Auklets and penguins: birds use feathers 'to touch'

Birds may use their feathers for touch, using them to feel their surroundings just as cats use their whiskers

5 February 2010

The revelation that feathers have this hitherto unknown function comes from research on auklets, birds that sport prominent plumes on their heads.

Auklets with bigger crests, that stick out further, bump into things less.

A wider analysis suggests that numerous birds, from parrots, penguins, pheasants and hummingbirds, also use their feathers to feel their way....

Source: Auklets and penguins: birds use feathers 'to touch'

Link: Why love birds 'dance' to the Sun / Male great bustards point their tail feathers towards the Sun during elaborate mating displays, scientists find...