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Feather is one of the unique characteristics for birds. It serves as the fur for mammals. The primary feathers, known as contour feathers are the most common type of feathers found in birds. It has the long flat shape with a hollow stick called a calamus supporting the root and connecting to the rachis. Lateral barbs then branch off from the rachis creating the soft and smooth shaft of feather. The inner part of the feather serves as insulation, and the outer part is for different purposes. As the feather goes inward toward the body, it becomes more rigid structure to support the shape and give insulation.

     Feather is a derived characteristic specific to Class Aves that is similar to what is known as skin. Feathers act as insulation, communication, defense mechanism, and flight. Feathers come in various patterns and coloration which gives each bird their own specific plumage to be distinguished from one another. The role feathers serve for birds to survival is explained in detail with different situations.

Alpha-keratin is a type of protein found in all vertebrates to form a skin. Birds and reptiles have an additional protein called beta-keratin which is the main structure of feathers and beaks for birds, and reptilian skin and claws for reptiles. The primary feathers, known as contour feathers are the most common type of feathers found in birds. It has the long flat shape with a hollow stick called a calamus supporting the root and connecting to the rachis. Lateral barbs then branches off from the rachis creating the soft and smooth shaft of feather. The inner part of the feather serves as insulation, and the outer part is for different purposes. Barbs can be separated into three structure: barbule, barbicel, and ramus. Barbules is the thin flexible part of the feather which gives the texture. Then from that as the feather goes inward toward the body, it becomes more rigid structure to support the shape and give insulation.

    Feathers can also have a secondary structure. For example the Cedar Waxwing of North America has a modified fused barbs at the terminal with wax-like wing feather tips. The fused barbs allow water to soak the feather to reduce buoyancy but at the same time can air dry fast when coming out of water. Many water birds have feather modification specific for swimming.

A great example of water bird would be the specie called Sandgrouse. They are birds that live in the desert of Africa. From the nearest water the nest is about thirty kilometers away which enables the baby bird from getting the water. The male sandgrouse would go in the water and absorbs it to bring it back to the nest. They have modified barbs where barbules extends to hold water in them.

Alpha-keratin is a type of protein found in all vertebrates to form a skin. Birds and reptiles have an additional protein called beta-keratin which is the main structure of feathers and beaks for birds, and reptilian skin and claws for reptiles. The primary feathers, known as contour feathers are the most common type of feathers found in birds. It has the long flat shape with a hollow stick called a calamus supporting the root and connecting to the rachis. Lateral barbs then branches off from the rachis creating the soft and smooth shaft of feather. The inner part of the feather serves as insulation, and the outer part is for different purposes. Barbs can be separated into three structure: barbule, barbicel, and ramus. Barbules is the thin flexible part of the feather which gives the texture. Then from that as the feather goes inward toward the body, it becomes more rigid structure to support the shape and give insulation.

    Feathers can also have a secondary structure. For example the Cedar Waxwing of North America has a modified fused barbs at the terminal with wax-like wing feather tips. The fused barbs allow water to soak the feather to reduce buoyancy but at the same time can air dry fast when coming out of water. Many water birds have feather modification specific for swimming.

Alpha-keratin is a type of protein found in all vertebrates to form a skin. Birds and reptiles have an additional protein called beta-keratin which is the main structure of feathers and beaks for birds, and reptilian skin and claws for reptiles. The primary feathers, known as contour feathers are the most common type of feathers found in birds. It has the long flat shape with a hollow stick called a calamus supporting the root and connecting to the rachis. Lateral barbs then branches off from the rachis creating the soft and smooth shaft of feather. The inner part of the feather serves as insulation, and the outer part is for different purposes. Barbs can be separated into three structure: barbule, barbicel, and ramus. Barbules is the thin flexible part of the feather which gives the texture. Then from that as the feather goes inward toward the body, it becomes more rigid structure to support the shape and give insulation.

Some form of larvae was provided for observation. The size was longer in length and wider in diameter then other provided larvae. It had a bilateral structure, with a body shape that the middle part of the body being wider the head and tail. It had a shape of an ellipse. The larvae had a segmented body with two red dots on each side and a light line crossing through the segment horizontally. The color of the body was creamy white, the head was dark red, and the very tip of the head and the tail was black. Counting the head as the first segment, the second, third and fourth segment had a larger red paired foot that kept on moving as it was trying to sense something on the wall. The larvae moved in a wave-like motion with the front part of the body first stretching out then the hind part of the body following it to bring back the length to normal. The back part of the body, the sixth and seventh segment had smaller paired feet compared to the frontal feet, which seemed to only function for walking. The fifth, ninth, and the tenth segment did not exhibit any feet. There was a long black line that ran through the top of the head to the tip of the tail and on the sixth segment, there was a black spot on the skin. For the behavior aspect, the larvae did not show curiosity to the food inside of the container. It only showed concern to the wall. It did not walk the middle of the container, but stayed on the outer side of it. The larvae also did not show any distraction when the lid of the container was hit few times to make sound, nor when the container was moved around. It kept on walking along the side. However, when the container was flipped, the larvae had a shock, in which it stopped moving for few seconds. After time, the larvae started to roll around to adjust its orientation, then started to move in the wave-like motion again.

A some form of larvae was provided for observation. The size was longer in length and wider in diameter then other provided larvaes. It had a bilateral structure, with a body shape that the middle part of the body being ider tha the head and tail. It had a shape of an ellipse. The larvae had a segmented body with two red dots on each sides and a light line crossing through the segment horizontally. The color of the body was creamy white, the head was dark red, and the very tp of the head and the tail was black. Counting the head as the first segment, the second, third and fouth segment had a larger red paired feet that kept on moving as it was trying to sense something on the wall. The larvae moved in a wave-like motion with the front part of the body first stretching out then the hind part of the body following it to bring back the length to normal. The back part of the body, the sixth and seventh segment had smaller paired feet compared to the frontal feet, which seemed to only function for walking. The fifth, nineth, and the tenth segmet did not exhibit any feet. There was a long black line that ran through the top of the head to the tip of the tail and on the sixth sehment, there was a black spot on the skin. For the behavior aspect, the larvae did not show curiosity to the food inside of the container. It only showed concern to the wall. It did not walk the middle of the container, but stayed on the outer side of it. The lavae also did not show any distraction when the lid of the container was hit few time to make sound, nor when the container was moved around. It just kept on walking along the side. However, when the container was flipped, the larvae had a shock, in which it stopped moving for few seconds. After time, the larvae started to roll around to adjust its orientation, then started to move in the wave-like motion again.