Plumage

Close-up view of the plumage on a house sparrow
The differences in plumage of a blue grosbeak, from top to bottom, between a breeding male (alternate plumage), a non-breeding male (basic plumage), a female, and the related indigo bunting

Plumage (from Latin pluma 'feather') is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can be different colour morphs. The placement of feathers on a bird is not haphazard but rather emerges in organized, overlapping rows and groups, and these feather tracts are known by standardized names.[1][2]

Most birds moult twice a year, resulting in a breeding or nuptial plumage and a basic plumage. Many ducks and some other species such as the red junglefowl have males wearing a bright nuptial plumage while breeding and a drab eclipse plumage for some months afterward. The painted bunting's juveniles have two inserted moults in their first autumn, each yielding plumage like an adult female. The first starts a few days after fledging replacing the juvenile plumage with an auxiliary formative plumage; the second a month or so later giving the formative plumage.[3]

Abnormal plumages include a variety of conditions. Albinism, total loss of colour, is rare, but partial loss of colours is more common. Some species are colour polymorphic, having two or more colour variants. A few species have special types of polymorphism, as in the male ruff which has an assortment of different colours around the head and neck in the breeding season only.

Hen feathering is an inherited plumage character in domestic fowl controlled by a single gene. Plumology (or plumage science) is the name for the science that is associated with the study of feathers.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Vinicombe, Keith; Harris, Alan; Tucker, Laurel (2014). The Helm guide to bird identification: an in-depth look at confusion species. London: Christopher Helm. p. 14. ISBN 9781408130353.
  2. ^ Foster, Dr. Rory; Smith, Dr. Marty. "Bird Feather Types, Anatomy, Growth, Color, and Molting". Veterinary & Aquatic Services Department. peteducation.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  3. ^ "Painted Bunting – Introduction – Birds of North America Online". bna.birds.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Galapagos plumology" (PDF). darwinfoundation.org. Charles Darwin Collections Database by the Charles Darwin Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  5. ^ Eichhorn, hrsg. von Manfred (2005). Langenscheidt Fachwörterbuch Biologie Englisch : englisch – deutsch, deutsch – englisch (1. Aufl. ed.). Berlin [u.a.]: Langenscheidt. p. 537. ISBN 3861172283. Retrieved 24 April 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Li, Quanguo (9 March 2012), "Reconstruction of Microraptor and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage", Science, 335 (6073): 1215–1219, Bibcode:2012Sci...335.1215L, doi:10.1126/science.1213780, PMID 22403389, S2CID 206537426