Down feather
Videos
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of
Down feathers lack the interlocking barbules of pennaceous feathers, making them very soft and fluffy.
Like many precocial hatchlings, domestic chickens are already covered with a coat of downy feathers when they hatch.
"Feather dust" left on a window after a birdstrike
Body down feathers, like these exposed on this adult male budgerigar's back, lie underneath the contour feathers and help to insulate birds against heat loss.
Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nes
Down feather
…down: natal down, body down and powder down. Natal down is the layer of down feathers that cover most birds at some point in their early development. Precocial nestlings are already covered with a layer of down when they hatch, while altricial nestlings develop their down layer within days or weeks of hatching…
A young chick stands up. Chickens are precocial birds and can stand shortly after hatching.
Altricial young birds
California quail chick (Callipepla californica), a precocial chick
A foal and its mother, a precocial mammal.