Fantastic

Feathers
 Is
Volume 17, Number 6 July/August 2018

yo
r

u
d i no
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book
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Photo acknowledgments:

2 Nosy News
Cover: Super Prin/Shutterstock.com; 2(LT) Hannah Wood; 3(RC) Space X; 9 (LT)
moosehenderson/Shutterstock.com, (RT) fergug/Shutterstock.com, (LC) Andrew M.
Allport/Shutterstock.com; 9(RB) Andrew M. Allport/Shutterstock.com, (LB) Rostislav
Stach/Shutterstock.com; 10 Nature Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo; 11(TC) National

4 Nestor’s Dock
Geographic Creative/Alamy Stock Photo; (RT) Kimberly Bostwick/Cornell Lab of
Ornithology; 12(BC) 0mela/Shutterstock.com, (LT) jo Crebbin/Shutterstock.com, (TC)
guentermanaus/Shutterstock.com, (RC) gerard lacz/Alamy Stock Photo, All Canada Photos/
Alamy Stock Photo; 13(LT) Tim Laman, (RC), (RT), (LC), (LB) National Geographic
Creative/Alamy Stock Photo, (RB) Oleksandr Lytvynenko/Shutterstock.com; 14(LT) jurra8/

29 Ask Ask
Shutterstock.com, (RT) Four Oaks/Shutterstock.com, (RC) Jeff Schultes/Shutterstock.
com, (LC) Rudmer Zwerver/Shutterstock.com, (LB) FotoReques/Shutterstock.com, (LB-2)
Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock.com, (BC) James W. Thompson/Shutterstock.com, (RC)
Wang LiQiang/Shutterstock.com, (RC-2) Gerald A. DeBoer/Shutterstock.com, (RB) Paul

30 Contest and Letters

Reeves Photography/Shutterstock.com, (RB-2) MasterPhoto/Shutterstock.com; 15(LT)
National Geographic Creative/Alamy Stock Photo; (RT) Ralph Cramdon/Shutterstock.
com, (RC), (RC-2) Volker Steger/Science Source, (BC) Jukka Jantunen/Shutterstock.com,
(CC) Chris Watson/Shutterstock.com, (LB) haveseen/Shutterstock.com, (RB) Ondrej

33 Whatson’s Book Corner

Prosicky/Shutterstock.com; 17(RT) Xing Lida; 18(LT) Velizar Simeonovski, (LB), (BC), (RB)
Mick Ellison; 19(LB) Chuang Zhao; 24(RC) Kotomiti Okuma/Shutterstock.com; 25(RT)
Peter Horree/Alamy Stock Photo; 26(TC) Life on white/Alamy Stock Photo, (LB) Juniors
Bildarchiv GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo, (BC) errorfoto/Shutterstock.com, Anna Kucherova/

back cover: Marvin and Friends

Shutterstock.com; 28(bkg) Lakeview Images/Shutterstock.com, (RT) Classic Image/Alamy
Stock Photo, (CC) FOR ALAN/Alamy Stock Photo, (TC) Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo, (BC)
jo Crebbin/Shutterstock.com.

Special Thanks this month to Dr. Chad Eliason and the Field Museum for sharing their
beautiful feathers with us, and to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, for creating All About Birds.

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Suggested for ages 7 to 10. it s c
olors?
 Why is this
feather blue?
Features
6 Every Bird’s Guide to Feathers
by I. M. A. Duckling

10 The Bird that Sings with Its Wings

by Tracy Vonder Brink

12 Glamor Birds page 7

16 What Color Were Dinosaurs?
by Mary Bates

20 The Hat War When is a birdsong not a son

g?

24 Writing with Feathers

by Anne Rooney

26 Silent Flight
28 Borrowed Plumes
Who has the most unusual tail?

page 11
page 13
iii
 by
Elizabeth
Preston

Bird-Beaked
Spiders
r?
What is this weird-looking critte
Would you believe, a spider?
Pelican spiders are named after
the birds they resemble. Pelican
op
birds use their giant beaks to sco
ir long
up fish. Pelican spiders use the
t don’t
There once was a jaws to attack other spiders. Bu
are only
wee tiny spider
be alarmed—these beaked bugs
e.
about the size of a grain of ric
Who wanted to fit
more inside ‘er.
d since the
So she stretched
A pelican spider, much larger Pelican spiders have been aroun
earlier. Scientists
time of the dinosaurs, or even
out her maw
To a pelican’s jaw than life size
live in Africa
To gulp other
w abo ut the se anc ien t spi der s from fossils. Modern species
kno rs armed
more than we thought. Researche
spiders inside’er.
and Au stralia . In fac t, the re are
African
h mic ros cop es rec ent ly dis cov ered 18 brand-new kinds on the
wit
island of Madagascar.

Robot Baby Studies Dirty Rugs

Is the air dirtier closer to the floor? To a baby’s lungs. They sent their robot
find out, scientists built a robotic baby. crawling across rugs borrowed from real
The robot is programmed to crawl people’s homes. They also had a human
on the ground like a real baby. While it adult walk across the rugs.
crawls, high-tech tools sample the air in The experiments showed that babies
front of the robot. This measures what breathe in a lot more dust and dirt than
a real crawling baby would breathe in. adults do. But that might not be a bad
Our rugs trap lots of bacteria, pollen, thing. Meeting lots of different germs
and bits of dust. Researchers wanted and dirt helps a baby’s immune system
to know how much of this goes into grow strong.

