People often wonder if Bald Eagles have tongues because we don’t see them when they’re using their huge, hooked beaks for ripping flesh from their prey.
The answer is yes, of course, they have tongues.
Bald Eagles Tongues are Fairly Simple
But their tongues are not used the way woodpecker’s use their tongues to get into tiny crevices in trees to grab bugs.
Or like a hummingbird or Purple Honeycreeper sticking their tongues our far enough to eat nectar.
And not like a Rainbow Lorikeet using its brush-like tongue to feed in flowers.
Or a Carolina Wren’s tongue helping them hold onto insects.
A raptor’s tongue is fairly simple, with small spikes or hairs to help them hold onto prey.
READ: BALD EAGLE AIR SHOW ON DISPLAY AT SHEPAUG DAM
Anatomy of a Bald Eagle’s Tongue
A Bald Eagle’s tongue is pinkish, relatively narrow, and it fits nicely between the sharp ridges of their beaks, and are quite flexible.
Eagles use their tongues to help them swallow like we do, but eagle’s tongues aren’t as long as ours, so they can’t stick them out.
An Eagle’s tongue is short, so they can’t easily bite them.
If you look carefully at an eagle’s tongue, they have two barbs, or rear-directed papillae, to help lift and pull food items to the back of their long mouths.
Eagles usually keep their mouths shut, except when they are nervous or hot and open their mouths to pant.
So next time when you’re lucky enough to see a beautiful Bald Eagle up close, be sure to check out their tongue: yet another marvel of nature.
To learn more about Bald Eagles, visit https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/overview.
I have photos of them using their tongue almost like a finger to hold food to the maxilla, and it looks quite strong…also of them using their tongues to clean their beaks…what comes out is a thin and pointed hook-like tongue tip that is dragged along the mandible. It may be connected to the skull in a way that it retracts to prevent actually biting it off, but it can extend its tongue out of the opening of the beak.