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Prices 10 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:28.960 vary in express. 11 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:32.520 Oh hey, it's that rock that you found at the 12 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:34.560 lake that, for some reason just said hey, put me 13 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.600 in your pocket. Ali Ward and welcome to the Somologies 14 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:41.200 episode of Feathers. Very exciting. What is smologues? By the way, 15 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:45.600 if you've landed here, Smologies are shorter, classroom friendly, kids 16 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:48.600 safe episodes you can listen to for all ages, kind 17 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:51.280 of like digests. You can listen to with the family. 18 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:53.320 If you want the full episode, it's linked in the 19 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:55.799 show notes. But this one we made safe for you 20 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.439 and your kids. You're welcome. Okay, let's get into it. Plumology. 21 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:01.280 Did you know this was the thing? I did not. 22 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.560 So it comes from the Latin for down or her 23 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:07.840 first beard, and later plume came to mean like a 24 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.760 stream of smoke, So we're talking, oh manner of feathers, 25 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:15.719 oh feathers Now. I have already covered ornithology. It came 26 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:19.400 out in November twenty nineteen, but I was thrilled when 27 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.519 this ologist at the Natural History Museum of la suggested 28 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.079 via email that there were many, many more subologies with 29 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.920 feathered friends, including them dang feathers themselves. So I made 30 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.239 haste to the museum one sleepy Wednesday afternoon, right before 31 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:35.280 they closed for the day, and I met up with 32 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:38.120 this ologist who was wearing a flowery blouse and a 33 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:41.799 museum ID on a dangling lanyard, and I asked her 34 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.719 all the quilled questions that would rattle out of my 35 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.319 dome as well as yours. So shake off the dust 36 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.840 and get ready to soar the sky and learn about 37 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:53.040 what makes a feather a feather, how they evolved, why 38 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:59.280 they're important, the longest bird tail, peacock plumes, ridescence, the 39 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:04.040 blackest black tiny feathers, huge ones, dinosaur myths, and mysteries 40 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:10.719 and more with feather researcher and professional plumologist, doctor Alison Shaltons. 41 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:30.599 ALGYLOGI knowlogists, Now you are a plumologist. 42 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:34.599 Yeah, so I'm a plumologist. I steady bird feathers and 43 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.560 how they evolve and kind of more specifically, I think 44 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:41.240 about the colors of feathers, but the structure and the 45 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.479 development all of that is integral into the whole picture. 46 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:48.520 Do any other living animals on the planet have feathers 47 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:48.840 at arm? 48 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.719 Birds? No living animals, okay, okay, yeah, So actually we 49 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:54.759 used to think that that was one of the defining 50 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:58.879 characteristics of birds, was feathers, but once they started finding 51 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:03.479 feathers in all of these non avian dinosaurs, that became 52 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.840 not true anymore. So now we know that feathers evolved 53 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:08.280 long before birds did. 54 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:10.759 And all birds are dinosaurs. 55 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:12.719 All birds are dinosaurs. Yes, that is true. 56 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:18.039 That still like rocks, me like living dinosaurs. So, okay, 57 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:22.000 feathers now is a feather like a modified hair? What's happening? 58 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:24.840 That's a great question. They're somewhat related to hair since 59 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:27.080 that they're made out of keratin and they're you know, 60 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:29.759 an external structure that grows out of the skin, but 61 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:34.639 they're actually much more related to scales. So both feathers 62 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:37.039 and hair are made out of keratin, but different kinds 63 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:40.479 of keratin. There's this kind of keratin called alpha keratin 64 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.400 that mostly makes up hairs and our fingernails and like 65 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:48.240 mammalian structures, whereas beta keratin is what makes up bird 66 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.319 feathers and actually more reptile scales and things like that. 67 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:55.520 Okay, quick aside. Beta keratins are the proteins that make 68 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.159 reptile and bird scale tough and waterproof. But they are 69 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:01.960 not to be confused with beta carotene, which is a 70 00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:05.639 pigment that makes fruits and veggies orange. Now, beta keratin 71 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:11.080 again is in birdy scales and beaks and claws and feathers, 72 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:15.919 which evolved from scales. Imagine something like an alligator scale 73 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:22.120 splintered into thousands of fluffy shreds selected through millions of years. Boom, 74 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:24.680 you have feathers. Well you don't, but birds do. 75 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:29.279 And feathers are such complex structures that we do think 76 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:31.519 that they first started off as kind of very simple, 77 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:35.040 almost hair like structure, and then evolved these more and 78 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:37.079 more elaborate structures. 