2 ask
 Space Car
In February, the world’s most powerful
But the most impressive part of
rocket made its first launch. The
the launch was what happened after.
rocket is called the Falcon Heavy.
Two of the large side rockets, called
Someday it may carry astronauts into
boosters, turned around and landed
space, but this flight was just a test.
themselves. This means they can be
For practice, the rocket carried a
re-used, saving a lot of money on the
bright red car with a dummy inside.
next launch. A third booster rocket
The rocket successfully released the
crashed into the ocean. Better luck
car and fake driver into a long orbit
next time!
around the sun.

If they can
put a car in
space...

This is a drawing of the rocket with car

on board. The red car once belonged to
Elon Musk, the founder of the rocket
company SpaceX. The car will travel arou
the sun, but will likely be sanded down nd
by space rocks and radiation.

art © 2018 by Greg Kletsel

I think
he needs
an oil
change.

ask 3
 What you need is one coat
that’s good for all types of
weather.
That’s impossible.

I always wear
the wrong
clothes.

I don’t know, maybe we

can invent one. It would But with lots of air
have to be completely holes to keep cool
waterproof. and breezy!

It should have a And it should shed dirt easily.

lining that could
puff up to keep Yeah, so you never have to wash it.
warm, but easily
flatten to stay
cool.

4 ask
 And it should If we could invent such a fan-
come in stylish tastic coat, we’d be millionaires. But who’s ever
colors. That you heard of such
It shouldn’t be too hard. We amazing stuff?
could change
just need to find a material
in different I have an idea
that’s light, waterproof,
seasons! where to start...
sheds dirt, and can keep
you either warm or cool.

Lightweight! Waterproof! Sheds dirt! Good for

Is it done yet? heat and cold! Comes in all colors! Eco-friendly!
Almost! Nature is hard to beat.
I understand the
feathers, but why
do you need the
bill and feet?
To make
friends.

ask 5
 Great, I
can’t wait to

Every Bird’s
fly!

art by
Kim Kurki

Guide to Feathers
C
ongratulations on being a here’s a handy guide to help you
bird! As a chick, you’ll start get to know all your new feathers.
out with a nice, soft coat A bird’s feather coat is made
of fluffy down. But soon you’ll up of many different kinds of
sprout some stiff, sleek feathers. It feathers. Each has a different
can be a bit confusing at first, so shape and does a different job.

Contour Feathers
Smooth feathers overlap like
The Parts of scales to make a waterproof
a Feather feather coat. They are fluffier
Tiny hooks hold at the base, near
The shaft, or the strands of a the skin, to
rachis, is the feather together. help you
stiff, hollow These unclasp keep warm.
backbone if the feather is
of the disturbed, then hook
feather. together again
to restore
the smooth
surface. Bristles
On some birds,
short, naked
bristle feathers
The vane is the protect the
main “feathery” part eyes and nose.
of the feather.

A Wing
Wings have many different kinds of
feathers. Long, strong flight feathers
push air as you fly. Overlapping
rows of contour feathers shape
the wing and give it a smooth,
aerodynamic surface. And a flash
of blue tells other ducks that
you’re a mallard.

6 ask
 Head Feathers
Feathers come in all sizes. Filoplumes
Tiny feathers grow in These wispy, hair-like feathers act
overlapping rows to like sensors to tell you how your
make a silky covering feathers are lying and if they need
for a bird’s head. to be straightened. Filoplumes grow
all over, among the other feathers.

Primary Flight Feathers

The outer wing feathers are long and
strong. They are usually wider Tail Feathers
on one side. Their job is Tail feathers
to push air as you fly. help you steer
Flight feathers are and brake
anchored to wing when you fly.
bones by strong Many birds
ligaments. grow fancy
tail feathers to
show off and
attract mates.

Secondary Flight
Feathers
A row of smaller
feathers grows on
the bottom of the
wing closer to
the body. These
also push air so
you can fly.

Down
Fluffy down feathers grow
under the other feathers.
Their job is to trap
air to keep you
warm. In some
How Do Feathers Grow? birds, down
Feathers grow from special pores
breaks up into
(called follicles) in your skin.
a fine powder.
The feather forms inside
This coats the
a sleeve that breaks off
other feathers and
as the feather emerges.
helps them shed water.
Muscles under the
art © 2018 by Kim Kurki

skin can move

Why do birds need Why do mammals
each feather
so many kinds of need so many
separately. feathers? kinds of fur?

ask 7
 FAQ: Questions How many feathers will I have?
Most birds have between 900 (for
About Feathers a small hummingbird) and several
thousand. Tundra swans have the
most—a whopping 25,000.

What are feathers made of?

Feathers are made of keratin, a kind
of protein. Hair, reptile scales, fur, and Help! My feathers are falling out!
fingernails are also made of keratin. Don’t panic—it’s perfectly
normal. Feathers wear out, so Ow?
all birds shed the old ones and
grow new ones every year. This
process is called molting. Some
birds molt all at once. Others
shed two feathers at a time
(right and left sides), so they’re
always re-growing some. Molting
helps get rid of pesky mites, and
is a great way to change colors
for different seasons!

