Bird Feather Anatomy

There are various kinds of feathers. The contour feathers have the most complex contruction.

Ostrich Feather Structure And Quality World Ostrich

Barbules too tiny to show above.

Bird feather anatomy. Test yourself with an interactive reference guide to all the important anatomical systems in a bird. Barbules are mini barbs that grow from the central shaft of each barb. As feathers grow they mature into highly branched structures.

Feathers are a unique adaptation of birds. By originating from tracts rather than being randomly distributed feathers can smoothly overlap and conform to the natural contours of the body. Auriculars the feathers just below and behind the eye that cover the ear.

One of the horny epidermal formations of birds. A stripe of feathers running from the upper beak and up over the eye much like an eyebrow. Each barb is a feather within a feather with a little shaft and little barbs of its own called barbules.

There are only a few muscles in the trunk and the tail but they are very strong and are essential for the bird. The location and the number of tracts varies between species. For example the interlocking velcro like structure on many bird feathers creates the smooth flexible and resilient surface that supports flight and sheds water.

Feather anatomy feathers are made out of keratin the same protein found in hair and nails. Understanding feather anatomy at the microscopic level provides insight into how feathers function. Feathers cover most of a birds body forming its plumage.

The smooth unpigmented base which extends under the skin into the feather follicle is called the calamus. The skin muscles help a bird in its flight by adjusting the feathers which are attached to the skin muscle and help the bird in its flight maneuvers as well as aiding in mating rituals. In most birds the body is divided into areas that contain feather tracts pterylae and areas that do not apteriae.

How much do you know about bird anatomy. Contour feathers filoplumes down feathers powder downs and bristles. Feathers have a central shaft.

When viewed as a whole the barbs are the vane. Feather variations feathers are epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering or plumage on dinosaurs birds and possibly other archosauromorphs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty.

Feathers are made up of keratin an insoluble protein that is also found in mammalian hair and reptilian scales.

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