On the open savannas of East Africa, a flock of vulturine guinea fowl looks almost unreal. Bodies are patterned with crisp ...

This book, about the natural history of feathers, begins with Archaeopteryx. This late-Jurassic (about 150-million-year-old) fossil, something between a reptile and bird, confounded and delighted ...

If you took a careful look at the feathers on a chicken, you'd find many different forms within the same bird--even within a single feather. The diversity of feather shapes and functions expands ...