Feathers

thumb|Feather variations

thumb|Quill and a parchment|321x321px A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen. thumb|218x218px|Ink bottle and quill As with the earlier reed pen (and later dip pen), a quill has no internal ink reservoir and therefore needs to periodically be dipped into an inkwell during writing. The hand-cut goose quill is rarely used by modern calligraphers, however, it is still the tool of c

soft, fine feather, sometimes under larger feathers

long, stiff feather on the wing or tail of a bird that aids in the generation of lift and thrust

cleaning implement

thumb|300px|Close-up view of the plumage on a house sparrow

prominent feature exhibited by several bird and dinosaur species on their heads

thumb|280px|alt=Drawing of the various parts of a bird's wing|Location of the alula on a bird's wing The alula , or bastard wing, (plural alulae) is a small projection on the anterior edge of the wing of modern birds and a few non-avian dinosaurs. The word is Latin and means "winglet"; it is the diminutive of ala, meaning "wing". The alula is the freely moving first digit, a bird's "thumb", and typically bears three to five small flight feathers, with the exact number depending on the species. There also are minor covert feathers overlying the flight feathers. Like the larger flight feathers f

long, elliptical neckpiece made of feathers, fur, or similar fluffy materials

patch on inner bird wings

thumb|upright=0.75|Aigrette on a hat

form of public torture and humiliation

thumb|right|207px|Zosterops|White-eyes are named for the conspicuous white eye-rings found in the majority of species. Their genus name Zosterops likewise means "eye-girdle". The eye-ring of a bird is a ring of tiny feathers that surrounds the orbital ring, a ring of bare skin immediately surrounding a bird's eye. The eye-ring is often decorative, and its colour may contrast with adjoining plumage. The ring of feathers is sometimes incomplete, forming an eye arc. In the absence of a conspicuous eye-ring, the orbital ring of a bird is often referred to as the eye-ring. The bare orbital ring ma

thumb|right|upright|The whinchat has a prominent white supercilium.

thumb|A salmon-crested cockatoo, showing signs of feather-plucking on its chest

type of bird feather

feathery projections on bird's head

US statute

non-downy feather with vanes composed of many interlocking barbules

feather, as used on headgear

thumb|Yellow hackles on the neck area of a rooster Hackles are the erectile plumage or hair in the neck area of some birds and mammals.

Avifilopluma ("bird filoplumes") is a clade containing all animals with feathers. Unlike most clades, which are defined based on relative relationships, Avifilopluma is defined based on an apomorphy, that is, a unique physical characteristic shared by one group and not found outside that group (in this case, feathers). Its content is unclear, and has been speculated to range from Coelurosauria to all of Ornithodira.

developing bird feather that has bloodflow

thumb|right|upright|When preening, a bird (such as this red lory) draws individual feathers through its beak, realigning and re-interlocking the .|alt=The head and back of a short-billed red parrot, which is chewing on the tip of a black and red feather alt=Greater flamingo preening in Camargue, France|thumb|Greater flamingo preening in [[Camargue, France]] Preening is a found in birds that involves the use of the beak to position feathers, interlock feather that have become separated, clean plumage, and keep ectoparasites in check. Feathers contribute significantly to a bird's insulation, wat