This generated many guesses re: what those white things were. Thank you for all for your guesses--makes it WAY more fun for me. =) Cindy's was the closest guess--pretty much spot on.
Happily, the answer is something that is NOT an affliction
A little lesson on feathers, from peteducation.com:
"A blood feather starts out with a waxy keratin sheath that protects it while it grows. When the feather is mature, the blood supply will recede and the waxy sheath will be removed by the bird."
This is the sound of biobabbler learning.
So, apparently they are simply waxy keratin sheaths.
They are NOT quills (or calamus, apparently, same thing as quill), as I'd been calling them--the quill is the smooth, unpigmented part of the feather that attaches the feather to the feather follicle, NOT the part that is shed once the feather has emerged.
So, now we know. =)
Doncha feel extra smart, now?
xoxo
biobabbler
I was calling them quills too. thanks for the info. And yes, I do feel clever right now. :-)
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