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Post by kentyeti on Apr 6, 2016 9:19:43 GMT
I am writing the brief section in my Short-eared Owl book re regulating body heat.
It's left me struggling a bit with the sleeking of feathers used to lose heat. It seems rather close to the second stage of feather fluffing when the tips of the feathers no longer touch, allowing heat to escape.
Does anyone know if these are one and the same process, or is something else done over and above ruffling the feathers apart, to make the feathers sleeker and thus more able to allow body heat to escape?
I believe this is quite a general process adopted by birds, not just Owls.
Cheers,
Bryan |
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Post by NellyDee on Apr 6, 2016 12:10:00 GMT
Don't know if this helps copied from - Lecture Notes on: Feathers - Rubega Lab, Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Cconnecticut
"4. What are feathers used for?
A) Flight
i) Flight feathers help to produce forward thrust on the downstroke of the wingbeat.
ii) Smooth covering of the feather coat streamlines the bird’s body, producing lift and reducing turbulence.
B) Insulation
i) Feathers trap air, which helps reduce heat loss. Birds have a lot of control over the way their feathers lie. In cold weather they will fluff their feathers up to trap more air. When hot, they will sleek their feathers down to help them off-load heat.
ii) Feathers also help protect birds from solar radiation.
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 6, 2016 17:57:46 GMT
Thanks Helen. It moves me as bit closer to the answer. I think! Not something I've ever come across before.
Thanks again,
Bryan
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Post by accipiter on Apr 6, 2016 19:36:55 GMT
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 7, 2016 8:29:34 GMT
Thanks Alan, I will follow all those links up.
I have done a lot of GOOGLE searching, but the best I can get is the oft used phrase, "fluffing or sleeking".
I can't work out if that is meant to give two meanings re keeping cool, or if they are just using the two words that commonly describe the same thing.
Incidentally I am also working on a short paragraph to cover "waste disposal" 
Including a photo of a Shortie disposing of non pellet waste. I've taken two of those. One will be in the book as a fairly small photo. I thought doing it full page size would be too much. 
But don't worry, I won't be asking questions here about that process. Well, not too many! LOL!
Cheers,
Bryan |
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Post by accipiter on Apr 7, 2016 9:17:40 GMT
Bryan fluffing is used by the bird to keep warm, and sleeking is the exact opposite i.e. fluffing (technical term “ptiloerection) traps air in order to keep warm on a cold day. Although sleeking may appear to mean tightly enclosing the feathers or sleeking them back or down it does in fact mean fluffing or ruffling them out to a much higher degree. Much the same as when a bird shows alarm or excitement as when a cockatoo’s crest is raised. Taking this action will in fact cause the bird to loose heat more rapidly as the feathers are in fact not touching. PS I suppose it can be confusing in a way in answer to the point you made but hey what’s new!  Alan |
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 7, 2016 12:18:12 GMT
It can be confusing Alan. As it seems a number of commentators describe a two stage fluffing. The first where the feathers are still kept together to retain body heat. Then the next stage where the feathers are fluffed to the stage where the tops don't touch. Thus allowing heat to escape.
I think I'll re write my draft wording to use the word fluffing only re heat retention, and find a different word for the next stage!
Then it's a search of my photos to find one fluffing up to include. That's the afternoon taken care of. Only in the last 18 months or so have I extended my photo titles to make such searches easier. Thankfully out of around 60,000 Shortie photos I have taken, I have retained just 6,000. Most of those discarded being done in the field as they are out of focus or just rubbish! Although I do check them more carefully now to avoid deleting what seems a very ordinary photo, in case such a photo may, with very close examination, show the Owl doing something I need to include in the book.
Doubt I've got one using the next stage of sleeking/fluffing to let heat out. Well, all my field work has been done in Britain after all! LOL!
Incidentally, I do have a photo of an adult Shortie sleeping in the warm weather position, (as per Clark 1975). Nicely visible in the grass, albeit with lower half not on view and a bit of grass across it's face. I sat quietly in my car very close and watched it sleep and then slowly wake up. Becoming fully alert, then fly off to hunt for the wandering young it was feeding at the time. Having watched the incredible kill rate it was achieving for 5 juveniles I am not surprised it needed an afternoon doze!
Cheers,
Bryan |
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 7, 2016 12:35:02 GMT
PS. I've used fluff for heat retention, and ruffle for moving the feathers to get the tips apart enough for heat to escape! With sufficient additional words to make very clear what I mean.
Plus one on my, (many), margin notes,(in a text box, Aerial 9 pt italics and bold!) to say I need to get a better understanding of sleeking, which word is also used where I think it needs to be.
Cheers,
Bryan
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Post by jonathan on Apr 7, 2016 12:55:12 GMT
As far as I'm aware Bryan, the act of fluffing feathers is known as 'rousing'.
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 7, 2016 14:07:36 GMT
OMG Jonathan! Another word to use.
But thanks. I'll have to find time to dig into Google Scholar on fluffing, rousing etc.
