Smaller finches with less-powerful beaks perished. So the birds that were the winners in the game of natural selection lived to reproduce. The big-beaked finches just happened to be the ones ...

This can hamper the growth of young birds. In this way ... And in short-term periods of extreme temperatures, having a big beak can be a liability. Hot air from the environment will actually ...

Prior work on these birds had established that birds' beaks ... like that of the swamp sparrow," says Podos, "and a big, powerful beak is just too clunky to manage the movements required." ...