How do Feathers Grow? - Feather Formation

Where do feathers come from? The answer is more bizarre than you think! Please subscribe to continue learning what makes life AWESOME: BioBush.tv/subscribe
Birds don't just use the same feathers throughout their lives. The feathers fall out, then replace themselves every few months. Each feather grows out of a feather follicle, the same way we have hair follicles. This video explains how a new feather grows, how it gets its color, and how it keeps safe from dirt and bacteria while it grows.
Copyright
27A. Down Feather Development: Gallus domestics [silent] by UMass Amherst Libraries ( • 27A. Down Feather Deve... ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Bizarre Birds - BioBush.tv/birdbeaks
Ask a Zookeeper #1 BioBush.tv/aaz1
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[@pyro-millie5533]

So what I’m hearing is bird skin is an ultra complex 3D printer that is running all the time and making impossibly intricate structures. Absolutely incredible! I’ve always wondered how feathers grow!

[@BioBush]

That is absolutely what is happening. And it's running at body temperature using commonly available nontoxic chemicals. And it's light enough that a bird can carry it into flight. This is one of those things where the more you learn, the more fictional it sounds. Thanks for watching, Pyro-Millie!

[@joels7605]

We're all ultra complex 3D printers.

[@danielfrancisbohol332]

I woke up one night and asked myself "how do feathers grow?"

[@danielfrancisbohol332]

Now I'm here

[@BioBush]

You came to the right place, Daniel! I hope your curiosity was satisfied for now. Stay curious!

[@reyvaldosoetiman2389]

Lmao mate now in 2.43 AM i have the same quetion

[@anniefowlers6545]

Literally

[@alvinblaker8647]

This

[@Ecotasia]

This is a really nice video on how feathers form. Now I feel like the pressure is on with your hint towards the structural color collaboration

[@BioBush]

You'll do great! If you can teach us one new thing, that's a win. Structural color info is so rare/specialized that anyone able and willing to attempt translating it is doing a service to the community.

[@TuberoseKisser]

The energy that peacocks have to form their feathers must be insane.

[@BioBush]

That's a great point! So much reorganization of molecules into feather structures! There are so many cool things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@turasnook9764]

amazing video i was so pressed about this and you cleared everything up. i love you bird man🦅💘✨

[@BioBush]

Thanks for the kind words, Tura! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@trusttheprocess5618]

You legit answered and showed me a video of the exact topic I was looking for!! Apparently a time lapse of the feather follicle growing on a bird is pretty hard to find 🤣

[@coralinebbb]

Hi ! My birdy is molting very much lately, he’s angry and grumpy all the time and it really seems like all the new feathers coming out (so many !) are bothering him very much. I wanted to research what was actually happening in and on his tiny body and I found your video. Super great explanation, thanks a lot ! I understand a little better what he is going through :-)

[@BioBush]

Hi Coraline! I'm glad you found this helpful. It seems like feather growth is impossibly complicated. Even if the whole of humanity focused on trying, we certainly could not replicate it with modern technology. But birds do it every day. And apparently, besides being miraculous, it is also itchy. I wish your bird a successful moult. Thank you for watching!

[@pnutdraws]

dude liked and subscribed , i just found this channel while i was trying to look for how birds grow feathers , so surprised you dont have more subscribers , keep making informative videos like this !!

[@BioBush]

Thank you, Peanut B! Definitely more informative videos on the way. Thanks for your kind words! And keep up the good work on your channel as well.

[@pnutdraws]

@@BioBush nice :)

[@ignacioloera3967]

Amazing video, the photos of the structure and the video of the feather follicle growth are very illustrative!

[@BioBush]

I'm glad you found this helpful, Ignacio! I feel honored to be able to dig up and share this information. But it wouldn't work without people willing to learn like you. Thanks for watching!

[@Quartered_Rodent]

I have budgies and one of them was beginning stages of molting. He looked so tired and a little under the weather. I noticed the feather sheaths forming and thought to myself that's gotta be a very uncomfortable process. Which lead to here. Imagine growing new hair follicles and they are just painful because of how thick those sheaths are... poor birds. Great video!

[@BioBush]

It's interesting to learn how different animals work. I wish the budgies all the best as they grow some bright new feathers. Thanks for watching!

[@spiralfairy]

ive been thinking about this and trying to imagine how a feather forms and I was really confused about how such a complex structure with no vasculature could grow outside the body. I had no idea pin feathers/blood feathers were a thing, that explains a lot!

[@BioBush]

Hi Wing Tips! I'm glad you found this helpful. The more I learn about feathers, the less possible it seems that they exist. To the point that I made a short video called "The Impossibility of Feathers". The thing that's baffling me these days is how patterns stay consistent between feathers AND when each of those feathers molts at a different time. Also, structural color. There is so much out there to learn and appreciate about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@luciairenetrepp9819]

I'm currently studying Biology and we currently are discussing bird so I found your video very helpful. Thank you!

