Re: Microraptor biplanes?

[Patrick Norton <ptnorton@suscom-maine.net>]

Frank Bliss wrote:

> I have not personally observed any birds doing such<

Me either. Whoever reported that probably misinterpreted what they saw. 
Brooding patches are well documented as resulting from temporary 
morphological and physiological changes to a patch of abdominal skin located 
within the median ventral apteria.  The changes in this area include loss of 
feathers and folding and hypervascularization of the epidermis (thus the 
bright pink appearance). If someone reported seeing what they thought was a 
bird plucking its belly feathers to facilitate incubating its eggs, my bet 
is that what they observed was a bird that was simply removing the feathers 
being shed during the development of the brooding patch.

PTN