Of Feathers and Birds

BIRDS are the only members of the animal kingdom to have feathers. They cover the entire body of a bird except for its eyes, bill and feet.

Feathers serve various purposes. The soft fluffy feathers on the bird’s body help to keep it warm. Feathers that cover its body give it shape. Tail feathers help in display and to steer in the air, and the long, stiff wing feathers help it to fly.

The swan has more feathers than any other bird — over 250,000 feathers, mostly on the head and throat. The bird with the least number of feathers — around 940 — is the ruby-throated hummingbird.

The hummingbird, however, has more feathers per area of body surface than any other living bird. The longtailed fowl or Onagadori, a Japanese fowl has tail feathers that measure 10.5 m — this is longer than three cars standing bumper to bumper.

Male birds have more attractive feathers, which help them to lure females. The peacock, for instance, has over 200 colourful feathers. Each of these feathers has a dazzling ‘eye’ pattern on it. Peahens are said to get hypnotised when peacocks fan out and shake their feathers.

Some birds can change the colour of their feathers. The ptarmigan, a bird that lives in the Arctic and cold mountains changes the colour of its feathers according to the season. In summer, its feathers are a speckled brown to merge with the vegetation. In winter they turn white to match the snow and ice. The colour of the flamingo’s feathers depends on the food it eats. When it eats shrimps and algae, both carotene-containing food, its feathers are a bright pink. If flamingos don’t eat the right kind of food their feathers fade from pink to a dull grey. In zoos and sanctuaries, flamingos are fed carrot juice to keep their feathers pink. Although a bird’s feathers are remarkably durable, they gradually wear out. When they get out of shape, birds groom them with their beaks. Most of them bathe in dust and water to remove fleas and lice from their feathers. The jay, a woodland bird of the crow family cleans its feathers with the help of an acid produced by ants. It stands on an ant’s nest and allows hundreds of ants to crawl on its body. The heron has a few feathers that crumble into powder. The bird rubs this powder into the other feathers to clean off slime, especially after it has eaten eels.