Birdwatching Guide

Contour Feathers
Rather like your fingertips, a bird feather is unique to that particular bird. Moreover, bird feathers allow birds to perform particular functions - some allowing the bird in question to fly, while other bird feathers mean the bird is destined to remain flightless.

Regardless of whether or not the bird is a flying type of bird or a flightless bird, all birds have contour feathers - and it is these feathers that play the vital role of giving the bird in question its shape and color.

As such, the first process of being able to identify any bird is to look at the contour feathers of the bird in question. Unfortunately, however, for the purposes of basic bird feather identification process, contour feathers are not the most common type of bird feather found - this honor is taken my both the remiges and retrices feathers.

Remiges Feathers
If you think you have found a remiges feather then you are one step on in your bird feather identification process. The reason - finding a remiges feather means you have just correctly identified a bird that can fly, as all flying birds have remiges feathers.

Retrices Feathers
Along with the remiges feathers, the retrices feathers are the long strong feathers youíll most commonly find lying around. Retrices feathers belong in the tail of the bird.

Additional Bird Feathers
Aside from contour, remiges and retrices feathers, nearly all birds have 5 additional main types of feathers that can help you in your bird feather identification process, namely:

Down feathers - that help keep the bird snug and warm;

Semiplume feathers - that are half way between contour feathers and down feathers and act as a buffer to supply insulation;

Filoplume feathers - which are believed to act as the birds sensory function and so keep all the other types of feathers in place;

Bristles - which are found around the eyes and beaks of birds are act as protection for the bird; and

Powder feathers - which are found all over birds and whose role is not entirely understood.

As you can seen then, being able to correctly identify where on the bird the feather originates is an important step in the bird feather identification process.