Plumage

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Plumage

Plumage refers both to the layer of feather

Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates....
s that cover a bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Plumage'

Start a new discussion about 'Plumage'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Plumage refers both to the layer of feather

Feather

Bird

Ornithology

Ornithology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of birds. Several aspects of the study of ornithology differ from closely related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds....
and birdwatchers in order to distinguish between species and collect other species specific information.

Humphrey-Parkes (H-P) moult and plumage terminology

Almost all species of birds moult

Moult

In biology, moulting signifies the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body , either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life-cycle....
at least annually, usually after the breeding season, known as the pre-basic moult. This resulting covering of feathers, which will last either until the next breeding season or until the next annual moult, is known as the basic plumage. Many species undertake another moult prior to the breeding season known as the pre-alternate moult, the resulting breeding plumage being known as the alternate plumage or nuptial plumage. The alternate plumage is often brighter than the basic plumage, for the purposes of sexual display, but may also be cryptic in order to hide incubating birds that might be vulnerable on the nest.

The Humphrey-Parkes requires some attention to detail to name moults and plumages correctly.

Eclipse plumage

Many ducks have bright, colourful plumage, exhibiting strong sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. Examples include color , size, and the presence or absence of parts of the body used in courtship displays or fights, such as ornamental feathers, horns, antlers or tusks....
to attract the females. However, they moult into a dull plumage in the non-breeding season. This drab female-like appearance is the eclipse plumage. When they shed feathers to go into eclipse, the ducks become flightless for a short period of time. Some duck species remain in eclipse for one to three months in the summer, while other would retain the cryptic plumage until the next spring when they undergo another moult to return to their breeding plumage.

Abnormal plumage

There are hereditary as well as non-hereditary variations in plumage that are rare and termed as abnormal plumages. These include excessive dark pigmentation or melanism, lack of pigmentation ranging from leucism to albinism, presence of excessive red or yellow pigmentation leading to, respectively, erythrism

Erythrism

File:Pink_katydid_Ontario.jpgErythrism or erythrochroism refers to an unusual reddish pigmentation of an animal's body, hair, skin, feathers, or eggshells....
or xanthochromism

Xanthochromism

Xanthochromism is a term that may be applied to birds, fish and other animals whose colouration is unusually yellow through an excess of yellow pigment, or possibly a loss of darker pigments that allows yellow pigment to be unusually dominant....
. There can also be polymorphism in some birds particularly the owl

Owl

The Strigiformes are an order of bird of prey, comprising 200 species. Most are solitary, and Nocturnal animal, with some exceptions . Owls mostly hunt small mammals, insects, and other birds, though a few species specialize in hunting fish....
s and cuckoo

Cuckoo

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos ....
s where certain colour variations are more widespread and examples of these include the hepatic forms of cuckoos.

Such abnormalities can be present throughout the bird or restricted to specific feather tracts.