A paper published last year in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface described a feather as a masterpiece of engineering, one comprising nine orders of magnitude, from the nanoscale to the meter ...

Birds-of-paradise have captivated the planet with their elaborate plumage and idiosyncratic mating dances. Some species appear to shape-shift as they elongate plumes of feathers, fan their wings, or ...

“Awkward” would probably be the most benevolent word I could use to describe the explosive launch into flight of the California quail. Certainly, the words graceful or athletic do not come to mind. A ...

Migratory birds are specially adapted to find their way over extreme distances that represent remarkable tests of endurance. Now, researchers have discovered an unexpected way that migratory birds ...

A new study examines feathers across 249 species of Himalayan songbirds, finding that birds at higher elevations have more of fluffy down than lower elevation birds. Finding such a clear pattern ...