The shape of the beak can tell you the function of that particular type of beak, and then the habitat in which the bird lives. For example, a bird with a long, slender beak most likely gets its food from hard to reach crevices in the ground or trees, and a bird with a short, thick beak most likely gets its food from either cracking items open or killing prey, because the shortness of the beak shows that it does not need to reach small places.