Scales of a theropod dinosaur, or 'raptors'. Possibly those all had feathers already, which would make them descended from scales on earlier dinosaurs or other reptile groups.
In dinosaurs, feathers were likely used for display and warmth, flight came later.
scales
scales
They are about 5000 feathers, approximately.
Eagle, Sparrow and Kingfisher.(all birds)
A Sparrow varies between black and an earthy brown tone.
Check a field guide for "tufted titmouse".
The male has a black 'ascot' tie beneath the chin on the upper chest .The female and male House Sparrow both have gray and brown feathers . The female has the softer pastel browns and grays . See the related link below to several pictures .
Cedar Waxwing
one of your chickens is molting or one of your pillows has a hole, or a sparrow flew in your house and lost one. there are many possiblities to have this occur in your home.
There is no one way to draw anything, but if I were to draw a sparrow, I would start of by fleshing out basic shapes such as the head and body with circles, and some irregular shapes for the beak and wings. Then, using photo references, I would work on the feathers, shading details and details in they eyes, legs and beak.
The plural possessive form of sparrows is sparrows'
a or theA sparrow landed on the roof. There was a loud noise and the sparrow flew away.The first time you talk about something ( sparrow) use a, because we don't know about the sparrow, this is any sparrow. The second time sparrow is mention use the because we now know what sparrow you are talking about - it is the sparrow on the roof.