Ivan Phillipsen
12 November 2020
Summary The feather is one of the most iconic symbols of nature. Feathers are indispensable to birds, serving many critically important functions. In this episode, we explore those functions after looking closely at the anatomy—the structure—of a feather. We discuss the 6 types of feathers: contour feathers, flight feathers, down, semiplumes, bristles, and filoplumes. Some functions we explore are flight, insulation, and camouflage. Links of Interest Hairs, feathers and scales have a lot in commonVideo about water repellency in bird feathersVideo of Club-winged Manakin courtship display Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Errors and Clarifications Error - At 00:44, I used the word ‘historic,’ when I should have said ‘historical.’Error - At 06:13, I goofed on the word ‘stratum,’ saying ‘strateum’ by accident.Attributions Club-winged Manakin - Recording XC248570 on Xeno CantoClub-winged Manakin - Recording XC248573 on Xeno CantoSupport the show
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