Feathers define birds. Other critters, like insects, fly; but no other critter wears feathers. And what amazing structures they are, these feathers. They allow birds to fly, perform mating displays, ...

Quick Take Vulturine guinea fowl’s blue and white plumage comes from feather structure, not pigments, creating vivid, long-distance visual signals. Bright colors and high-contrast patterns help ...

You are able to gift 5 more articles this month. Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more. A down feather illustrates the varied assortment of barbs that allow it to ...

Female tanager birds dig flamboyant males. So to build plumage that really pops with orange or red or yellow, a male has to eat fruits and absorb their carotenoids. The fancy feathers he produces then ...

Green herons don't do Facebook, and they certainly don't use Twitter. They don't play bridge or read novels. Not that they don't have time to fill. We've often had green herons visit the swampy pond ...

Each Canada goose that you see flying around in formation around Lancaster County these days has between 20,000 and 25,000 feathers, most hidden from sight. A typical songbird at your backyard feeder ...

The answer is not as simple as saying, “because birds fly.” Birds such as penguins, emus and kiwis don’t fly at all despite having complex feathers. But most birds do fly, and their entire bodies, ...

One of the remarkable abilities that birds possess is their ability to regenerate the feathers that they shed. Unlike human ...

A small group of birds, the sandgrouse, that dwell in Africa’s forbidding deserts have long mystified and delighted observers because they absorb and carry water in their breast feathers whilst flying ...