Feathers have many functions including insulation from wet and cold. Birds often pluck feathers to line their nest or insulate eggs or their young. Feathers are used to control flight and sometimes feathers help camouflage against predators.
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This is the feather that was used to capture the microscope images below. It fits in the palm of your hand.
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Microscope World captured images of the feather at 100x magnification using the HSZ6-TBL stereo zoom microscope.
The 2 mega pixel microscope camera DCM2.1 was used to capture the microscope images.
Magnification was increased by using a C-Mount adapter with a higher magnification lens in it.
The feather patterns are beautiful under the microscope.