to get through
Now first they had me trapped and now I'm pissed
A loaded AK-47 lay under my head so I don't trip
One motherfucker from the Underground
And Big Stretch buckin niggaz if they fuck around
Yo why I got beef with police?
Ain't that a bitch that motherfuckers got a beef with me
They make it hard for me to sleep
I wake up at the slightest peep, and my sheets are 3 feet deep
I guess it's hard for you to see
But now I'm pointin the finger at police
instead of them motherfuckers blamin me
I got the right to bear a pistol
And when the punk motherfuckers get to trippin I got shit too
And maybe then you'll see the truth (hell yeah)
But until then, I gotta do what I do
and stay a crooked nigga too
[Chorus: Raphael Saadiq]
I've got to do, what I'm gon' do
I'm gon' say what I'm gon' say
I'm gon' live how I live - how else you want a nigga to live?
I'm gon' do, what I do
I'm gon' say, what I say
I'm gon' live how I live - how do you want a nigga to live?
[2Pac]
Y'know you really can't say that ya blame niggaz
Fuck bein tame, set aflame, time to aim triggers
2Pac'll spark a revolution, fuck the Constitution
I want my bucks for restitution
This time you got a bigger problem
Time to face the niggaz from South Central, Oakland, Brooklyn and Harlem
And we ain't shootin at each other
That's my motherfuckin brother, so Dave Duke, run for cover
And all the bitches from the Klan
Come feel the wrath of a black man that doesn't smoke crack and
I don't drink St. Ides (fuck that!)
Genuine Draft, ganja ganja, and my fuckin tec-9
They know they scared to see us sober
Stop drinkin King Cobra, and niggaz'll take the world over
It's all up to you (up to you)
Blame the Korean, blame the jew, or be a crooked nigga too
[Chorus]
[2Pac]
Aiyyo! Why me? Play like Jasmine Guy and try me
I'll be damned if I die, come look at the rage in my eyes G
They got my homies in a jail cell
And it's the Rebel and the Devil, and one of us is goin to Hell
I got the whole place covered, with loc'd out brothers
And nuttin but love for each other
So motherfucker make a motion
I give a fuck, slice you up, and throw your ass in the ocean
Temperatures drop; see it's cool to shoot a nigga
but they hate it when we pop the cops
That's when they gettin petrol
You better watch your step or you'll be left on death row
But I learn to look ahead of me
Stay strapped watch your back keep your eyes on the enemy
We blowin up precincts and OOOH
You can't fuck with the crew, of crooked nigga too
[Chorus]
[Raphael Saadiq]
It's the coldest town from here to Georgia
(I'm a crooked nigga too)
It's the coldest town from here to Georgia
It's the coldest town from here to Georgia
(I'm a crooked.. crooked nigga too)
It's the coldest town from here to Georgia
Y'all gon' stop fuckin with me
[Chorus - repeat to fade]