Ainsley Beckman

Per. 7
3/14/14

Big beaks are better?

Have you ever wondered why birds beaks differ in size? A long time ago, Charles
Darwin once took a trip to Daphne Major, which is part of the Galapagos to study their wild life.
When he was there, he saw many different species. As he studied the animals on land and in
water, he also saw finches flying around above him. He did not focus on the finches, but he did
focus on all the other species around him. Many years later, a couple went back to Daphne
Major and also noticed the finches. The Grants studied the finches more, and noticed the beak
variance. In 1977, a large drought that lasted 500 days with no rainfall at all changed the size of
the finches beaks. I know you are thinking, "How would a drought change the size of beaks? "
In 1977, the drought was terrible; terrible enough to change the history of finches beaks
forever. During the drought, food was getting lessened and lessened, which made it hard for the
birds to find seeds they could eat. For most birds, food was not easy to eat, except for the
finches that had big beaks, because they could eat the big seeds that the small beaked birds
could not. When the big beaked birds had an advantage during the drought, natural selection
was key. Natural selection is when a species can adapt to an environment better than others in
the same species can. Some birds were lucky enough to go through natural selection. Those
who were lucky got bigger beaks, and could survive through the drought. The Grants, and
Darwin both used the finches beaks to prove the theory of evolution. For several years, the
Grants returned to the Galapagos Islands to continue to study the finches beaks. In the next
several years, they returned again to Daphne Major with a graduate to study the beaks some
more, and not much had changed.
Natural selection was a big part of the finches surviving. The finches with the big beaks
could survive during the drought, while the finches with the small beaks could not survive. The

Ainsley Beckman
Per. 7
3/14/14
Grants and Darwin both wanted to study natural selection and evolution. Darwin was also lucky
enough to have the Grants continue studying his original ideas. As shown, you can see that
natural selection is a big part of a species life.