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Red kite (Milvus milvus) in flight, showing remiges and rectrices. Flight feathers (Pennae volatus) [1] are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (/ ˈ r ɛ m ɪ dʒ iː z /), singular remex (/ ˈ r iː m ɛ k s /), while those on the tail are called rectrices (/ ˈ r ɛ k t r ...
The skeleton of a bird wing. Places of attachment of various groups of flight feathers are indicated. The mute swan with outstretched wings Wing of the white-tailed eagle. Bird wings are a paired forelimb in birds. The wings give the birds the ability to fly, creating lift. Terrestrial flightless birds have reduced wings or none at all (for ...
The word is Latin and means "winglet"; it is the diminutive of ala, meaning "wing". The alula is the freely moving first digit, a bird's "thumb", and typically bears three to five small flight feathers, with the exact number depending on the species. There also are minor covert feathers overlying the flight feathers.
The wing feathers of male club-winged manakins Machaeropterus deliciosus have special structures that are used to produce sounds by stridulation. [23] A contour feather from a Guinea fowl. Some birds have a supply of powder down feathers that grow continuously, with small particles regularly breaking off from the ends of the barbules.
Archaeopteryx also had a wing feather arrangement like that of modern birds and similarly asymmetrical flight feathers on its wings and tail. But Archaeopteryx lacked the shoulder mechanism by which modern birds' wings produce swift, powerful upstrokes; this may mean that it and other early birds were incapable of flapping flight and could only ...
Labelled dorsal musculature of a pigeon wing. The skin muscles help a bird in its flight by adjusting the feathers, which are attached to the skin muscle and help the bird in its flight maneuvers as well as aiding in mating rituals. There are only a few muscles in the trunk and the tail, but they are very strong and are essential for the bird.
Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor.
The tips of these feathers are waterproof and help protect the bird from the elements, while the inner parts of the feather near the bird's body are more downy. Wing contour feathers (known as coverts) help with the aerodynamics of the wing by covering where the flight feathers attach to the bone.