Tiny Tuesday - Feather

Isn’t it strange how you can just step outside your house, and find something of beauty lying at your feet?  This happened this morning, I found this feather sprinkled with dew drops right outside the conservatory.   So I brought it indoors and reached for the macro lens.  When you look closely, feathers are fascinating, the interlocking Velcro-like structure on many bird feathers creates the smooth, flexible, and resilient surface that supports flight and sheds water.  Not to mention the importance of keeping the bird warm.  The colourful plumage of males birds requires a lot of attention, in order to look their best  to attract females.  Many female birds have what is called a ‘brood patch’ on their underside; this is where there is a bald patch (not seen as it is covered by surrounding feathers) which they can expose and place over the eggs to incubate them whilst sitting in the nest.  I’ve seen bird ringers blow gently on the underside of captured birds to determine if they are male and female, which is recorded along with other information about the bird prior to the identification ring being attached.
There is an additional photo in extras. Thanks to Dbifocal for hosting Tiny Tuesday.

“It's not enough to have the feathers. 
You must dare to fly!” 
Cass van Krah