Feathers

📖 In short

Feathers cover a bird's body, and only birds in the whole world have them. Feathers are made of keratin, the same stuff as your hair and nails! But a feather is far more complex than a hair, made of tiny branches hooked together.

🤩 Did you know?

A swan may have more than 25000 feathers!
Long ago people wrote with goose feathers after dipping the tip in ink.
The hummingbird has one of the fewest feathers of any bird, only about 1000.
A bird cleans and arranges its feathers with its beak every day to keep them in good shape.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Parts of a feather

Down the middle of a feather is a long stem called the shaft, and on each side are many fine strands called barbs. Each barb has tiny hooks that zip together like a zipper, so the feather is smooth and holds together.

🔍 Two kinds of feathers

Birds have strong outer feathers that cover the body and help with flying, and soft fluffy inner feathers called down, which trap warm air next to the body like a blanket.

💡 New feathers every year

Feathers wear out and break over time, so old ones fall out and new ones grow in their place once or twice a year. This is called molting.

🎯 More than a covering

Feathers help birds fly, keep warm and hide. Some birds use their colorful feathers to show off and attract attention, like the peacock spreading its tail into a fan.