Why is that bird biting its feathers?

When birds seem to bite at their feathers, they’re using their bills to
How can I get the best-looking feathers? keep their feathers clean and smooth. This is called preening. If you
Eat plenty of the right foods to keep your want to fly and stay waterproof, regular preening is a must!
feathers strong and colors looking bright. How to preen:

Am I really waterproof?
Water rolls right off feathers that are Like
properly “zipped up,” with all their strands this?
hooked together. That isn’t because they’re
oily. Tiny ridge patterns
push water drops
off, so the water
doesn’t soak
in. To stay
waterproof,
it’s important
3. Raise and
to preen often 2. Pull each
lower your
to make sure feather through
1. Reach your bill feathers
there are no your bill to get
(or claw) around to several times
openings in all the little
your preen gland, so they shake
your feathers. hooks to catch,
under your tail. Get together and
so the feather
a little dab of oil. lie nicely.
is smooth.
4. Repeat often.
Water beads up on The oil from your preen gland keeps your feathers bendy and
a tight feather. stops them from drying out.

8 ask
 What Are Feathers For? For tickling!
So many things!

Flight
Feathers push down on the
air so you can fly, then fold away
when you don’t need them. They slide
smoothly so you can change the shape
of your wings. And feathers are
light, so they don’t add too le
much weight. eag
Bald

Social Media
Your feathers
tell the world
who you are.
Eye-catching
Sulfur-
feathers are
crested
good for
cockatoo
attracting mates
and scaring
enemies or
For dressing
rivals.
up!

I think that I shall never see

Sand grouse A bird as beautiful as me!

Custom Jobs
l jobs. Desert grouse use
Some feathers do specia miles
rs to carry water many
sponge-like chest feathe str on g
Protection
ers have extra-
to their chicks. Woodpeck Ma ny
Patterned feathers can
m climb trees.
tail feathers to help the act like camouflage,
h old feathers.
For birds line their nes wit
ts hiding birds from
thers to help
cleaning! And some birds eat fea predators. And often
them digest! when a predator
tries to catch a A potoo
bird, all it gets pretending
is a mouthful to be a
Keeping Warm and Cool branch
of tail
Downy feathers trap lots
feathers.
of tiny air pockets, which Bird? What
stop heat from getting bird?
in or out. This helps the
bird stay just the right
Great temperature. Feathers
gray owl are so good at trapping
heat that penguins can
stay toasty warm even
standing on an ice sheet Right here!
at 40 below zero!

ask 9
 T
k...tk…TEEEE! it revealed a surprise. The sound was
A colorful bird the size of coming from the bird’s feathers!
a sparrow sits on a branch in A closer look at the wing feathers
a Colombian cloud forest. A female shows his instrument. Each wing has
is nearby. Will she be his mate? The two stiff, ridged feathers shaped like
male hops side-to-side to attract her clubs—thick on the tops, narrow toward
attention. Then he puts his head down, the bottoms. Next to the club-shaped
lifts his tail, and moves his wings so fast feathers is a shorter, bent feather.
they blur.
Tk…tk…TEEEE!
A clear, loud tone It sounds like
like a doorbell rings “Beeeeep”

out through the forest.

But the bird’s beak
hasn’t moved. He isn’t
singing to the female.
He isn’t chirping. So
It’s more like
where is the sound “Hnnnnnn!”
coming from?
Scientists have
known for a long time
that there is something
odd about the club-
winged manakin’s calls.
But it wasn’t until 2002 that
It sounds
cameras became fast enough like...
to discover the bird’s secret. When
video was played back, frame-by-frame,

When is a birdsong not a song?

The Bird that Sings

with Its Wings
by Tracy
Vonder
Brink
art by
Marnie
Galloway

10 ask
 When the club-winged Club-winged manakins live in cloud
forests in the Andes Mountains of
manakin beats its Colombia and Ecuador. They eat mostly
wings together rapidly, fruit and insects. The males have showy
red, black, and white feathers, while the
the bent feather acts females are a soft green.
like a guitar pick
and strums the club-
shaped feathers!
Want to give it a
try? Bend forward a
little at the waist and Most birds have
touch your pinkie fingers behind your hollow bones. This
back. Now try to tap your elbows togeth- keeps them light, so
er. Now, faster. Can you do it? That’s flying is easier. The
how the club-winged manakin plays its club-winged manakin’s
The funny
wings. But he claps them together 107 wing bones are solid so they can shapes of
text © 2018 by Tracy Vonder Brink, art © 2018 by Marnie Galloway

times per second! That’s faster than a stand being knocked together. these feathers
are just right
hummingbird’s wings (50 to 70 times Heavier bones should make it for making
per second) or even a rattlesnake’s rattle difficult for manakins to fly, but noise.
(90 times per second). they seem to manage just fine.
Making sound by quickly rubbing Some other birds make sounds
body parts together is called stridulation. with their feathers. Crested pigeons Hear the
It’s how crickets and katydids “sing.” But can make a whistling alarm call by manakin’s wing
song at
the club-winged manakin is the only bird channeling air through their wings. vimeo.com/
known to do it. But no other bird plays its wings like 40642487.
The manakin’s wings are unique in the club-winged manakin, the one-
another way too—they have solid bones! bird band.

