EEB Thursday Seminar Series - Do Himalayan birds wear puffy down jackets?

To keep warm, Himalayan birds may use their plumage for insulation, fluctuate with metabolic rate to produce body heat, or escape the cold by migrating downslope. Sahas will discuss how Himalayan bird feather macro-structure is associated with the elevation across 250 species. He will then explore whether there is intra-specific variation within species across their elevational distribution and how it relates with their ecology. Finally, Sahas will delve down (pun intended) into the brightness and heat absorption capacity of feathers as a means of keeping warm.