The only animals to possess feathers are birds. If it has feathers it must be a bird.
Feathers are one of the remarkable structures of the animal world. Consider the black-capped chickadee. This bird weighs, on average, 11 grams - that's about a third of an ounce. Next time you're near a kitchen scale, put something small on it and be shocked at how little 11 grams really is. That the chickadees can withstand a winter’s night in New England boggles the mind. Feathers make it possible as they are the best insulating material known, far better than anything man has been able to invent. By puffing their feathers up the air is trapped by the feathers making the insulating properties even greater.
Birds lose body heat through their unfeathered parts; these are called "soft parts" by ornithologists. These are the legs, feet, beak and the bare skin that circles the eye (called an orbital ring). By covering these up or pulling them into their feathers the birds can shut down the heat loss almost completely. Snowy Owls, large Arctic-dwellings owls superbly adapted for life in the cold have feathered legs, feet and even their bills are feathered so they don’t lose heat to their environment. This enables them to stay in the Arctic during the brutal dark, northern winter. It is a testament to the power of feathers.
Audio of the Weekly Bird Report is posted above.