The club-winged
manakin plays his
wings by pushing a
bent feather along
feathers with ridges.

ask 11
 The cock
of the rock
bird wears a The colorful
feather mask quetzal trails a
and cape that long tail like a
completely streamer. Aztec
change its kings wore
shape. headdresses of
long, green quetzal
feathers.

This bird has its

Halloween costume
on all year!

The
During breeding Victoria
season, snowy crowned
egrets grow an pigeon is
extra set of long crowned
plumes. In the with
1800s, these special feathers.
feathers put the
birds in danger, as
many people wanted
them for hats.

In most bird species,

the male has the fancy
feathers. Male peacocks’
tails are so fancy that
they make it hard for the
birds to fly. During mating
season, the male shakes his
huge tail fan to attract a
plain brown peahen.

G l a m o r B i r d s
Feathers aren’t just for flying. Th
ey’re also important
r birds.
for making a bird beautiful to othe
12 ask
 The birds of paradise of New Guinea
take the prize for the most fantastical
feathers. Each species has its own special
look—and a dance to go with it.

Those shiny
spirals are tail
feathers, extra
long and curly.

Red bird
of paradise Wilson’s bird
of paradise

Birds of Paradise

Western parotia
bird of paradise

Raggiana bird of paradise

The King of Saxony Even mallards

bird of paradise
grows extra-long
sport a cunning
head feathers. curled tail
feather!
and Ducks...

I wonder
how long I
can grow my
whiskers?
It’s a look...

ask 13
 Gouldean finch
Rainbow of Birds
Feathers come in every color—
sometimes all on a single bird.
How do birds make so many shades?

Lorakeet
Bird Paintbox
Feathers get their colors in
three main ways:
1. From natural pigment (color
bits) in the bird’s skin
2. From pigments in food
3. By bouncing light like a prism.

Macaw
You have more
colors than
I do!

Black, brown, rust, dark yellow Bright red, orange, yellow, pink

Colors from Skin Colors from Food

Black, brown, rusty reds, and dark yellows come from Some birds make bright red and yellow pigments
melanins, the pigments that color skin, hair, and fur. from stuff in the food they eat. Flamingos turn
Color bits get added to feathers as they grow from pink by eating lots of algae and shrimp. If they
the skin. More melanin means a darker color. don’t get the right food, they lose their color.

Ural owl Cardinal

Crow

Flamingo

Baltimore
oriole

Chickadee
Yellowthroat Yellow You
warbler must like
mangoes
too!

14 ask
 Black and White
Blacker than Black
Superb birds of paradise make super- White
black feathers. They are blacker than White feathers don’t have any
the darkest crow—so black they absorb pigment in them. This makes
99.95% of light. How do them a bit weaker than colored
they do it? The light- feathers. So birds with
stopping power of white wings often
these feathers comes have dark wingtips.
from many tiny bends The end of the wing
inside the takes a lot of strain and needs
feather. extra strength. Snow goose
Light bounces
around inside
until it’s all
absorbed. Invisible Colors
Birds’ eyes can see more colors than
ours. They can even see ultraviolet
light, which is invisible to us. Some
birds have ultraviolet markings that
are only visible to other birds—a
kind of secret code.
The bottom photo shows the
same parrot in UV light—and
reveals a hidden patch.

Purple, blue, green

Colors from Tiny Prisms in Feathers

There’s no blue pigment in blue feathers—up close, they look
brown. Blue and purple colors are made by light reflecting Iridescent
off thin layers in the feathers. These layers dampen red and
yellow light, but reflect blues and purples. A blue-reflecting
prism layered over yellow pigment underneath looks green.

Violet-backed Splendid
starling fairy wren Reflective layers
can make feathers
shimmer with
rainbows and change
color depending on
which way you look
at them. This is
called iridescence.

Green
Rainbow-throated
eclectus
hummingbird
parrot

15
 What Color
by Mary Bates, art by Jeff Harter

Were Dinosaurs?

W
In my book,
they’re all hen the first dinosaur fossils surprise was that many dinosaurs had
green and
brown.
were discovered, scientists feathers. Some had just simple bristles.
thought they looked like lizards. Others were covered in complex
So they drew pictures of living dinosaurs plumes. And now, scientists may be
as scaly and drab. able to tell what color those feathers
But a string of discoveries starting in were.
the 1970s has changed all that. The first

16 ask
 Stone Colors The results were striking.
In the 1980s, scientists began looking Under the microscope, they
at fossil feathers with powerful micro- could see bands of long and
scopes. They saw tiny, sausage-shaped round melanosomes. There
ridges inside. Most thought these were were more in some
traces of bacteria that munched on the places, meaning darker
feather after the dinosaur died. color.
But in 2007, Jakob Vinther looked at By tracing the
the fossil feathers and saw something patterns of the fossil
different. To him, the tiny blobs inside melanosomes and
looked like melanosomes. Melanosomes comparing them
are packets that hold melanin, the to modern birds,
text © 2018 by Mary Bates, art © 2018 by Jeff Harter

natural brownish pigment (color) found they were able to Anchiornis

was a small
in hair, skin, and feathers. map the colors of feathered
Melanosomes are different shapes Anchiornis. It was dinosaur with
bold stripes.
depending on what color they carry. In not drab at all! Instead, it looked more
modern bird feathers, sausage-shaped like a woodpecker, with a dark gray Striped like a
melanosomes hold black and brown body, banded wings, and a rusty red zebra!