[@BioBush]

I'm glad this helped! I had trouble with bird biology in class because they're so different. Their lungs, bones, feathers, etc. are all so strange. But it turns out that difference is a great way to learn about biology. Thanks for watching, Irene!

[@aurarueda.]

Thank you so much for this information!!! So interesting

[@BioBush]

Thank you, Aura! I'm pretty sure humanity, working all together, could not build a single feather. And birds do it every day. By themselves. In a rainforest. There are so many interesting things to learn out there. Thank you for watching!

[@taunusspatz]

Very interesting facts for everyboda who is nuts about birds :-)) I really like your channel and appreciate the work you put into it!

[@BioBush]

Thank you Thomas! I am also nuts about birds, so these facts are fun to collect and assemble. But it is a lot of work and I appreciate your viewership and kind words. :)

[@nature-treks.comhimalaya2255]

Very informative and great video, thanks

[@BioBush]

That's very kind, Nature Treks! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@alicestorm6239]

Amazing information, thank you for what you do

[@BioBush]

Thank you Alice! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@LarsonFamilyWest]

Wow! Never knew this! How cool! Thanks for the vid!

[@BioBush]

Thank you for the kind words, Elisha! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

[@maryrosekent8223]

WOW! Steve, you’ve really outdone yourself here. I will be watching this several more times. My questions are: How is this different from hair growth in people? Is it different in any way for birds that drop feathers (Mallards, for instance)? Are all feathers replaced at the same rate, or do flight feathers incur more damage and therefore are replaced more frequently? I do know that flight feathers are replaced in left/right pairs to help a bird maintain its balance, although I have seen instances of broken flight feathers on hawks, which I assume are damaged while pursuing its prey-especially accipiter species that fly through forests at high speed. Thank you so much for your contributions to increasing knowledge in the world!

[@Ecotasia]

To answer how feathers are molted, yes different birds have different molts. Ducks I believe have a catastrophic molt where they are actually flightless for a time, penguins also molt all at once. Other birds generally slowly phase out old feathers.

[@BioBush]

Thank you, Mary Rose! - I got the impression that hair and feather growth are VERY similar. Follicles are created the same way, they are reused for life, and both hair and feathers are keratinized eipthelial cells linked together. The part where the feather is protected in a keratin sheath while it finishes organizing seemed like the only difference. - I will look up data on feather replacement, but my feeling from being around birds is that all feathers replace at the same rate. A possible exception is that when a feather is knocked off it will regrow immediately, so like you mentioned, the high-damage areas might end up replaced more often. These are all intriguing questions! I'm curious to know the answers too. They'll go in the hopper for Ask a Zookeeper #10.

[@NoOneOnYT]

very interesting, kept my attention whole way through

[@BioBush]

Thank you for the kind words, Gio! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

[@balderlevonhard9547]

The only thing that bother me is the video audio only coming out from one side of my headset, as for the rest: Is a great content with very simple cohesive explanation.

[@BioBush]

Hi Balder! I went back to the project file to see what happened and the audio track was pulled 40% to one side. That was a mistake for sure. But there's no way to fix it now. Thanks for sticking with the video and learning. I don't (often) make mistakes like that anymore!

[@devonbotney2762]

Thanks for the cool vid! I love birds have a dnd character that is an owl and needed to find as much info on birds as possible to role play :D

[@BioBush]

That's awesome, Devon! I made one video specifically about owls biobush.tv/owls for more information about their necks. It would be hilarious if every time something happens behind you, that you turn your head all the way around to look. Please let me know if you need any specific owl information for your character! What class are you playing? I played 4e for a few years as a half-elf hexblade. And thanks for watching!

[@devonbotney2762]

@@BioBush I'm playing as a kinda human like owlin monk. They don't have wings but they do have feathers and most other features of an owl

[@wantedwario2621]

I wonder if this whole process is an abridged version of the evolution of feathers as a whole. If so, then maybe the blood supply in the forming feather could mean that proto-feathers were used for thermo-regulation.

[@BioBush]

I had a high school biology teacher who said about tests, "When in doubt, write 'Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.'" So I'm also curious if that's correct. Sounds like a master's degree to actually answer the question. :) I hope we have an answer someday. And thank you for sharing your insight, Wario!

[@mycaroxas4088]

great vid!

[@BioBush]

Thanks for watching, and for the kind comment, Per Se! There are so many more interesting things to learn about birds. They are surprisingly good models to learn about the quirks of biology. And they're so cool!

[@alimamacat1580]

Thank you for this video! It was super helpful for our homeschool lesson

[@BioBush]

Glad it helped! Feather growth is one of those things where a video helps, because there is a lot going on. Thanks for watching!

[@alimamacat1580]

BioBush yes and I had to look through a few videos before finding this one. The visual and explanation was easy to understand and discuss with my child. We also watched the video on blue feathers and that was great, too. We enjoyed how simple it was to understand what was being explained along with the visuals. Very informative and was a great resource. Thank you!

[@caos1925]

Was thinking too now since I started watching your series on birds, looked for it, but didn't see anything on tail feather types if there even are various types or just types of feathers in general. Can you please add this to your list of things to talk about?

