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===Birds=== [[File:Sparvhöks klor - Claws of Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) - Ystad - 2024.jpg|thumb|Claws of [[Eurasian sparrowhawk]].]] A '''talon''' is the claw of a [[bird of prey]], its primary hunting tool.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fowler |first=Denver W. |last2=Freedman |first2=Elizabeth A. |last3=Scannella |first3=John B. |date=2009-11-25 |editor-last=Pizzari |editor-first=Tom |title=Predatory Functional Morphology in Raptors: Interdigital Variation in Talon Size Is Related to Prey Restraint and Immobilisation Technique |url=https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007999 |journal=PLoS ONE |language=en |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=e7999 |bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.7999F |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0007999 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=2776979 |pmid=19946365 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The talons are very important; without them, most birds of prey would not be able to catch their food. Some birds also use claws for defensive purposes. [[Cassowary|Cassowaries]] use claws on their inner toe (digit I) for defence and have been known to disembowel people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lumeij |first=J. T. |date=1987 |title=Avian clinical pathology. General considerations |journal=Veterinary Quarterly |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=249–254 |doi=10.1080/01652176.1987.9694109 |pmid=3314103|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cho |first1=Patricia |last2=Brown |first2=Rosanne |last3=Anderson |first3=Marilyn |date=1984-01-01 |title=Comparative gross anatomy of ratites |journal=Zoo Biology |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=133–144 |doi=10.1002/zoo.1430030205 |issn=1098-2361}}</ref> All birds, however, have claws, which are used as general holdfasts and protection for the tip of the digits. The [[hoatzin]] and [[turaco]] are unique among [[extant taxon|extant]] birds in having functional claws on the thumb and index finger (digits I and II) on the forelimbs as chicks, allowing them to climb trees until the adult plumage with flight feathers develop.<ref name=Parallel>{{cite journal |author1=Fain, Matthew G. |author2=Houde, Peter |year=2004 |title=Parallel radiations in the primary clades of birds |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=58 |issue=11 |pages=2558–2573 |doi=10.1554/04-235 |pmid=15612298 |s2cid=1296408 |url=http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/~houde/Parallel_radiations.pdf |access-date=2016-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709030601/http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/~houde/Parallel_radiations.pdf |archive-date=2017-07-09 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1891.tb00045.x |last=Parker |first=W. K. |year=1891 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31083330 |title=On the Morphology of a Reptilian Bird, ''Opisthocomus hoazin'' |journal=Transactions of the Zoological Society of London |volume=13 |pages=43–89 |issue=2}}</ref> However, several birds have a claw- or nail-like structure hidden under the feathers at the end of the hand digits, notably ostriches, emus, ducks, geese and kiwis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=''Sir'' Buller |first=Walter Lawry |author-link=Walter Buller |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BulBird.html |title=A History of the Birds of New Zealand |publisher=[[Walter Buller|Sir Walter Lawry Buller]] |year=1888 |location=[[London]] |language=en |chapter=''Apteryx australis'' (South-Island Kiwi) |chapter-url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BulBird-t1-g1-t2-body-d138.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020062123/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BulBird.html |archive-date=2021-10-20 |via=[[New Zealand Electronic Text Collection]]}}</ref>
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