Looking more closely at feathers

The Black Vulture above shows off the feathers that allow it to soar the skies. The feathers of the wings and tail are major reasons a bird can generate lift and thrust and also maneuver in shifting air currents. You can count the feathers- about 70- that make up the flight feathers.

And yet, according to Feathers by Thor Hanson, hummingbirds have around 1,000 feathers and swans have up to 25,000 (apparently mostly in the neck) (2011). Most birds have less than 10,000 feathers, with smaller birds having in the lower thousands (Wetmore 1936). Even if the Black Vulture above had only 1,000 feathers, its feathers primarily dedicated to flight represent less than 10% of the total. Although all feathers contribute to flight by streamlining the bird and reducing its weight relative to other substances, they do so much more.

Down feathers on a baby Chipping Sparrow.

A feathered dinosaur on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.
Although there is still much unknown, according to Hanson, it is generally
accepted by most scientists that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.
Additionally, fossil evidence points to feathers evolving earlier than
any known birds, which means that birds were not the only organisms
to have them (some non-avian theropod dinosaurs had them too).

Not quite home: Nests and Avian Architecture

Woven nests: Village Weavers (Rwanda)

Birds are consumers in their environments beyond food; they use space, plant material, mud, spider silk, mammal hair, rocks, and other materials to construct their nests. In some cases birds construct other structures, like bowers or food stores.

Tufted Titmouse with nesting material (they nest in holes per Cornell University)

According to Avian Architecture, by Peter Goodfellow, the vast majority of birds do not live in their nest, although there are exceptions. The primary function of the nest is to contain eggs for protection and incubation, and then for many species, for raising the young until they can fledge (defined by the book as growing feathers and being able to fly). For many other species, the young are born from the egg with feathers and without a need for parental care. Nests are then often abandoned or perhaps reclaimed the following breeding season.

Cup nest: Chipping Sparrow (Kansas, USA)

Hey, is that Harry Potter's Owl?

Harry Potter had quite the ally in Hedwig. Hermione once noted that Hedwig would draw a lot of attention if she was used too often to deliver notes to Sirius, as Snowy Owls are not native to Great Britain. In fact, it made the newspapers when three individual Snowy Owls showed up in 2009. UK Birders were no doubt thrilled, whether wizard or muggle.

Whistling bobwhite: the birds of To Kill A Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a tale of growing up and encountering the world, told through the eyes of Scout, or Jean-Louise Finch, a young girl in Alabama. Birds are mostly part of the background setting during Scout’s account, but birds are also critical to the metaphor that gives the book its title.

It was only fitting to open with an image of a mockingbird, as the title introduces the species, but we will get to mockingbirds in a bit. The first bird species we actually encounter in the book is the Purple Martin.

"In summertime, twilights are long and peaceful. Often as not, Miss Maudie and I would sit silently on her porch, watching the sky go from yellow to pink as the sun went down, watching flights of martins sweep low over the neighborhood and disappear behind the schoolhouse rooftops." (chapter 5)

Purple Martins, male