Point 1 Extra Tips

Potentially difficult species include: ducks, woodpeckers, some pheasants and parrots.

This point can be hard to find on species where the tip of the bill is blunt or rounded, so remember:

• The point will always be on the centre line of the bill
• The point will be where the left and right edges meet
• The point will always be in the lowest possible position

Here are some examples of Point 1 on a Northern Shoveller Duck (Anas clypeata).

The point is on the centre line where the left and right edges meet, at the lowest possible position. Notice how this point is not the forward-most position, because the left and right edges don’t meet at the very front!

Here’s another example on a type of woodpecker, the Williamson’s Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus). The tip of a woodpecker’s beak is shaped a bit like a chisel, and doesn’t really have a “point”. The same rules apply here as with the duck: again, the point is placed on the centre line where the left and right edges meet, at the lowest position.