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Different types of bird feathers serve different functions. Contour feathers ( Figure 27.

5E )
give the bird its outward form and are the type we have already described. Contour feathers
that extend beyond the body and are used in fl ight are called flight feathers. Down feathers
( Figure 27.5H ) are soft tufts without aprominent rachis, hidden beneath contour feathers.
They are soft because their barbules lack hooks. They are especially abundant on the breast
and abdomen of water birds and on young quail and grouse and function principally to
conserve heat. Filoplume feathers ( Figure 27.5G ) are hairlike, degenerate feathers; each is
a weak shaft with a tuft of short barbs at the tip. They are the hairs of a plucked fowl. They
have no known function. Bristles around the mouths of fl ycatchers and whippoorwills are
probably modifi ed fi loplumes. A fourth type of highly modifi ed feather, the powder-down
feather, is found on herons, bitterns, hawks, and parrots. Tips of these disintegrate as they
grow, releasing a talclike powder that helps to waterproof the feathers and give them metallic
luster.

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