HOW FEATHERS GROW

A bird's proteinaceous plumage comes from the same source as our hair

- WORDS AILSA HARVEY

Feathers give birds their ability to fly, their colourful plumage for attracting a mate and the insulation needed to keep them warm in the wild. In all vertebrates, the outermost layer, or skin, is called the epidermis. This layer interacts with the outside world and often grows extensions such as hair in humans and horns in mammals such as rhinos. Feathers form part of a bird's epidermal structures, as well as that of some of birds' ancestors - the dinosaurs. Feathers grow from the same type of embryonic tissue as hair and horns, which are all made of keratin.