Bird Preening a Matter of Survival.

     It's always amazing to notice that birds seem to spent a lot of time preening themselves. They spend hours everyday doing this same act of ruffling up their feathers, be it parrots, pelicans, sparrows, flamingos and all other ones that fall in this class go through this ritual. One may think they do this ritual merely to look neat and or in their best. But the reason is not far fetched and is more substantial than in the ordinary look.

     Birds need these preening sessions just as much as aircraft need an overhaul. In fact maintaining plumage in trim is a matter of life and death to birds. Their feathers suffers a lot of wear and tear just like any other thing in life and preening not only keep them clean and free of parasites but also maintain their aerodynamic functions.


     The daily grooming routine involve "zipping up" any barbs of a birds feathers that may have come apart. When the barbs are properly hooked together the feathers are more efficient in giving the bird lift specially assign for. Two group of feathers need special attention viz-a-viz the flight feathers of the wings and the steering feathers of the tail.
     The issue of parasites has been a major impediment to birds, which tells why they have a constant battle to keep them at bay. Parasites, as we know, poses a threat to and is also a health hazards to birds. Some tiny parasites if not checked will have a free day of duty eating the feathers of birds. It has been observed by naturalist that birds with damage bills can not preen themselves properly and as such harbor many more parasites than do normal birds.

     To facilitate the removal of parasites,some birds species even cover themselves with ants, whose formic acid apparently act as an effective insecticides. In a nutshell, birds feathers passes through lubrication everyday, this means that their feathers need to be oiled. For aquatic birds the oil on the feathers provides a waterproof coating and all birds get better protection from well oiled feathers.

     Nature have made it that this oil is generated from the bird's body, a special gland known as the "preen gland" located at the upper part of the tail secretes oil and waxes which the birds patiently transfers to it feathers and at this point the feathers responsible for flight will attract special attention in the process. So we need not assume that a bird is idling away its time when preening its feathers as it is a process that help the birds keep up appearances and also keeps it healthy in the world since preening is a matter of survival.