tones. Rounder melanosomes carry crest on its head.

reddish-brown. The more melanosomes And that wasn’t all. In 2009,
there are, the darker the color. Feathers researchers found a fossil feather
with no melanosomes are white. with melanosomes in neat stacks.
One fossil feather Vinther studied
looked like it had once had stripes.
Under the microscope, Vinther could
see sausage shapes only in every other
stripe. That’s not a pattern you would
expect from bacteria.
Vinther teamed up with bird expert
Richard Prum. Together they looked at
brown-black
fossil feathers of Anchiornis huxleyi, a melanosomes
small feathered dinosaur that roamed
China 155 million years ago.

Melanosomes are tiny packets that hold

melanins, the brownish pigments that color
skin, hair, and feathers. Different shaped
melanosomes hold different shades. White white red-brown
places don’t have any. Melanosomes are (no melanosomes) melanosomes
tiny—100 times thinner than a hair.
ask 17
 In Prum thinks that Anchiornis used
modern its bold plumage to signal to other
birds, birds and attract mates—the same way
stacked modern birds use their flashy feathers.
Caihong melanosomes “This aspect of bird biology is also
juji likely
had dark act like tiny dinosaur biology,” he says.
feathers and prisms in the A dinosaur’s colors can also be a clue
a shimmering
rainbow ruff. feathers. They to how it hunted. A crow-sized meat-
scatter light to eating dinosaur named Microraptor had
make rainbow wing feathers on both arms and legs.
colors like those on a hummingbird’s Scientists used to think that it hunted at
If dinos throat. So some dinos also shimmered! night, because it had very large eyes. But
can do it,
why not
its wings show iridescent color. And that
molluscs? What Can We Learn would only have shown up in daylight.
from Colors? So maybe Microraptor wasn’t a night bird
Dinosaur colors aren’t just interesting— after all.
they can also tell us a lot about how the And then there’s Sinosauropteryx.
animals lived. This turkey-sized dinosaur lived in
China about 125 million years ago.
In addition to a tiger-striped tail, it
sported a bandit mask, a light belly, and
a dark back. This light/dark pattern is
They can tell
color just from
tiny shapes in
rock?

Rocks know
a lot!

Can you see

Artists are redrawing their the feathers
dinosaurs to match fossil on this fossil Microraptor’s feathers may
pigments. This is Microraptor, Microraptor? have looked like this modern
black with an iridescent tail. blackbird.

18 ask
 What about Pink?
Incredible as these discoveries are, some
colors are still missing.
The bright pink and orange colors
of birds like flamingos and orioles
come from pigments in the foods they
eat, not from melanin. These pigments
don’t leave traces in fossils. So we can’t
tell (yet!) if dinosaur feathers were red, So maybe they
pink, orange, or yellow. WERE pink!

But science is full of surprises. New

technology may someday reveal more
fossil colors. Vinther says, “it’s a brave
Modern birds often display their colorful new world” when it comes to under-
feathers while dancing to impress mates. standing how dinosaurs looked and
Did Sinosauropteryx do the same?
behaved. “We know so much more today
often seen in birds that live in open than we did just a few decades ago.”
meadows or grasslands. So maybe this And their world turns out to be
dinosaur did too. surprisingly fluffy and colorful.

Who Grew the First Feather?

Scientists don’t know exactly how The earliest feathers would not
feathers evolved. But they think the have been useful for flying. So what
first feathers were simple hollow quills were they for? They were probably for
that grew out of a dino’s skin. Feathers decoration, and helped dinosaurs keep
are keratin, the same stuff that makes warm. Even simple feathers could be
horns, hair, and reptile scales. These fluffed out to show off, warn rivals, and
early bristles gradually evolved prongs, startle predators. Modern birds use their
and finally grew into complex feathers. feathers in all these ways today.

Early dinosaurs Early birds

Feathered dinosaurs
250 million years ago? 150 million years ago

Feathers evolved from simple bristles to complex shapes.

ask 19
 Birds like to decorate
themselves with feathers.

Do you think
they’re jealous?
Hawaiians sewed
feathers into colorful
capes and helmets.

And of
course,
feathers
People also like to were
decorate themselves great for
with feathers. decorating
Aztec kings hats.
wore
feather
crowns.

Birds shed their feathers You know those European explorers brought back feathers of
every year. They don’t care are my butt newly discovered birds from remote places
if someone picks up the old feathers, right? like New Guinea and the Amazon rainforests.
ones and puts them on a hat. Fashionable ladies who saw them wanted to
wear them too.
You’re welcome to our
cast-offs! Oooh, wouldn’t that
make a darling hat?

In the 1700s, plumes from

ostriches, egrets, peacocks, and
other tropical birds began appearing
on ladies’ (and gentlemen’s) heads.

20 ask
 In the 1880s, enormous hats covered with feathers, wings, and even whole stuffed birds became
fashionable. White egret plumes were a special favorite. In 1886, a bird expert named Frank Chapman
walked through downtown New York and counted 40 different species of birds, just on hats.