[@BioBush]

Good idea, Adam! The different types of feathers are interesting, and you can identify them by sight once you know what to look for. It's on the schedule for summer (I plan way ahead). Thanks for the idea. And thanks for continuing to learn about birds!

[@calvinjupiter]

this is so cool

[@BioBush]

Thank you Calvin! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@TFYS-QA]

So does the feather shaft grow to length first, then the barbs and everything with the barbs sprout out after?

[@BioBush]

The shaft, barbs, and every other part are all inside a temporary keratin sheath. They develop completely inside as it grows to its full length. Then, starting at the outer end, the bird peels open the keratin sheath and there's a fully formed feather inside. It's really cool to watch! Thanks for taking the time to learn about birds, Tea Time!

[@TFYS-QA]

@@BioBush I had no idea, fascinating! Yeah, seeing the different kinds, and the coloring changes, I've never been so amazed by the mechanics of a feather before. I imagine humans being able to do that, naturally growing streaks or patterns in our hair...

[@BioBush]

@@TFYS-QA I'm glad you're discovering natural mysteries! There are many more videos about bird secrets on this channel. My favorite is BioBush.tv/birdvision, which is about colors birds can see, but we can't. And many more videos planned. I hope you enjoy a few!

[@siyacer]

Thanks! I was curious, since feathers seem way more complex than hair.

[@BioBush]

And you were right, Sans Undertale! It takes an army of construction cells a few weeks to get a feather put together. I was recently thinking about this while looking at a Blue and Gold Macaw's wings. The feathers are yellow on one side, and "blue" on the other (technically black pigment and structural blue color), and the pigment cells manage to keep these two bold colors separate across one feather width with no mistakes. It's really amazing to consider. I'm glad this video was helpful. Thanks for taking the time to learn about birds!

[@siyacer]

@@BioBush Yep, it's really interesting! I didn't know the stems were supplied with blood, which just makes it even more metal!

[@AviaryAviles159]

If I want my bird to produce healthy feather, besides a good diet, what nutrients would you recommend? Thanks

[@BioBush]

Haha, I was totally going to say a fresh, varied diet. I looked up the nutrition facts for feather meal to see what they are made of nutritionally. They are ~90% protein, ~6% fat, and ~4% inorganic minerals. Looks like calcium, magnesium, and iron are the main minerals. Probably a little bit of cooked egg, which has lots of protein. Something I have learned though is that balancing nutrition manually is really hard. There are around 40 different macronutrients and they all interact differently with each other. A balanced diet with added sources of one or two target nutrients is probably the best that we can do without extensive training in nutrition. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!

[@AviaryAviles159]

@@BioBush thank you for you response. We are trying to avoid pellet diets in our English budgies for several reasons. One being we are not trying to remove its foraging instinct since we notice this may cause other problems in the behavior of future offspring. Its a bird we are constantly evolving so every characteristic is carefully chosen. Thanks once again 🙏

[@jonathangonzalez6972]

I have a green cheek parrot and he got out of his cage the other day. When I grabbed him he managed to yank away and I pulled out one of his long back feathers:/ will it grow back?

[@BioBush]

I'm sorry you and the bird are experiencing this. It's almost certainly going to grow back. The skin will sense it missing and accelerate the next feather growth cycle for that follicle. It may take a month or two. Thanks for learning about birds, Johnathan!

[@2009heyhow]

Was very releaved by this video. I saw these birds fighting and they losed lot's of feathers. So i was wondering if they will grow back. Though, i'm still wondering about one thing. What if they loose too many at once, especially in their wings? Could that hinder their ability to flight?

[@BioBush]

Yes, it can reduce their ability to fly and/or insulate against cold. Some birds, like pigeons, have feathers that detach easily because losing some feathers is better than being caught by a predator. Birds aren't magic, so they can still encounter problems if they lose too many feathers. But this is also a problem they are adapted for. Thanks for watching!

[@2009heyhow]

@@BioBush And you thanks for the answer!

[@MrDanyelhope]

It looks like the full process it's like a 3d printer works 🤔

[@BioBush]

That's a good summary, Daniel! It 3D prints the feather material (additive manufacturing) and then the cells organize themselves into a feather and discard the rest (subtractive manufacturing). It's like a 3D printer and CNC machine combined at the micrometer scale. We have much further to go with our technology before we can make a feather. Thank you for watching!

[@syrenet]

My right ear feels lonely

[@BioBush]

Thanks for the feedback, syrenet! This is really helpful because it shows me an area to improve. I hope your right ear gets to listen to some interesting bird facts soon!

[@donwald3436]

Hair and feather growth kind of sounds like cancer...

[@BioBush]

Hi Don! Isn't it interesting how the cells are self-organizing and replicating like that? It sounds like a science-fiction concept. A different science-fiction concept would be to harness the uncontrolled replication of cancer and use it for healing and regrowth. Maybe there is something to learn in feathers that will help us too! Thank you for watching!