Question

Why do birds puff their feathers in winter?

Answer 1

Feathers are a good insulating material. By fluffing its feathers, a bird traps many tiny pockets of air to hold in body heat and keep out the cold....When the weather is hot, the bird presses its feathers close to its body to eliminate the insulating air pockets so that body heat is allowed to escape...The insulating quality of feathers is a drawback when the bird is trying to incubate its eggs. The feathers keep some of the body heat from reaching the eggs. To overcome this problem, the bird either sheds some of its breast feathers naturally or pulls them out to expose the bare skin. This bare area is called the brood patch, and egg temperatures next to it may be as much as six degrees higher than those next to the feathers. 

Answer 2

Hi riti !...well in winters everyone needs to stay warm ..isn't it?...so birds have also found a way to stay warm...they puff up their feathers...this creates a room between their skin and feathers..air is trapped inside this room and air being a bad conductor of heat does not allow heat to escape from their bodies to the surroundings ..and thus they lose heat slowly..keeping themselves warm....same is done by humans when they use quilts("razai "in Hindi) ...air is trapped inside the quilts that does not allow heat to escape the quilts and thus quilts stay warm..keeping us warm as well!!!rate my answer please