79 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:39.839 And so do you think that they were more like quills, 80 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:41.160 like a porcupine quill. 81 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:43.800 No, they would have been soft. They would probably look 82 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:44.519 a lot like fur. 83 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.800 So a bunch of dinos had fur esque proto feathers 84 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.720 and they were stomping around like big fuzzy muppets. And 85 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:56.560 even before Archaeopteryx, which was a raven sized feathered avian 86 00:04:56.680 --> 00:05:01.439 dinosaur long considered history's first bird, feathers were all over 87 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.720 the place in dinosaurs anyway, But the feathers came first, 88 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:05.839 and then the flight. 89 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.560 You know, feathers, you think of them as being really 90 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:11.759 important for flight, which of course they are, but feathers 91 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:14.560 of all long before flight did, so they actually didn't 92 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:17.160 evolve for flight. They were co opted to be used 93 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:17.600 in flight. 94 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:20.519 So walk me through the anatomy of a feather. There's 95 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:24.319 like the main shaft almost like a leaf has a vein, 96 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:26.439 and then the ones off the side. What's going on? 97 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.079 Yeah, that's a good question. So the main shaft we 98 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.600 call that the racus, and so there's going to be 99 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.000 this part that actually has all of these little branching 100 00:05:35.079 --> 00:05:38.639 structures and a part that's bare that's at the bottom, 101 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:40.759 and that's what's going to be attached to the skin. 102 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:42.639 You know, if you think of like a writing quill, 103 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.319 that's where you would dip the ink in and use 104 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:48.680 to write with. And so those little branching structures off 105 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.360 of the main shaft we call those feather barbs. Oh, 106 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:56.160 and each of those feather barbs actually has little branching 107 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.600 shafts off of them. These are hard to see with 108 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.800 the you know, your eye, but you actually can if 109 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:07.240 you look really really closely, called barbules, and in many feathers, 110 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:10.439 especially feathers that need to be strong, like flight feathers, 111 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.480 the barbules also have these little tiny hooks that we 112 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.560 call barbou cells that actually link them together. So think 113 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.600 about if you find like a feather on the ground 114 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:23.639 and you kind of break it, you know what I mean, 115 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.360 Like you can split the different barbs and you can 116 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.160 zip it back together. Yeah, And so that's actually because 117 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:32.120 you're actually making those little hooklets reattached to each other. 118 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.000 So that's how feathers maintain their shape. And they're like 119 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:37.600 little belgrowy kind of a hook exactly just. 120 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:41.639 Like that ash. Really cool in terms of functions of feathers, 121 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.399 Can you walk me through some different varieties like a 122 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:45.319 menu of feathers. 123 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.800 Yeah. So feathers have many different functions, and one thing 124 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:51.800 that makes them really interesting to study is that oftentimes 125 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:55.040 they're doing these functions simultaneously. Let's think about this really 126 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:58.480 complex structure and try and understand what it's doing and 127 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:02.160 how it evolved. My specialty is in feather color evolution, 128 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.240 and feather color itself has many different functions. So, for example, 129 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.600 thermoregulation birds keeping warm. That's kind of one obvious use 130 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:12.879 of feathers, and that. 131 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.519 Just does that trap air so that it retains heat. 132 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:20.800 Exactly, so it's like having this really warm air blanket 133 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:23.920 right next to your skin. Basically, birds can actually control 134 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.759 how warm they want to be by either fluffing themselves 135 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.720 up or having the feathers be more flat. So if 136 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.959 you think about like a really cold morning. I was 137 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.319 in Boston for a really long time, and sometimes when 138 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.079 it's snowing, you see bird outside and it looks like 139 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.319 a little puffball, and that's because they're increasing how much 140 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:42.639 warm are that they have next to their skin, which 141 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:43.560 is pretty cool. 142 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:46.279 Oh my god, I had no idea they could do that. Yeah, 143 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:47.839 so they're like watch this, I mean to get cuter 144 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:49.319 and warmer exactly. 