Owl bills and owl talons self-sharpen as they grow. Somehow they manage to maintain the proper shape and thickness despite breaking, wear and tear, and clipping or dremmelling as in Alice's case.Yesterday when Ken was cleaning up Alice's disaster on the stairs he found part of Alice's bill. Don't freak out---it didn't break off or anything. What happened was a layer on the front edge of her bill simply flaked off.
This has happened before. I have flakes from the side of her bill and the front edge from a few years ago.
The flake itself is about 1 mm thick at the edges, but I think it's thicker in the center.
Does Alice's bill look weird now? Just a little rough and unpolished. But it's still 100% functional. Just not quite as thick as it was a couple of days ago.
Who knew?
