Types of Feathers

• Each part of a bird has a different type of feather. Wing feathers are curved to catch the wind, tail feathers are flat and more flexible than wing feathers, while body feathers are soft and full.
  
  

Function of Feathers

• A male peacock attracts females and defends territory with his bright plumage.peacock image by Henryk Olszewski from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a bird's feathers play a role in mating, territorial dominance, regulation of body temperature, camouflage and flight. Male birds attract females and defend territory with bright and colorful plumage. Feathers regulate body temperature by keeping a bird warm and dry. Plumage also help to camouflage a bird in its surroundings, as well allowing it to take flight.
  
  

Feather Identification

• The U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory has an online "Feather Atlas," which has a database of bird feathers to help with feather identification. Matches can be found by comparing any found feather to the database of hundreds of scanned feathers.