Feathers and flight Flashcards
1
Q
Feathers
A
- Define a bird
- Enable flight
- Provides inshulation and may be waterproof
- Colour and form may have sexual signals or cameoflage
2
Q
Feather evolution
A
- May have been evolved for insulation
- Reptilian scales are origin
- Longer scales trap heat for insulation or solar reflection
- Long scales limit movement so they may be spillted to allow flexiblity
- The result is hypersplitted pigmented scales
3
Q
Feather types
A
- Contour - covers the body
- Down - insulation
- Semi-plume/filoplume - structural support and plugs in gaps
- Flight feathers - large, stiff and flat
- Aula/bastard wing - used in soaring birds to prevent turbalation
- Coveret feathers - protection and insulation
4
Q
What is the calamus?
A
The part of the feather that attaches it to the skin
5
Q
“Zipping up” feathers?
A
- Vein of a feather can be broken up into strands and reattached together
- Barbs and hooks on each strand, keeping them “zipped”
- Called Ramus and Barbules
6
Q
Feather tracts
A
- Feathers aren’t randomly covered around the body
- Lines of feathers grows out from “tracts”, overlapping each other
7
Q
Feather growth
A
- Chicks rapidly moult and grow feathers until they reach adult plume
- First feathers are low quality
8
Q
Feather maintenance
A
- This is called Preening
- Preening zips feather strands back up
- Ensures coverage and overlapping
- Some birds use an oil from a gland to waterproof feathers
- Water and dust baths helps to remove parasites and things stuck on wings
9
Q
Moulting
A
- Feathers wear out
- Feathers must be replaced regularly
- Some birds moult yearly
- Moulting is an expensive process
- Starts in primaries and then secondaries
- usually happens after breeding season
- Gaps in wings, limit flight and movement
10
Q
Swift moulting
A
- They live on the wing, they have to fly so they do a bit by bit
- Takes around 6-7 months
- Very slow
11
Q
Duck and geese moulting
A
- Drop primarilies all together
- Flightless for 4 weeks
12
Q
Active flight requirements
A
- Large wing surface
- High energy
- Very efficent oxygen transfer to muscles
13
Q
Wing types
A
- Long and thin - good gliders, high speed
- Short and round - rapid takeoff, higher manoeuverblity
14
Q
Wing tip slots
A
- Allows greater control at low speed
15
Q
Bird lungs
A
- One way air flow
- Removes 25% more oxygen per breath than humans
- Efficency meets high oxygen demand of flight