Birds
Birds cower close to the ground while taking a dust bath and vigorously wriggling their bodies and flapping their wings. This disperses loose substrate into the air. The birds spread one or both wings which allows the falling substrate to fall between the feathers and reach the skin. The dust bath is often followed by thorough shaking to further ruffle the feathers which may be accompanied with preening using the bill.
The California Quail is a highly sociable bird; one of their daily communal activities is a dust bath. A group of quail will select an area where the ground has been freshly turned or is soft. Using their underbellies, they burrow downward into the soil about 2 to 5 cm. They then wriggle about in the indentations, flapping their wings and ruffling their feathers, causing dust to rise in the air. They seem to prefer sunny places in which to create these dust baths. An ornithologist is able to detect the presence of quail in an area by spotting the circular indentations left behind in the soft dirt, some 7–15 cm (3-6 inches) in diameter.
Birds without a uropygial gland (e.g., the emu, kiwi, ostrich and bustard) rely on dust bathing to keep their feathers clean and dry.
Read more about this topic: Dust Bath
Famous quotes containing the word birds:
“We can never see Christianity from the catechism:Mfrom the pastures, from a boat in the pond, from amidst the songs of wood- birds we possibly may.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We cannot do without it, and yet we disgrace and vilify the same. It may be compared to a cage, the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair to get out.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior—bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper—it’s possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother’s impending visit.”
—Mary Arrigo (20th century)