“It’s easier than pulling out a hair from your chin,” says Kristen Ruegg, an assistant professor of biology at Colorado State University. Ruegg is a director at the Bird Genoscape Project, which ...

Feather mites help to remove bacteria and fungi from the feathers of birds, according to a new study. In fact, the relationship between these mites and their hosts could be considered mutualism, with ...

One of the remarkable abilities that birds possess is their ability to regenerate the feathers that they shed. Unlike human ...

Many birds’ feathers are remarkably efficient at shedding water — so much so that “like water off a duck’s back” is a common expression. Much more unusual are the belly feathers of the sandgrouse, ...