Without chance variation and experimentation, evolution does not exist. It is through struggle and adaptation we evolve. Survival shocks us out of our complacency.
“Evolution depends on the existence of high-fidelity copying but not perfect copying, since mutations (copying errors) are the ultimate source of all novelty,” writes Daniel Dennett in his book From Bacteria to Bach: The Evolution of Minds.
The robust animal develops over time — rounding out the imperfections — in perpetual revision to amplify an accumulation of mistakes.
But natural selection depends on effort and luck.
Good fortune rewards those who not only get the longer beak but ride out the wave of their mutation to advance.