145 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.759 I'm adorable. I'm going to become almost a complete sphere. 146 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.199 So they have a combination of down like an undercoat, 147 00:07:57.319 --> 00:07:59.000 and then do they have flight feathers on top of it. 148 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:02.879 Yeah, there are different types of feathers, So downy feathers 149 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:06.319 are one type of feathers, and those feathers they don't 150 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:10.000 have the central racus in the same way that what 151 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.480 we call a contour feather, which is a body feather 152 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:15.680 has or a flight feather would have. And they also 153 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:17.600 don't have all the little hooklets that are going to 154 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:22.040 be hooking their feather barbs and barbules together because they 155 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:24.040 don't need to be hooked together. It's actually better for 156 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:27.680 them to be more unorganized because they can trap air 157 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:29.399 molecules more efficiently that way. 158 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:33.960 So there are the contour or body feathers, the warm 159 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:36.480 down feathers underneath, and then what other kind of feathers. 160 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:39.840 There's another type of feathers that's really cool called richdal bristles. 161 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.440 So if you ever looked really closely at a bird, 162 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:47.080 like maybe there's a bird called a night jar, or 163 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:52.159 a bird that is an insect eater like a flycatcher, 164 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:55.759 you might see like little that almost looks like little 165 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:59.559 hairs coming right around the bill, almost like whiskers kind of. 166 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.919 And so these are special feathers that only have this 167 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.879 central raykis. They don't actually have any barbs or bobules. 168 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.720 And for a long time people didn't know what, you know, 169 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:11.159 what's what are these feathers doing. But what they're probably 170 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.240 doing is actually protecting the eyes of the bird. 171 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:17.519 So really, yeah, so they can't hit themselves on things. 172 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.440 Well more so, like little debris doesn't get in the eye, 173 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:22.679 so when you're out chasing a bunch of bugs in 174 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.159 the air, your eyes aren't getting you know, full of 175 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:28.559 junk from the Oh my god. There are other birds 176 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.840 that have crests or other very special feathers. So you know, 177 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.840 we talked about thermoregulation is one use, but one of 178 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.480 the other big uses of feathers, of course is signaling. 179 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.960 And so whether that's being cryptic so you're trying to 180 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.519 hide from predators. You know, think about like a kind 181 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.559 of a brown bird that's maybe on the ground and 182 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:49.919 hard to see, or to become more conspicuous, so they're 183 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:54.000 actually trying to show off. And because plumage color is 184 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:58.279 one of the things that bird can actually demonstrate its quality. 185 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.600 So they actually use their color to attract mates, for example, 186 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.080 or to fight off rivals. So you know, males instead 187 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:09.799 of fighting over a territory or something like that, males 188 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:11.440 will actually be able to just like look at some 189 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:14.440 of these colored patches and decide, Oh, this guy's you know, 190 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:16.519 not worth my time, or this guy's going to be 191 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:20.480 a competitor. I better actually fight him. That's so judgy. 192 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:21.279 That's amazing. 193 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:23.480 They're looking each other up and down, like sizing each other. 194 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:27.240 Oh my god, that's so petty. I love it. There's 195 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:30.440 actually this really awesome bright orange birds and the males 196 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.919 will actually there. They live in the rainforest in South America, 197 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.080 and males will fight over patches of light and that's 198 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:39.559 because they're all together in the same place. And then 199 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.519 when the female comes, they'll all get in their little 200 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.000 light patches and kind of jump around and try and 201 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:45.360 get her to choose them. 202 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.559 Oh my god. Like they each have spotlights on them exactly. 