The eastern bluebird is a special bird. The blue of its feathers is unique. However, this colour is not based on pigments but on the special structure of the feather. Viewed under the microscope, the ...

A study explores how birds rearrange feathers after flights through gusts and foliage. The durability of bird feathers is evident in the ease with which birds preen and repair ruffled feathers using ...

Female tanager birds dig flamboyant males. So to build plumage that really pops with orange or red or yellow, a male has to eat fruits and absorb their carotenoids. The fancy feathers he produces then ...

The researchers found an evolutionary tweak in feather nanostructure that has more than doubled the range of iridescent colors birds can display. This insight could help researchers understand how and ...

Shiny feather structures in a southern cassowary. Credit: Chad Eliason, Field Museum. Photo of UT Austin specimen UTVPL M-12033 The cassowary, a large flightless bird native to Australia, New Guinea, ...

BRAINERD — I was hunkered in a blind I had placed along the edge of field when a magnificent tom turkey walked into view a mere 50 feet away. I “yelped” softly on a diaphragm turkey call, and ...

Researchers found that the iridescent shimmer that makes birds such as peacocks and hummingbirds so striking is rooted in an evolutionary tweak in feather nanostructure that has more than doubled the ...