Question

what is the function of plumes

Answer 1

Feathers have a number of utilitarian, cultural and religious uses.

Utilitarian functions

Feathers are both soft and excellent at trapping heat; thus, they are sometimes used in high-class bedding, especially pillows, blankets, and mattresses. They are also used as filling for winter clothing and outdoor bedding, such as quilted coats and sleeping bags. Goose and eider down have great loft, the ability to expand from a compressed, stored state to trap large amounts of compartmentalized, insulating air.

Bird feathers have long been used for fletching arrows. Colorful feathers such as those belonging to pheasants have been used to decorate fishing lures.

Feathers of large birds (most often geese) have been and are used to make quill pens. The word pen itself is derived from the Latin penna, meaning feather. The French word plume can mean either feather or pen.

Feathers are also valuable in aiding the identification of species in forensic studies, particularly in bird strikes to aircraft. The ratios of hydrogen isotopes in feathers help in determining the geographic origins of birds.Feathers may also be useful in the non-destructive sampling of pollutants.

The poultry industry produces a large amount of feathers as waste, which, like other forms of keratin, are slow to decompose. Feather waste has been used in a number of industrial applications as a medium for culturing microbes,biodegradeable polymers,and production of enzymes. Feather proteins have been tried as an adhesive for wood board.

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