203 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:52.200 So male birds are sometimes up in treetops just like 204 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:55.720 having a Lady Gaga spotlight moment. How do they get 205 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.240 into the treetops? Good question. Flight feathers of course, So 206 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:03.919 how are birds achieving all of our wildest dreams and 207 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:09.159 soaring through the air so casually? Well, folks, feathers, that's 208 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.840 why we're all here. How are these flight feathers working. 209 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:14.960 Yeah, So, one of the key aspects of a flight 210 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.879 feather is that it's asymmetrical. And the way it works 211 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.320 is that when air goes over these feathers and over 212 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:26.000 the wing itself. Wings are not flat, they're kind of concave. 213 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.039 The distance it has to travel going over the wing 214 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:33.120 is shorter than it has to travel going under the wing. 215 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:37.960 And so because of that, air molecules are going to 216 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:41.600 try and fill that pressure differential that it creates, and 217 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.000 actually that's going to create lyft and so part of 218 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:48.360 that is actually the structure of these asymmetric feathers really yeah, 219 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.279 and those feathers are probably the most constrained of all 220 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.080 bird feathers. So you think about once you start looking 221 00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:58.480 at bird wings, you'll start noticing that, even though many 222 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.879 other parts of the bird will be men different colors, 223 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.000 like those feathers are never any other color. And that's 224 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:07.240 because one of the types of pigments that color birds 225 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:11.559 feathers melanin. Melanin is familiar. It's also what colors our 226 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.480 hair and our skin. It's very common throughout the animal kingdom. 227 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:18.559 It also provides strength for feathers, and so you're almost 228 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.200 always see flight feathers. They're going to look almost identical 229 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:25.200 I mean not completely, but much more than any other 230 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:28.120 feather on the body. And that's because they're evolved to 231 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:32.120 be so specifically tailored to be able to provide flight. 232 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:34.799 Wow, and are they you? They're usually the darker ones 233 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:35.919 on the bird exactly. 234 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:38.240 Yep, So those that melanin gives them this kind of 235 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.000 blackish brown color. 236 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:44.799 Now, what about different color plumages? Like what range are 237 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:45.320 we talking? 238 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:46.480 Like? 239 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:46.679 Oh? 240 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:51.200 Can they go everything from like opalescent to obviously black? 241 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.519 Like what colors have you seen working in? Oh, feather, 242 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.120 that's a great question. So one of my favorite topics 243 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.919 for colors. Okay, birds can come in every color of 244 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:04.440 the rainbow, including colors that we can't see. Really, yes, 245 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:07.919 did you know that birds, other birds can see colors 246 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:11.799 that we can't see. So birds can actually see ultraviolet colors, 247 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:13.559 so they can't do that. 248 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.039 Okay, so we can see If you think about what 249 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:19.679 is color, it's actually wavelengths of light that are. We 250 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.960 have cone cells in our eye that will you know, 251 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.399 be activated or not by certain wavelengths, and that gets 252 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.039 translated into our brain as a color. So we have 253 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:30.559 three types of cones in our eyes that can see 254 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.159 from about four hundred to seven hundred nanimeters. But birds 255 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.360 actually have four types of cones in their eyes, so 256 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.519 they have a whole other kind of cone, and that 257 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.840 cone resides from about three hundred to four hundred nanimeters, 258 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:44.000 so they can actually see from three hundred to seven 259 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:44.960 hundred nanimeters. 260 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.360 So there could be disco birds out there that we 261 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:48.600 have no idea about. 262 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.799 There could be I actually, you know, I brought a 263 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.559 few birds out here with me, and one of the 264 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.679 birds that I brought was this bird called a palm tanager. 