The dove’s skeleton, muscles and the plumage lab

The aim is to become familiar with a bird’s external structure and plumage. Equipment: a stuffed bird, a set of feathers, a hand lens and a microscope. First, on the stuffed bird, look at the head, neck, wings, tail and legs. On the head find the beak, nostrils, eyes and ear openings. See that the lower leg is covered with scales, count the toes and note how they are arranged. Examine the plumage: how the feathers are arranged on the body, where the largest and smallest feathers are. On a contour feather find the tip, shaft and vane. Under a lens or microscope look at the barbs of the vane; by carefully separating the vane you can see first- and second-order barbs. Draw the ruffled vane between your fingers: the barbs join again thanks to the hooks. Compare a feather with down and draw both. At the end find the similarities between birds and reptiles: both have horny scales, horny jaw plates in some (turtles) and eggs. Write the result in your notebook: what I saw, what I learned.