Facts about Pigeons (Columbiformes)

Associations

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / parasite / ectoparasite
imago of Ornithomya avicularia ectoparasitises Columbiformes

Animal / parasite / ectoparasite
imago of Pseudolynchia garzettae ectoparasitises Columbiformes
Other: major host/prey

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Source: BioImages - the Virtual Fieldguide (UK)

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Functional Adaptations

Functional adaptation

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Grooves shed water: doves

The feathers of doves and other birds shed water due to nanoscale grooves on their surfaces.

Maintain physical integrity > Protect from abiotic factors > Excess liquids

"According to Prof. Edward Bormashenko from the Department of Physics at the Ariel University Center of Samaria, the surface of a dove's wing - and that of most birds - is the perfect raincoat, keeping water and dirt from sticking to their bodies. Bormashenko's current research into non-stick materials is based on this understanding, and could lead to self-cleaning textiles, and have important implications in the shipping, recreational sports and building industries. Applying techniques from the fields of physics and nanotechnology, Bormashenko has succeeded in duplicating the material found on bird's wings. He calls it a superhydrophobic polymer. 'It's all because of the 'roughness' on the feathers of the bird,' Bormashenko tells ISRAEL21c, explaining that the surface of a bird's feathers are covered in miniscule nano-sized grooves, 100 nm to 10 microns in width. The unique grooves (at angles of 180 degrees), trap a blanket of air around the feather, and prevent liquids from attaching to the wing surface." (Kloosterman 2008)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Pogreb, R; Whyman, G; Barayev, R; Bormashenko, E; Aurbach, D. 2009. A reliable method of manufacturing metallic hierarchical superhydrophobic surfaces. Applied Physics Letters. 94(221902): 221902-1-221092-3.
Bormashenko, E; Stein, T; Whyman, G; Pogreb, R; Sutovsky, S; Danoch, Y; Shoham, Y; Bormashenko, Y; Sorokov, B; Aurbach, D. 2008. Superhydrophobic metallic surfaces and their wetting properties. Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology. 22: 379-385.
Bormashenko, E; Stein, T; Whyman, G; Pogreb, R. 2006. Wetting properties of the multiscaled nanostructured polymer and metallic superhydrophobic surfaces. Langmuir. 22: 9982-9985.
Bormashenko E; Bormashenko Y; Stein T; Whyman G; Bormashenko E. 2007. Why do pigeon feathers repel water? Hydrophobicity of pennae, Cassie-Baxter wetting hypothesis and Cassie-Wenzel capillary-induced wetting transition. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 311(1): 212-216.
Kloosterman, Karin. 2008. Waterproof dove provides inspiration for new stick-free polymer.