265 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.120 So this bird, you look at it, it looks it's 266 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:04.720 pretty kind of grayish yellowish, not that exciting. But if 267 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:08.279 you actually look at this plumage using what's called a 268 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:12.279 reflectant spectro photometer, which is a machine that we use 269 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.080 to actually objectively measure how much light is coming off 270 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.080 of feathers at certain wavelengths, you can see that almost 271 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.399 all of the reflectance is in the ultraviolet. So this 272 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.559 bird would be much much brighter to a bird than 273 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:25.320 it is to us. 274 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:28.960 So it looks kind of like an olive color, like 275 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.840 an army green, grayish color. Yeah, but it might be 276 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:33.879 just holographic disco bird. 277 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:38.039 I mean, probably not holographic disco bird, but it would 278 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:39.679 be quite a bit brighter. 279 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:41.720 Do you think it would be green in the green area, 280 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:43.039 like greenish. 281 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:46.080 Dub So UV is much more like purpleish. 282 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.279 Okay. Yeah, how come there aren't more blue birds that 283 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.799 would blend in with the sky? Oh? 284 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:54.960 Good question. So part of that has to do with 285 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.279 how blue is made. There are only two ways that 286 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:01.879 birds can make colors. One is by refracting color off 287 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:04.879 of the structure of their feathers. So that means when 288 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.960 light comes in, certain wavelengths might be reflected based on 289 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.840 how the feather molecules are shaped. And the other is 290 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.879 based on pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of color. 291 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.639 Oh okay, okay, So color can be straight up pigment 292 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:20.279 or structural. Got it. 293 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:25.080 So you know we talked about melanin, So browns and blacks, 294 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:28.320 those are all melanin molecules. Melanin is a pigment that 295 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:33.519 absorbs almost all wavelengths of light. There's a pigment called carotenoids, 296 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.200 which is the other most common bird pigment. So this 297 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:40.320 produces almost all oranges, yellows, and reds and birds. But 298 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:43.080 blue and birds is not produced by pigment. It's produced 299 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.639 by the feather structure. Oh okay, yeah, And so you 300 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.519 know it might be harder to evolve a blue feather structure, 301 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.120 for example. 302 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.559 Ah, that's so interesting. I never knew that. Okay, So 303 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:54.879 I look this up and it's almost like there's a 304 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.720 spongy layer made of keratin and air that sits on 305 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.879 top of a melanin la and it's the structure of 306 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:05.960 that sponge that throws light in the blue range back. Now, 307 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:09.639 iridescent colors have a few layers of melanin that scatter 308 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:13.440 light depending on your angle to the sun and the feather. Now, 309 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:17.039 all of this is happening deep in the teeny barbs 310 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:20.759 and barbules to make up birds in all shapes and 311 00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:23.600 sizes and degrees of flamboyance. 312 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.600 Can I just tell you a quick feather effect? That's so. Yes, 313 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.159 there's like this really unknown but really cool species of 314 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.279 bird called a sand grouse. So there's the species that 315 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:37.200 lives in the desert. And actually the adult birds have 316 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:41.759 very specialized belly feathers that hold water, and so they'll 317 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:45.279 fly for like kilometers every day to the watering hole 318 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.759 and soak their bellies and then fly back to their 319 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:51.720 baby birds and bring them back these like you know, 320 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.679 water so they can drink it. So they actually like 321 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:57.080 drink the water from the belly of the adult bird. Oh's, 322 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:00.120 and they're these really cool looking like spirally feathers if 323 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:01.519 you look at them under a microscope. 324 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.799 Okay, yes, so I look these up and instead of 325 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.519 straight barbs, they're helical, kind of like a curly ribbon 326 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:12.039 on some festive gift wrap. Just slurburnov water for the bibis. 327 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.240 Now we're about to get to Patreon questions, so many 328 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.400 good ones, but before we do, each week we donate 329 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:19.880 to a charity of the ologists choosing, and this week 330 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:24.039 Allison chose the Ornithological Council, which is at birdnet dot 331 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.960 org slash oc. Now they do a lot of great 332 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:31.200 work to connect ornithologists to the public, including with policymakers. 333 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:35.880 They provide timely information about birds to help ensure scientifically 334 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:39.839 based decisions and management actions. So a donation went to them, 335 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:42.160 and that was made possible by sponsors of the show, 336 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.920 which you may hear about. Now get value. 