Earlier this week, I came across a very interesting Blue Jay specimen while doing a presentation at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. These presentations usually entail me choosing several of the awesome specimens in the education collection (i.e. toucan bills, pheasant tails, and owl wings) and then pointing out their unique traits and adaptations. This Blue Jay study skin is just one of many in the collection.

Like several other specimens in the museum’s education collection, this Blue Jay was missing its tag, so no more information about it was available than what could be gleaned from its physical appearance–no finding location, date, or age, for example.

Anyways, the first thing I noticed about this jay was the white rump. I couldn’t remember having ever seen that coloration on a Blue Jay, so I figured that this individual had leucism (partial albinism) at that spot and left it at…

If you’ve ever made a seasonal kid’s craft, greeted garishly outfitted trick-or-treaters, or worn a feather boa, chances are that you’ve encountered craft feathers. You know, the ones that come in an array of fanciful, themed colors and, to be honest, look pretty cheap. Love ’em or hate ’em, there are an unfortunate number of misconceptions about what they really are.

Feathers Are Almost Always Real.

First off, they’re real. 100% of the time, unless they’re clearly made out of something like wood or paper, craft feathers are real. While there are a few decent replicas out there, there is no way to cheaply produce even vaguely convincing feathers on a large scale. Feathers have such a complex and microscopic level of detail that there’s no way humans could even begin to approach the level of detail found in the simplest of feathers. If it looks, feels, and moves…