Powder down

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Powder down

Powder down is a special type of down feathers. They occur in a few groups of apparently unrelated birds and thus are probably evolution

Evolution

In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
ary homoplasies. These down feathers differ from the usual down as they are exceptionally fine and produce a dust between the fronds. The bird takes this dust from its powder down feathers and coats all its external feathers with the dust. This dust mainly provides the bird with some waterproofing for the main flight feathers so it can fly in the rain.

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Powder down is a special type of down feathers. They occur in a few groups of apparently unrelated birds and thus are probably evolution

Evolution

Barb (feather)

Barbs are a series of branches fused to the rachis of a feather. The barbs themselves also have branches called barbules, which have hooks that lock the barbs together....
s of the flight feathers interlocked to provide good lift. It may also be useful in suffocating feather lice and other ectoparasites by clogging their tracheae

Invertebrate trachea

Many terrestrial animal arthropods have evolved a closed respiratory system composed of spiracles, tracheae, and tracheoles to transport metabolism gasses to and from tissue....
.

Powder down is found in birds such as heron

Heron

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons.Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and - including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern - are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae....
s or the Kagu

KAGU

KAGU is a classical music radio station run by Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. They broadcast at 88.7 MHz on the FM dial....
. Larger species of white cockatoos (such as Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua galerita, is one of the larger and more widespread of Australia's cockatoos. Frequently sought as a cage bird in and out of Australia, they can be so numerous that in crop-growing areas of Australia they are shot or poisoned as pests....
) also have powder down, located on their flanks (sides of the body).

Powder down feathers are probably seen most easily in the cockatiel

Cockatiel

The Cockatiel , also known as the Quarrion and the Weiro, is the smallest and genuinely miniature cockatoo Endemism in birds to Australia....
. In this popular cage bird, they are located at the lower back beneath the outer tail feathers' bases. When used up, they are pulled out by the bird allowing new ones to grow. They are like a fluffy ball and when rubbed between the fingers the powder from the down will cover the fingertips.

Birds with powder down usually have a reduced uropygial gland

Uropygial gland

The uropygial gland, or, more informally, the preen gland is a gland found in the large majority of birds that secretes an oil that birds use for preening....
, but not all birds with vestigial or missing uropygial glands possess powder down.

Powder down

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