OK, this is
getting out of
hand.
art © 2018 by Jeffrey Ebbeler

Hat makers paid a lot of money for rare They often hunted during mating season,
feathers. Feather hunting became big business. when the birds wore special feathers and
Greedy plume hunters didn’t want to wait for gathered in once place to nest. This wiped
birds to shed their feathers. They went out out both parents and eggs. Every year
and shot living birds—whole islands of them. there were fewer and fewer birds.

ask 21
 We must write
This slaughter of birds upset two They also loved birds. to Congress!
bird-loving ladies in Boston.
Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall Women can’t vote, why
were cousins. They came from a Ugh! This must be stopped! would they listen to us?
wealthy family and knew all the
important people in Boston. Women can’t vote?
Indubitably! No time for that
That’s not right.
now. Right now, we
must save the birds!

They don’t
listen to
us either.

Help! I don’t
want to be
a hat!

But how? If women stop buying bird hats,

hat makers will stop making them.

We may not have the

vote, but that doesn’t
mean we’re powerless.

You’re right! We have the

power of Shame! And the
power of the Purse!
So it’s
agreed. We
We’ll make women ashamed must have…
to kill beautiful living things
just for a hat.

Harriet and Minna made a list of all the most important women in Boston.
And group by group, they invited them to tea. They drank tea. They ate tiny
sandwiches. They talked about birds. They told the other women about all the Two out of five, I think.
cruel things hunters did to get feathers.

My dear, you would not believe That’s awful! Spread the word!
what goes on! They shoot all the
mothers, and leave the chicks to So, will you Oh, but they’re
starve! Just for hats! stop wearing so pretty.
feather hats?

We are more
pretty alive!

22 ask
 Together, the bird-lovers decided to
They also needed some men start a club dedicated to helping birds.
Harriet and Minna never let up. They named it after John Audubon, the
to help get laws passed and
pressure Congress. Luckily, great naturalist and painter of birds:
Shame! How can you wear such a many men also loved birds. The Audubon Society.
disgusting dead thing on your head?

Yesterday, I spotted two

Women will never get the
goldfinches and a cedar waxwing!
vote in ridiculous hats!
Alive? Certainly! Hats
don’t count.

Slowly, all their work began to pay off. In 1913 a law was passed
Minna and Harriet visited schools making it illegal to kill migrating birds. Hunters challenged it, but
too. They appalled children with more laws followed.
tales of the cruel hunters and
helpless chicks left to starve. You can’t shoot Yes you can. NO, you CAN’T!
rare birds.
But what happens to the chicks?

Without parents, they die!

Today, birds are well

Huge feathered hats gradually protected. It is illegal to On a
went out of style. And in 1920, kill migrating or native bird!
women finally got the vote. wild birds, or to sell
their feathers.

Most feathers sold in

Small stores are dyed chicken
cloth hats! or ostrich feathers from
Perfect for birds raised on farms.
voting!
The Audubon Society
started a national
movement to preserve
nature and wild animals.
Because feathers are
most beautiful...

ask 23
 Writing with
by Anne Rooney, art by Rupert van Wyk

For most of
history, people
had to make
their own pens.

Often, they
made them out
of feathers.

T
he first writing (that we know about) “pen” comes from the Latin penna, meaning
was invented in Babylon (now Iraq) “feather.”
more than 5,000 years ago. They used You can’t just take a feather and dip it
a little stick to press shapes in ink. A writing feather had to be specially
into soft clay. Soon after, prepared. The end was cut to make a nib, and
people cut reeds to make the barbs (the feathery bits) were cut away.
dip-pens to use with Feathers are naturally hollow inside, which
ink. Then, around 2,500 made them handy for holding ink. The scribe
years ago, people started had to trim the pen many times a day, as the
using feather pens—or nib mushed down during writing.
quills. No one knows Most quill pens were made from the large
exactly who first had the flight feathers of geese or swans. The birds
The marks on this
ancient tablet were
idea. But feather pens became didn’t mind—they naturally shed their
made by pressing especially popular in Europe. feathers, and grow new ones if any are
a sharp stick into
wet clay.
They were the main writing plucked to make pens.
tool until metal pens appeared
YES!
in the 1800s. In fact, our word Do you mind?

24 ask
 Feathers fe a t her s b e c ame pens
This schoolboy
from 1531 is

ow
all ready for
homework, with a
fresh feather pen.
1. Collect a stiff
H

wing feather
from a goose or
swan.
5. Cut a short slit
in the end. As
you press the
nib down on the
paper, the slit
2. Take a small, sharp opens slightly to
knife (a “pen knife”) let ink run down.
and trim the
feathery part off,
leaving just a bare
straw. Slice the end 6. Curve the
off at an angle. sides of the
cut end.
But in pictures feather
pens look all plumey! Artist don’t always
3. Use a wire or show things the way
they really were.
long needle to
poke out the
text © 2018 by Anne Rooney, art © 2018 by Rupert van Wyk

gunk inside the

shaft of the
feather. 7. Cut the end
to a point.

A fresh
feather
pen, ready
4. Cut a small for words
flat end
across the Now, dip your pen in some ink,
pointed tip.
and get writing! Let’s invent
a ball-point
pen.

ask 25
 What makes owls so sneaky?

Silent Flight
art by Troy Cummings

No fair!

