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Plumes

Plumes is by far one of the best digitally restored reproductions that we offer. It’s quite a hit with many bird enthusiasts. A plume is a special type of bird feather, possessed by egrets, ostriches, birds of paradise, quetzals, pheasants and peacocks. They often have a decorative or ornamental purpose, commonly used among marching bands and the military, worn on the hat or helmet of the wearer. When used on military headdresses, the clipped feather plume is referred to as the hackle.

Plumage is regularly moulted; the standard plumage of a bird that has moulted after breeding is known as the “non-breeding” plumage, or—in the Humphrey-Parkes terminology—”basic” plumage; breeding plumages or variations of the basic plumage are known under the Humphrey-Parkes system as “alternate” plumages.Moulting is annual in most species, although some may have two moults a year, and large birds of prey may moult only once every few years. Moulting patterns vary across species. In passerines, flight feathers are replaced one at a time with the innermost primary being the first. When the fifth of sixth primary is replaced, the outermost tertiaries begin to drop. After the innermost tertiaries are moulted, the secondaries starting from the innermost begin to drop and this proceeds to the outer feathers (centrifugal moult). The greater primary coverts are moulted in synchrony with the primary that they overlap. A small number of species, such as ducks and geese, lose all of their flight feathers at once, temporarily becoming flightless. As a general rule, the tail feathers are moulted and replaced starting with the innermost pair. Centripetal moults of tail feathers are however seen in the Phasianidae. The centrifugal moult is modified in the tail feathers of woodpeckers and treecreepers, in that it begins with the second innermost pair of feathers and finishes with the central pair of feathers so that the bird maintains a functional climbing tail. The general pattern seen in passerines is that the primaries are replaced outward, secondaries inward, and the tail from centre outward. Before nesting, the females of most bird species gain a bare brood patch by losing feathers close to the belly. The skin there is well supplied with blood vessels and helps the bird in incubation.

Want to find out more about birds? Check out the Audubon Society or the Cornell University Ornithology Lab

About the Artist

Adolphe Philippe Millot (1 May 1857, Paris –18 December 1921, also Paris) was a French painter, lithographer and entomologist.

Adolphe Philippe Millot, who illustrated many of the natural history sections of Petit Larousse, was the senior illustrator at Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. He was a member of the Salon des Artistes Francaise (honourable mention, 1891) and the Société entomologique de France.