contour feathers

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Related to contour feathers: Flight feathers, Down feathers

contour feathers

the vaned feathers possessing barbules that chiefly cover the body of a bird and give it a streamlined form. Those which extend beyond the body on the wings and serve for flight are termed flight feathers.

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Semiplumes lay under the contour feathers and over the down feathers.

Chapter 14: Avian

Iridescent colors such as the head feathers of greater scaup, a hummingbird's throat patch (gorget), and the contour feathers of a grackle, all work in a similar way.

Featherfall

The specimens from Liaoning show evidence that Confuciusornis had feathers along its leg, making this the earliest record of contour feathers, as distinct from flight feathers.

The bird calls that filled Jurassic Park

The color and pattern of contour feathers may be invariant across all age and sex classes in a species.

Historical examination of delayed plumage maturation in the shorebirds (Aves: Charadriiformes)