N
ext time
you’re outside, see
Owl wing if you can hear a bird just by
feathers have its wings. Small birds whirrrr quickly.
fringe along the
top and bottom, Pigeons flap flap flap like a flag snap-
and a velvety ping in the wind. A whole flock of
surface.
starlings taking off can sound mice are listening too. If a mouse
like rustling leaves. hears an owl flapping above, it will
But no matter how hard jump into its burrow.
you listen, you won’t ever hear So owls have evolved a secret
an owl’s wings. weapon—super quiet wings.
Owls hunt small animals, Why do other wings make noise? If
often in the dark. They glide you’ve ever been in a room with a fan
overhead, listening for the on, you know fan blades make a noise.
faint rustling sounds of mice Whrrrr, thrummmm. Fan blades send
and rabbits. Then, they strike. out shock waves as they shove the air
An owl’s dinner depends forward. Those waves are sound.
on silence and surprise. The

The wing feathers

of other birds
have smooth
edges and a shiny
surface. This
makes them fast
but noisier.
26
 wing is covered in
velvety down.
Engineer
Justin Jaworski and
mathematician Nigel Peak
studied computer models and
built real models to see how air flows
over owl wings. They found that
fringed edges break up the air flow
Birds’ so it makes smaller ripples in the air.
wings also shove Fewer ripples mean less sound. The
air aside, making sound velvety surface of the wing dampens
waves with every flap. sound waves too. Together, they make
But owl wings are shaped to a nearly silent wing.
make very little noise. Owls have Now, they are working on ways to
extra large wings, so they can glide use the owls’ tricks to make quieter
without much flapping. Owl feathers blades for ships, wind turbines, My stealth
model!
are also a little different. The tops of and airplanes. A quieter airplane
owl wing feathers sprout stiff, short flight might be as simple as giving
combs. The bottoms of their wings a plane’s wings a little fringe!
are ragged. And the surface of the
art © 2018 by Troy Cummings

27
 Borrowed Does that perfect outfit
need some feathers?

Plumes France
In 1653, King Louis
the 14th of France
dressed up as the
sun, topped with a
crown of ostrich
feathers.

M
any birds (mostly
the males) sport Papua New Guinea
This chief’s
splendid feathers to headdress is
show off and attract mates. decorated with
plumes of birds of
And probably for as long paradise, which live
as humans have been on this island.

wearing clothes, we’ve been

borrowing birds’ feathers to Hawai'i
These traditional
spruce up our looks. Hawai'ian capes are
On the islands of Hawai'i, covered with tiny
colored feathers.
chiefs and important leaders Every cape had a
wore feather capes and different pattern.

helmets. To make each one,

I love my I love my
craftspeople sewed thousands feather feather
of bright feathers onto a net boa! crown!

of plant fiber.
The red feathers came
from the l'iwi and 'apapane Even today, people love to
birds. Yellows came from dress up with feathers. Most
small birds called o'o. Hunters feathers used in modern
would catch birds, pluck a few costumes come from
plumes, then let the birds go. chickens, ostriches, and other
The birds would re-grow the birds raised on feather farms.
missing feathers. The o'o are The plumes are plucked, then
now extinct, but not because dyed to any color the
of feather hunting—they customer wants.
were wiped out by cats, rats,
and losing their forest homes.
This dancer is all dressed up for
a parade in the Bahamas.

28 ask
 Hey Sage! Paige D. in Virginia We see color thanks to Let me guess—
wants to know, why are some special cells at the back their shape?
people color-blind? of the eye. These cells
are color-detectors.
They’re called cone
cells because of...

Human eyes have three kinds of cones. Red, green, and blue are But if someone is
the primary colors of color-blind...
light! So with just three
One detects red cones, you can see a
colors of light. whole rainbow of colors.

One detects blues.

One detects greens.

Other cells called rods

see in black and white.

They can’t see as many colors because A set of colored pencils seen by The same set of pencils seen
some of their cones don’t work or are someone with full color vision. by someone with red-green
missing. They can still see colors, but they color blindness.
might have a hard time telling blue from
purple, or red from green. Color-blindness
is inherited, and it’s fairly common. About 1
in every 25 people is color-blind.
If these two sets of pencils look the same to you, get your eyes checked!

What about animals?

Animals often see

different colors than
humans. Some see more.
Some see less. Dogs and
cats (and chipmunks) have
only two color cones and
don’t see much color.
Bird eyes, on the other
hand, have four kinds of
cones. So I see colors
you can’t even imagine!

ask 29
 Send your letters to Ask Mail,
70 East Lake St., Suite 800, Chicago, IL
In our February issue 60601, or have your parent/guardian
email us at [email protected].
we asked you to design
a poster to celebrate
your favorite river. Isabella and
Thanks to all you her sister
Clara clean
passionate water lovers up trash
for sharing your fan washed in
art! by the tide
from the
bay.

