1. Rahul Rolling Hills May 9, 2006

2. Bird feathers are amazing, lightweight objects. In fact, one average bird feather weighs less than a penny! The longest bird feather on a captive bird is on an ornamental chicken and the feather is 34.75 feet long!

3. Feathers are only found on birds, which makes them special indeed. Here are some reasons for birds to have feathers. First of all, feathers insulate and camouflage birds from the weather and from predators. Feathers are also markers for mating because they can come in very flashy colors. When mating, feathers fall out on the stomach of most birds so they can have direct contact to eggs and to the babies helping to warm them better this is called a brood patch.

4. Feathers have an intricate design. Feathers are made out of keratin, the same material your fingernails are made of. Feathers have one central shaft with barbs connecting to barbells, connecting to even smaller branches. These are all interlocking and hollow, making feathers extremely light but amazingly powerful. A cool fact is that birds have muscles to move every single feather in their body! Birds replace feathers by molting, or shedding most of their feathers and growing them back. No two feathers are alike, and feathers on a bird are symmetrical making them look beautiful especially in flight.

5. Feathers are fascinating and extremely lightweight, plus really powerful. If you would like to learn more about feathers, you can type in "bird feathers" on a search engine on the web, or get a book, video,etc. on bird feathers. I have had a fascinating time learning all about bird feathers and I hope you do too!

6. 1. Endeson Jim; Peregrine Falcon: Stories of the Blue Meanie; Austin Texas; University of Texas Press; © 2005 2. “Feather”; Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 2000, 2001, 2002; Wkipedia; March 19, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feathers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feathers 3. Cunninham, Vol; “The Nature of Feathers”; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; January-February 2004; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; March 20, 2006. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/feathers/index.html http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/feathers/index.html 4. “The Wonder of Bird Feathers”. Earthlife; November 10, 2005; and March 27, 2006; http://www.earthlife.net/birds/feathers.html.http://www.earthlife.net/birds/feathers.html. 5. “Types of Bird Feathers”; Paulnoll; March 30, 2006. http://www.paulnoll.com/oregon/birds/avian-feathers.html. http://www.paulnoll.com/oregon/birds/avian-feathers.html 6. “What Makes a Bird a Bird?, Feathers!”; Yahooligans; March 30, 2006. http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals/birds/birds_feathers.html. http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals/birds/birds_feathers.html