What the vibrant pigments of bird feathers can teach us about how evolution works

Date:  April 24, 2019

Source:  University of Arizona

A University of Arizona-led research team has shown that evolution is driven by species interaction within a community.

All living things exist within communities, where they depend on resources or services provided by other species. As community members change, so do the products the species depend on and share. The late George Gaylord Simpson, who was a professor of geosciences at the UA and one of the most influential evolutionary thinkers of the last century, proposed that these fluctuating dependencies should determine the speed of evolution.

The theory has been notoriously difficult to test because species interactions are both ubiquitous and ephemeral, said UA ecology and evolutionary biology professor Alexander Badyaev. But he and his team think they've found a way by examining evolution of biochemical pathways that produce color diversity in birds.

Badyaev and his co-authors showed that the way biochemical processes are structured in birds holds the key to understanding how species gain and lose their reliance on others in their communities. Consequently, this dictates how quickly species can diversify and evolve.

The new study, which was published in Nature Communications earlier this month, both confirms this prediction and reveals the mechanisms that show how it works.

Badyaev studied the evolution of the pathways by which birds convert dietary carotenoids into molecules necessary for everything from vision to the immune system to feather pigmentation.

Continued

Northern breeding grounds of Myrtle Warbler discovered

Using isotope fingerprints in feathers, researchers have pinpointed the northern breeding grounds of Myrtle Warblers.

Myrtle Warblers breed across much of Canada and the eastern United States, but winter in two distinct groups—one along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, another along the US Pacific Coast. They are also one of the few breeds of eastern warbler that have been able to extend their range into the far northwest of the continent.

"The Pacific Coast warblers migrate through the Vancouver area, but it's been a bit of a mystery exactly where they breed over the summer," says David Toews, who began the research while a graduate student at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

So Toews, UBC undergraduate student Julian Heavyside, and UBC professor Darren Irwin used isotope signatures to pinpoint where the Myrtle Warblers breed.

'We were able to match stable hydrogen isotopes in feathers collected in Vancouver to latitudinal isotope records in rainwater, to determine where the feathers were actually grown," says Toews, who conducted the analysis as a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University.

Continued

The hidden language of bird feathers

At first glance, the Great Argus is a quiet, foraging, pheasant-like bird from the Phasianidae family — until mating season. The wing feathers are the crown jewel of the Argus’s plumage. In an elaborate mating dance, the male Argus fans its wings toward the female, creating a conical display of spots. (Robert Clark)

If you were to pick up a spotted eagle-owl’s feather, you might think it doesn’t look like anything special. It has an uneven, coffee-brown color and white patches. The leading edge is a row of stunted barbs; on the other side the delicate tendrils wisp away.

But this unassuming tattered edge makes for one of the most fascinating feathers in the world. Although the design creates drag, it can also muffle the sound of the bird’s approach to prey before it swiftly folds its talons around an unsuspecting mouse or insect.

Photographer Robert Clark’s new book, “Feathers: Displays of Brilliant Plumage” (Chronicle Books, 2016), reveals feathers like this one as the works of art and engineering that they are. It’s no wonder that human biomimicry of birds and their wings has become such an important part of our lives.

Read on ...

Paint that never fades? Bird feathers hold the answer

By MIKAEL ANGELO FRANCISCOMarch 21, 2014 11:27am

Pick up any old photograph at home. It could be that photo your father always pulls out of his wallet whenever he tries to convince you that you look so much like your mother, or a snapshot taken at the beach or the zoo, back when you were still a toddler. Take a good look at the photo. Chances are, the colors are already faded—or at least beginning to.

Fading happens because paints absorb light energy.

“Most color you get in paints, coatings or cosmetics, even, comes from the selective absorption and reflection of light,” explained Vinothan N. Manoharan, a Gordon McKay Professor of Chemical Engineering and Professor of Physics at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Science. “What that means is that the material is absorbing some energy, and that means that over time, the material will fade.”

Interestingly, though, bird feathers don’t seem to have that problem: they can maintain their bright hues for centuries with virtually no difference in color quality. Unlike photographs, posters, or paintings, bird feathers don’t rely on energy-absorbing pigments that degrade over time; rather, they contain nanostructures with tiny pores arranged in such a way as to amplify specific wavelengths of light. The resulting hues are known as structural color.

Continued

Indian center plans exhibit on sacred feathers

MARCH 17, 2014

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An upcoming exhibit at The Mid-America All-Indian Center in Wichita will feature bird feathers and feathered objects dating from the mid-1880s to 1900s.

The exhibit called "Carry Our Prayers to Heaven" will open Saturday and remain on display through the end of the year. Saturday's opening is marked with a $1 admission for all ages from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Opening-day activities include a free presentation at 1 p.m. by Ken Lockwood from the Eagle Valley Raptor Center with live birds of prey.

Visitors will be able to see displays of bird feathers along with headdresses and fans. Museumgoers can also view microscopic images of feathers at a feather learning station. Also on display are golden eagle photographs by nature photographer Bob Gress.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Indian-center-plans-exhibit-on-sacred-feathers-5323361.php

Two charged with selling feathers of endangered birds

Federal charges have been filed against two men, one from Lawrence, in connection with unlawfully selling feathers from protected eagles and hawks.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Ruben Dean Littlehead, 38, of Lawrence and Brian K. Stoner, 32, of Ponca City, Okla., were charged in U.S. District Court at Topeka with violating the federal law that prohibits taking, killing or possessing protected migratory birds. The crimes were alleged to have occurred in Douglas County.

The indictment against the two, Grissom said, alleges that on Sept. 15, 2008, Littlehead sold a bustle made with 68 feathers from a golden eagle. It also says that on Nov. 22, 2008, Littlehead sold 11 tail feathers and a wing from a golden eagle; and that on Feb. 26, 2009, Littlehead and Stoner offered for sale parts of a bald eagle, a golden eagle, and a Crested Caracara (a Mexican eagle). They also are alleged to have sold a tail feather fan made from feathers of a bald eagle.

If convicted, the men face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count, Grissom said.

More:  http://cjonline.com/news/2013-03-06/two-charged-selling-feathers-endangered-birds

Feds tell Native Alaskan artist his art violates Migratory Bird Treaty Act

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA -- For hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, Natives of Southeast Alaska have paid artisans to create tools, clothing and ceremonial regalia adorned with feathers.

So contemporary Tlingit carver Archie Cavanaugh was startled last month when U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service personnel told him that items he had advertised for sale violated federal laws. Specifically: a carved hat featuring the wings and tail of a raven, and a headdress, or “shakee.át,” topped with the feathers of a flicker, a robin-size relative of the woodpecker.

“They told me that under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act they can charge me up to $10,000 and throw me in jail for a couple of years,” Cavanaugh said. “And they told me that under the Lacey Act they can charge me up to $100,000 and put me in jail for 10 years. It was very scary. I went into complete depression.”

In shock, he removed the ads from the Internet sites where they’d been posted and took the feathers off the items. But that only seemed to make the problem worse.

“They told me that I was tampering with evidence and that would be another charge,” he recounted. “I told them, 'I was just trying to comply with you guys’ request.’ ”

Cavanaugh hired an attorney and sought advice from Rosita Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Continued:  http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/16/3869092/feds-tell-native-alaska-artist.html