Keep Biscayne Bay Clean

Isabella G., age 6, Florida

Keep Moraine State

Park a Happy Place!
Brianna H., Keep the James River
age 10, Clean, Stop Polluting It!
Pennsylvania Giovanni G., age 7, Florida Leah F., age 7, Virginia

Hi Marvin and Bot, Dear Lucas, Dear Zia,

Can you speak Russian? Thanks, that’s a good joke! Do you have a typewriter?
Потому что я могу. I heard So far I only speak raccoon I do, and I’m typing this
that you’re writing a joke Russian, but Bot has a built- letter. I have a prank you
book. Here’s one for you: in translator. Processing....and can play on Marvin: Jello
Knock knock. Who’s there? output says “because you can, in his bed! If you play an
Ya. Ya-who? for sure.” Is it hard to learn instrument, what is it?
Don’t get too excited, it’s only two alphabets? I have trouble I play the piano. If you
a joke. with just one. could design a cupcake,
Пока Bye, Пока, what would it be?
Lucas S., age 9, California Marvin and Bot Love, Emily L.,
New Hampshire

30 ask
Don’t Pollute
our River! Conserve
Mae, Our Rivers!
age 6, Charis C.,
by email age 10,
Florida

Stop Polluting
Rivers
Amani P.,
age 8,
Illinois

h, it
th ro w tras h in the ditc
Don’t
Rio Grande!
leads to the
8, by email
Samson, age

The Yellow
River, China
Mari K.,
age 6,
Elianna Y., age 9, by email
New York

Dear Emily, Dear Ask, hearts only pump blood through

I think a typewriter makes a Why do octopuses have three the gills. That helps the octopus
very interesting instrument. hearts? I’ve always wondered. breathe (they get oxygen from
Clacky clacky tap tap ding! Silas W. water, like fish do). Weirdly,
Like drums and bells at once! an octopus’s main heart stops
If I bring Marvin some Jello Dear Silas, beating when it swims! But the
when he’s in bed, will that be Why not? It might be kind of gill hearts keep going. Maybe
funny? I’ll try it. Maybe in a cool to have three. Octopuses that’s why they need three. Or
cupcake. Thanks for the idea! use theirs for different jobs. maybe they’re just showing off.
Your friend, The main heart pumps blood Your bloodless pal,
Zia around its body. Two smaller Bone Pony

ask 31
July/August Contest

Feather Frolic
Have you ever wondered what it would be
like to be a bird, flying through the sky,
wearing beautiful feathers? What kind
of bird would you be? For this month’s
contest, imagine yourself as a bird
(modern or ancient, real or imaginary),
and send us a picture of your feathered
self. We’ll host an aviary of the most
astonishing in an upcoming issue of Ask.

Contest Rules:
1. Your contest entry must be your very 5. Your entry must be signed or emailed 7. Email scanned artwork to ask@cricket-
own work. Ideas and words should not by a parent or legal guardian, saying it’s media.com, or mail to: Ask, 70 East Lake
be copied. your own work and that no one helped St., Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60601. Entries
2. Be sure to include your name, age, and you, and that Ask has permission to must be postmarked or emailed by August
address on your entry. publish it in print and online. 31, 2018.
3. Only one entry per person, please. 6. For information on the Children’s Online 8. We will publish the winning entries in an
4. If you want your work returned, enclose Privacy Protection Act, see the Privacy upcoming issue of Ask.
a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Policy page at cricketmedia.com.

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in a gray and crumpled sky the magazine for children

do you think that I could find it Get SPIDER Magazine!

when the clouds went rolling by? You’ll love stories, poems,
-Sara Valafar jokes, recipes, and more
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for ages 6–9

Subscribe at Shop.CricketMedia.com/Try-Spider
 World of Birds Dinosaurs: Fossils and Feathers
by Kim Kurki by MK Reed and Joe Flood
Did you know that a young robin eats 50 We really love the
worms a day? Can you tell a robin from a Science Comics
towhee? If you love birds and want to get series, and this one
to know them better, about the dinosaur
this beautiful book wars is particularly
will be your friend. good. That’s not wars
Every page brings between dinosaurs,
common American but between
birds alive with lots paleontologists who
of fun drawings, dug them up. They
interesting facts, argued about what
habits, related birds, shape the dinos were, what color, and
and where and how whether they had feathers. It took a lot of
to spot them. arguing to sort out what we know!

The Secrets of Animal Flight Birds and

by Nic Bishop Feathers
Birds have all the fun. Why do they get to by Britta
fly, and we can’t? Well, if you really want Teckentrup
to know, read this book. It takes a close Birds are the only
look at bird, bat, bug, and airplane wings animals that grow
and figures out how they work. There are feathers—how
lots of useful do they do it?
pictures that And why? This
make the ideas informative and
clear and beautiful book has
show what the answers to just about every question you
animals look like might have about feathers, and some you
when they fly. never thought of asking.
But alas, no
flying moles.

33 ask
 text and art by Thor Wickstrom

What are you doing, Making feathers.

Marvin? I’m going to be a
bird!

July/August 2018 Volume 17 Number 6 cricketmedia.com $6.95

With these feathers But Marvin, a bird’s I know, I know. You

I’ll be able to fly all whole body is specially have to get the pattern
over the place! designed for flying! right. I did that.
Yes. It's not just
the feathers!

Fear not! Watch and learn!

But Marvin, birds have Here I go-1,2,3...
lightweight bones to
stay aloft!
It’s not just
the feathers!

You OK, Nothing You see Marvin, it’s not

Marvin? broken? just the feathers!
It’s not?? Well,
why didn’t you say
something!