337 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.960 You can't argue with Optesco with their amazing club card prices. 338 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:50.680 Serve up something special with our finest mail deal for 339 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.359 two starring one main two sides un desserved for only 340 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.480 sixteen EU row like succulent board be approved rushined the 341 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.880 striploid steaks with peppercorn butter or delicious virus chicken parmes 342 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:02.920 served with creamy potato great arm under a mix of 343 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.319 rainbow root vegetables and enjoy Goozillionaire or Solder caramel cheesecake. 344 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:11.319 Can't argue with that shop instore or online Tesco. Every 345 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.000 little helps available to most doors. Prices very inexpress. 346 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:18.960 Okay, and now back to the feather questions that tickle 347 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.400 your curiosity. Alison Terry wants to know do feathers really 348 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:23.160 carry diseases? 349 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:28.559 Birds do carry diseases, and certainly like contact is one 350 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:32.079 of the ways that diseases get carried. So just like 351 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:35.680 we carry diseases on our hands, I mean birds carry 352 00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:38.319 diseases on their feathers as well. Now, birds also have 353 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:42.640 parasites they'll have lice, for example, and those can carry diseases. 354 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:45.559 So it is true, you know, thinking about like you 355 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.119 find a feather on a ground. Yeah, I'm not super 356 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:51.400 worried about getting a disease from that, because most diseases 357 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:54.880 from birds don't jump to humans, although that's not necessarily 358 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:57.759 true westnel virus, for example. Maybe don't pick up a 359 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:02.200 dead crow that you see, Okay, unless you're a museum. 360 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:04.440 Unless you're a Museum's great. 361 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.880 But now, the folks who ask that, by the bye 362 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:12.440 were Melissa Vono, James Hoffstetler, Alison Tourri, Jessica Chamberlain, Kira Goin, 363 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:15.119 and Jesse Dragon. And yes, I check that out. And 364 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:17.759 I didn't know that west now virus is a mosquito 365 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:21.480 transmitted disease that has corvids as a reservoir. That was 366 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.880 news to me. Also, let's just make a pact right now. 367 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:25.799 Let's not pick up too much dead stuff right now. 368 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.000 Let's keep your hands clean, all right, agreed, appreciate it. 369 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:31.400 Are there certain seasons where you're bound to find more 370 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.160 feathers on the ground. 371 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:36.319 Oh yeah, definitely, during I would say transitional times. You 372 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:39.079 know a lot of birds will some birds molt in 373 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.880 the fall. Some birds molt kind of in the spring 374 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:45.279 before breeding season. Generally you won't find many feathers during 375 00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:47.960 the breeding season because birds don't want to do expensive 376 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.559 things like feeding young and molt at the same time. 377 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:53.519 Oh and by the bye, when a feather is molted, 378 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:55.680 how does a new one come in? Well, it grows 379 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.480 in as a pin feather or a blood feather, and 380 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.039 it looks like a spike, and it's filled with blood 381 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.599 to help it grow, and birds have to nip and 382 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.799 preen a keratin sheath off of it as it grows. 383 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:09.680 So bird owners, you got to look out for pokey 384 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:13.680 pin feathers as they grow in. Also understandably, pin feathers 385 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:17.519 a little sore, a little out sheet. Tanaysha Bruno wants 386 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.960 to know why do birds grow feathers as opposed to 387 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:21.880 fur or hair. 388 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.880 That's a great question, and that's due to evolutionary history. 389 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:30.079 So hair and fur evolved in the lineage of mammals, 390 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.559 which of course branched off from the common relative of 391 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:38.160 both birds and mammals long before either hair or feathers existed. 392 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:40.839 So it's you never know what evolution's going to come 393 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:43.200 up with, but you know, in the case of mammals, 394 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.240 it came up with fur, and in the case of dinosaurs, 395 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.200 actually it came up with feathers, and these proto feathers 396 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.119 because before they came the complex feathers that we know 397 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:52.640 of today. 398 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:57.079 So just roll of the DNA mutation dice, I would say, 399 00:20:57.160 --> 00:20:59.720 so Mo Casey first time question answer wants to know 400 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.279 how waterproof feathers work. Primarily on puffins because they are 401 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.079