Bird Feather Anatomy

How much do you know about bird anatomy. Feather anatomy feathers are made out of keratin the same protein found in hair and nails.

Integumentary Surface Of The Bird Poultry Hub

Feathers are a unique adaptation of birds.

Bird feather anatomy. There are only a few muscles in the trunk and the tail but they are very strong and are essential for the bird. Each barb is a feather within a feather with a little shaft and little barbs of its own called barbules. The contour feathers have the most complex contruction.

Feathers are made up of keratin an insoluble protein that is also found in mammalian hair and reptilian scales. By originating from tracts rather than being randomly distributed feathers can smoothly overlap and conform to the natural contours of the body. In most birds the body is divided into areas that contain feather tracts pterylae and areas that do not apteriae.

When viewed as a whole the barbs are the vane. A stripe of feathers running from the upper beak and up over the eye much like an eyebrow. Feather variations feathers are epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering or plumage on dinosaurs birds and possibly other archosauromorphs.

There are various kinds of feathers. Test yourself with an interactive reference guide to all the important anatomical systems in a bird. The location and the number of tracts varies between species.

Auriculars the feathers just below and behind the eye that cover the ear. Contour feathers filoplumes down feathers powder downs and bristles. Feathers have a central shaft.

For example the interlocking velcro like structure on many bird feathers creates the smooth flexible and resilient surface that supports flight and sheds water. Feathers cover most of a birds body forming its plumage. Barbules too tiny to show above.

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. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty.

Barbules are mini barbs that grow from the central shaft of each barb. Understanding feather anatomy at the microscopic level provides insight into how feathers function. One of the horny epidermal formations of birds.

As feathers grow they mature into highly branched structures.

Anatomy Clinical Presentation And Diagnostic Approach To