Flight feathers

While the female has an altogether bare chest and shoulders, the male has also removed vital flight feathers.

Some birds become flightless during this process, whilst others, as they cast their flight feathers, are to some degree debilitated and are thus more vulnerable to attack by predators.

It lacked the long, strong flight feathers characteristic of birds.

The dead nestling was mostly feathered and about 9-d-old, based on the stubby tail feathers and the flight feathers still mostly sheathed (wing chord = 42 mm); the only visible wound on the dead nestling was a patch of torn skin on the neck near the base of the mandible (Fig.

Hess, wild birds use their flight feathers to get around and keep their nails worn down by landing on rough branches and rocks, but pet birds in cages don't have these experiences.

Home for Christmas SOON, they'll be coming home for Christmas, From their distant new roosts around the world, Switching off their cyber-gadgets, For some closer, friends and family contact, And the gentle breath of kindly words, And they'll be revving up their magic carpets, As their metal flight feathers slowly unfurl, Hitching a ride on the jet stream, Still attached to home, By overstretched umbilical cords, Overtaking Santa and his reindeer, To rekindle the bonds of childhood years, Joining up with their brothers and sisters, Making their own pilgrimages by road or rail, But they don't need to load their cases, With expensive gifts from exclusive shelves, Because the best presents They could ever bring for Christmas, Is just the real, live presence, Of themselves.

During the next 2 weeks while the flight feathers became fully fledged, the swift was subjected to 2 daily flight training sessions of 10 minutes each to increase pectoral muscle mass and to promote loss of the developing feather fragments.

Many of our familiar garden birds have virtually disappeared during the past few weeks while they regrow their crucial flight feathers.

This process usually takes around 1 month for them to grow new flight feathers, by Steve Higgins One of the hiking paths on the Long Mynd in Shropshire after a rain storm, by John Ashwood Chastleton House Long Gallery at Moreton-in-Marsh, by Holfo Heritage, by Stephen Cooper

The bird probably shed its huge flight feathers all at once.

The white primary flight feathers contrast with the black wing tips and dark secondaries.