Types of Bird Feathers:
There are 6 commonly recognized types of feathers:
- Vaned or contour: From the outer coverings of a bird's body, including the wing & tail feathers.
- Down: Layer of loosely structures feathers beneath contour feathers which help to trap air near the birds body from warmth. Nothing beats the warmth of down!
- Semieplume: Loose & fluffy feathers similar to down feathers; provides body insulation and increases the buoyancy of water birds.
- Filoplume: Small hair-like feathers with a few barbs at he tip of the shaft; they occur among the contour feathers.
- Bristle: Modified, vaneless contour feathers with only a few barbs at the base on a small, stiff rachis. They can occur around the eyes, nostrils, and in flying insect-catching birds around the mouth, called rictal bristles.
- Poweder down: Feathers that grow continuously and are never molted. The barbs at their tips constantly disintergrate into a fine, talc-like, water-resistant powder. Often abundant in birds that lack preen glands.
Foot Structure:
Aquatic bird:
Bird with lobed toes for ease of swimming.
Bird of prey:
Poorly adapted to locomotion, theses sturdy powerful legs have talons to grip prey, immobilizing and killing it.
Perching bird:
The four toes end in a nail, which wraps around a support when the bird is resting; the hind toe provides equilibrium.
Bird feet:
Coot feet:
Mallard feet:
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