Cheers,
Bryan
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Post by accipiter on Apr 7, 2016 14:42:35 GMT
As far as I'm aware Bryan, the act of fluffing feathers is known as 'rousing'. Bryan confusion seems to be a classic mistake in so many books which is one of the “many reasons” why my book is taking so long to write; one classic example is in the little book (the observer’s book of birds) when it refers to a plucking post as just that – a post. One might think there is nothing wrong here but if you are a small boy and inexperienced you might take it literally so there I was looking around the bottom of every fence post for plucked feathers! On the question of the “meaning of the word” (rouse, rowse,- 1486 rowze,- 1575 rightly or wrongly I thought this term came from falconry meaning of a hawk to raise her feathers and shake them. I suppose it depends on what context one is referring to, in falconry it means as follows……. Examples -Falconry term
To rouse in the company of man is a sign of relaxation and tameness in a hawk which is looked upon as contentment, sometimes unwilling to fly until she has roused. Adrian Walker When a hawk being at ease fluffs out her feathers and then shakes herself. Liam O Broin To raise the feathers slightly before shaking the plumage back into position. Emma Ford To raise and shake the feathers is a sign of tameness and well-being. Jack Mavrogordato So it would seem that the word rouse in this context is not the same as fluffing up in order to keep warm or lose heat (which in this case could last some time.) So when applied to falconry it means a sign of relaxation, contentment, well- being. Or then again is it quite simply a case of semantics, I leave that up to you to decide dear reader. Alan |
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 7, 2016 16:45:46 GMT
Oh well. I'll just make sure I add enough other words in that part to make it as clear as I can Alan. I am doing all I can to avoid too much confusion. I have got a good friend and neighbour who is not only a long term birder but also an avid reader. And he has already helped a great deal with going though one draft chapter for me re the wording. And that is before the book is fully drafted when I intend, (subject to my finances staying as they are now), to utilise professionals to cover all the key areas pre publication. That very much including help with my English: which at times is not far off the "the book wat I rote" standard. LOL!  In the meantime I'm still looking for a clear definition and description of what sleeking means re a bird and it's feathers . . . Cheers, Bryan |
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Post by accipiter on Apr 7, 2016 18:16:17 GMT
Oh well. I'll just make sure I add enough other words in that part to make it as clear as I can Alan. I am doing all I can to avoid too much confusion. I have got a good friend and neighbour who is not only a long term birder but also an avid reader. And he has already helped a great deal with going though one draft chapter for me re the wording. And that is before the book is fully drafted when I intend, (subject to my finances staying as they are now), to utilise professionals to cover all the key areas pre publication. That very much including help with my English: which at times is not far off the "the book wat I rote" standard. LOL! In the meantime I'm still looking for a clear definition and description of what sleeking means re a bird and it's feathers . . . Cheers, Bryan Bryan I know exactly how difficult it can be at times writing this type of book is not at all the same as writing your average novel i.e. turning two or three a year out, so many things to do and consider. But I do not know if you noticed the word ptiloerection in one of the links I posted but just in case you missed it here is again. So the technical term for fluffing up is ptiloerection and can be found here there is also something called piloerection which means involuntary raising of hairs caused by fright or cold weather which is not same of course. toughlittlebirds.com/2012/12/26/how-do-birds-keep-warm/Best regards, Alan |
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Post by kentyeti on Apr 7, 2016 18:36:19 GMT
Thanks Alan. But I doubt very much I shall use that word in my book! A new one to me though.
Then it's a search of my photos to find one fluffing up to include. That's the afternoon taken care of. Only in the last 18 months or so have I extended my photo titles to make such searches easier. Thankfully out of around 60,000 Shortie photos I have taken, I have retained just 6,000.
Would you believe it, I've found one. I have just one as far as I can see: that fits warm weather and the right behaviour by the Owl.
A warm summers evening and a Juvenile sort of "puffed up" with a number of feathers certainly looking like the tips are not touching. It's not a shake and it's not wet. So it's in the book draft already. Along with an appropriate note that it looks as though that is what the Owl is doing, rather than a firm statement leaving no room for doubt. There of course being no certainty at all times as to why creatures undertake certain physical behaviour.
An afternoon well spent!
Cheers,
Bryan
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Post by accipiter on Apr 7, 2016 18:46:44 GMT
Thanks Alan. But I doubt very much I shall use that word in my book! A new one to me though.
Then it's a search of my photos to find one fluffing up to include. That's the afternoon taken care of. Only in the last 18 months or so have I extended my photo titles to make such searches easier. Thankfully out of around 60,000 Shortie photos I have taken, I have retained just 6,000.
Would you believe it, I've found one. I have just one as far as I can see: that fits warm weather and the right behaviour by the Owl.
A warm summers evening and a Juvenile sort of "puffed up" with a number of feathers certainly looking like the tips are not touching. It's not a shake and it's not wet. So it's in the book draft already. Along with an appropriate note that it looks as though that is what the Owl is doing, rather than a firm statement leaving no room for doubt. There of course being no certainty at all times as to why creatures undertake certain physical behaviour.
An afternoon well spent!
Cheers,
Bryan
No indeed but it all sounds very lovely so do I get a mention in dispatches
Alan |
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