How Feathers Insulate
BirdNote Daily
BirdNote
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2023
⏱️ 2 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | This is BirdNode. |
| 0:06.3 | Imagine this Canada Goose paddling along on a cold winter day. |
| 0:11.0 | Can you guess how many feathers cover this goose? |
| 0:14.0 | Hundreds? |
| 0:15.0 | Thousands? |
| 0:18.0 | A single Canada Goose has between 20 and 25,000 feathers. |
| 0:23.0 | A smaller bird like a sparrow or a hen might have 7 to 10,000. |
| 0:28.0 | Those feathers are uniquely designed to help the bird fly, shed water, or display distinctive markings. |
| 0:35.0 | A great many feathers are the short, fluffy kind. |
| 0:38.0 | The down, whose purpose is to insulate the bird from the cold. |
| 0:42.0 | Birds survive in sub-zero weather by fluffing their feathers, creating layers of air and feathers. |
| 0:48.0 | Just a fraction of an inch of this insulation can keep a bird's body temperature at 104 degrees, even in freezing weather. |
| 0:57.0 | People learned years ago how well goose down insulates and began stuffing comforters, sleeping bags, and clothing with it. |
| 1:06.0 | More recently we've developed artificial substitutes, but geese and other birds continue to get along just fine with the original material. |
| 1:20.0 | For BirdNode, I'm Michael Stein. |
| 1:23.0 | Did you know you can listen to BirdNode in your podcast app? |
| 1:26.0 | Subscribe to BirdNode Daily and never miss an episode. |
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