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When preening, a bird (such as this red lory) draws individual feathers through its beak, realigning and re-interlocking the barbules. Preening is a maintenance behaviour found in birds that involves the use of the beak to position feathers, interlock feather barbules that have become separated, clean plumage, and keep ectoparasites in check.
Position of the uropygial gland, indicated on a budgerigar Uropygial gland of a blue jay. The uropygial gland, informally known as the preen gland or the oil gland, is a bilobed sebaceous gland possessed by the majority of birds used to distribute the gland's oil through the plumage by means of preening.
Among animals, birds spend considerable time preening their feathers. This is done to remove ectoparasites, keep the feathers in good aerodynamic condition, and waterproof them. To do that, they use the preen oil secreted by the uropygial gland, the dust of down feathers, or other means such as dust-bathing or anting.
Preening, personal grooming of a bird's feathers especially by using its beak Preen gland, also called the uropygial gland , an oil gland found in many bird species Preen oil, an oil made by the uropygial gland found in many bird species
Artificially removing the ability to preen in birds, followed by readdition of preening ability was shown to result in changes in body size in lice. Once the ability of the birds to preen was reintroduced, the lice were found to show declines in body size suggesting they may evolve in response to preening pressures from birds [ 93 ] who could ...
Birds engage in allopreening, which researchers believe builds pair bonds. [59] In 2010, researchers determined the existence of a form of social grooming as a consolation behavior within ravens via a form of bystander contact, whereby observer ravens would act to console a distressed victim via contact sitting, preening, and beak-to-beak touching.
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The large size of the toucan bill enables the bird to crack larger seeds for fuel and easily grasp fruits, vegetables, insects, eggs, and small birds. [5] The longer length of their bill allows toucans to pluck fruit from the tips of tree branches without requiring them to leave a stable position on another branch or perch. [ 9 ]