In addition to watch birds and closely to learn how to fly, mankind has long been the birds feathers for practical or decorative purposes.Feathers are adorned the arrow tail, beautify the fishing buoys, etc., large birds, such as the goose feathers are used to make feather pen.

Birds of a feather is mainly divided into two kinds: flight feathers and vane, it a bird outside the feathers.Flight feather is to help the flight of birds feathers, growth in the wing trailing edge is a list of tenacity strong feathers, and it's firmly "anchor" the bone trailing edge, the overall waving wings, beat the air.And feather can let birds form the unique shape, can be isolated, and so on.
In addition to the two main feathers, birds and other feathers.For example, long nap, in the most is another layer of heat preservation layer for birds.Birds only a never shed feathers called plumule powder, such as herons, pigeons have the feathers, the feather at the top of the its will into a kind of like talc powder.Bird and a feather called fine feather, a bit of a hard, a bit like a hair, there are some very short at the top of the barb, the class into some birds, such as the peacock feather decoration.

Under a microscope, you can see a feather is made up of hundreds of single fiber and the single fiber each root and actually is a complete small feather.Birds use their beaks pulling their own feathers, several times can repair the mesh, which is why we use the finger touches the birds feather is very smooth and soft.

Level 3 flight feathers: long feathers, the inside of the secondary flight feathers rising assist secondary flight feathers on the bird.
Tail: usually 10-12 root, but pheasant tail up to 24, and they help the birds in flight control direction and balance.
Bird rely on feather insulation, also want to rely on feather shade;Bird feathers to show off, but also hidden by feathers.
According to the weather changes, feather's main function is to keep warm or cool.When the weather is cold, fluffy feathers, in which let the heat flow, thermal effect;When the weather is hot, outer feathers will open, have cool effect.Passerine temperature, for example, to keep around 41 degrees Celsius, so it was cold when their feathers must have very good isolation effect.So cold outside, we tend to wear made of duck feather or goose feather, feather velvet suit, it's not surprising.However, in the winter many birds or due to the lack of food and starved to death or warm enough to freeze to death because of feathers.
Large birds, such as the swan, feather could be as many as 25000 the total number of root, and the smallest birds feather only 1500-1500.In newly hatched, number of all kinds of bird's feather, primary poultry or eagle plumule, sparrows, but wast thrush body hair less, born bare kingfisher, no hair.
All just grow feathers are like human hair, structure is fixed.Although they look the whole body is feathers, but this often is not the real feathers.In addition to the penguin, bird feathers are long in the body fixed position, the place known as the feather area.
Some birds use feather way is strange.From his feathers chewed, mixed with other food to feed the chick, because it can make feed on food is easy to form excrement.Birds in the item of cat eagle owl shape, HouMianYing (barn owl feathers make it flight's voice is not big, can't notice before swooped down.In 2012, German scientists were specially studied the owl feathers is how to make them fly slowly, quietly, how wild mice didn't found it swoops down.
Through the feathers of a detailed study of the nocturnal birds of prey, Dr. Thomas Bach and his team found the owl's silent flight thanks to its highly curved or arched wings, its wings have sound attenuation effect.
The color of the plumage is multifarious also.The warmer the weather is dry,, the bird's wings, the more beautiful.Bird feathers to show off, also is to be hidden by feathers, this is a pair of contradiction.Many birds have this need at the same time, the male bird feathers More beautiful (especially in the breeding season), which would help them attract a mate.The female feather is not so gorgeous, help them and clutch cover, not easily found by predators.