How Many Feathers in a Pigeon Wing?

Thanks for that, it's an interesting article.

If there's a prize, my wild guess is 80,000 before reading the article. Then I will say how far off I am.

[added] I was way off, but I can't tell how far. The article mentions how many feathers in the artificial wing, but I didn't see anything about a real wing. The thread title is no fair.

I was thinking the same thing @604

How many feathers in a pigeon wing?

Pigeons have an average of 10000 feathers, so the answer is less than 5000.

http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/pigeon_facts/589/

Here is an interesting video on how birds' wings work...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jKokxPRtck

Good Link! Thanks!

Fascinating - thanks for the link.

Nature's aerodynamics: ~ Job 12:7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you.”

/Lonewolf

So, a bird needs a min of 40 feathers to fly, the rest might be like a safety thing protecting the essential 40

Every feather has a purpose,but we may not understand all of it at present,and may never understand all of the intricacies of nature.

However,there seems to be a constant:Nature is not wasteful.

A feather is not made without a purpose.

Neither is a hair or a cell for that matter.

Perhaps the feathers on the bottom smooth the airflow to a fine degree to maximize efficiency.

Maybe the trailing feathers on top create micro-vortexes to aid lift.

We have much to learn.