Bird Feathers - Bird Watching Academy

Different Types of Bird Feathers

Feathers emerged from the scales of reptiles and kept birds apart from all other creatures. Feathers are essential for insulation, flight, and courtship displays. Feather shapes and colors help us differentiate between various species
of birds and, in some cases, between females and males.

As feathers are so diverse, there are several other anatomical and technical terms practiced in their descriptions. This article will help you know a few of this terminology and understand more about these fantastic adaptations.

Why do Birds have Feathers?

Have you ever discovered the old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together” (people of the same class or with the same feelings and interests will be seen together)?

But what if birds possessed fur or scales? Would they flock together? No, that doesn’t sound appealing! We think it’s a good thing they have feathers.

Turkey Feathers

About Turkeys

Wild Turkeys are enormous, fat birds with long legs, broad, rounded tails, and a small head on a narrow neck.

Turkeys are dark entirely with a bronze-green iridescence to the most maximum of their plumage. Their wings are dark, strongly barred with white color.

Pheasant Feathers

About Pheasants

Pheasants are large, chicken-like birds, approaching around 3 feet, with a long, pointed tail. It has pretty long legs, a small head, a plump body, and a long neck.

These birds usually walk or run and seldom resort to flying, frequently when disrupted at close range by people or other predators. Male birds make a loud, cackling sound that you can hear from remote distances.

Penguin Feathers

About Penguins

Penguins are one of the most loved birds in the world. They exist in the southern regions of the planet. Though most people imagine a minor, white-and-black animal when they think of penguins, these birds actually come in various sizes, and few are pretty colorful.

There are around 19 species of penguins. The smallest one is the little (also called little blue) penguin, which grows to 10 to 12 inches (25.4 to 30.48 cm) tall and weighs only 2 to 3 lbs.

Owl Feathers

About Owls

Imagine being able to move your head a complete 270 degrees. For years, this range of movement and other exceptional physical features and physiological adaptations of owls have supported them to endure and thrive in the wild.

Owls have adapted to almost every ecosystem on the earth. They are pretty specialized predators, having ears and eyes intended for hunting and fantastic feathers that allow them to fly almost quietly.

Ostrich Feathers

About Ostriches

The Ostrich is the heaviest and largest living bird. As its species name, camelus hints, the ostrich was earlier known as the “camel bird” owing to its long neck, big eyes, and extensive eyelashes, as well as its jolting walk.

Also, similar to camels, the ostrich can withstand high temperatures and go without water for long periods.

Everything You Need to Know About Feathers

Unique to birds and their dinosaur predecessors, feathers have evolved into essential biological structures that come in a remarkable diversity of forms and colors.

Here, we cover the greatness of feather biology by looking at feathers from various scientific viewpoints, including their form, function, growth, and evolution.

Chicken Feathers

About Chickens

Chickens (Gallus domesticus) are domestic birds that cannot fly and have nearly 150 distinct breeds of chicken in several colors, patterns, and sizes.

These birds are omnivores and will depend on small seeds, grubs, insects, herbs and leaves, and even small creatures like mice if they can reach them.

The average number of total feathers on a chicken is nearly 8,000, which falls within eighteen different feather classes. Indeed, smaller breeds can possess less, while larger breeds can have more.

Most species of chicken have around ten primary feathers and 14 secondary flying feathers on their wings.

Although they are flightless species, they do tend to attempt flight. Chickens do this by flapping their wings and running. They sometimes succeed and fly for very small distances, like over fences.

Great Horned Owl Feathers

Despite its name, the Great Horned Owl doesn’t really possess horns. Rather, it has tufts of feathers on each side of its head, resembling horns or ears.

The bird’s feathers are gray to brown, except for the ones on its neck, which are white. They have a wingspan of around 153 cm and weigh just three pounds (1.4 kg).