For birds they ruffle there feathers to make them selves look big and scary to defend them selves from the pretender and try to frighten them away.
You wouldn't want to go attack something that looks big and overpowering would you?
It will not be able to fly with no feathers. Feathers keep a bird warm. If its feathers are gone it will die of cold. Most importantly feathers help a bird to escape from predators.
how the feathers protect the bird
how the feathers protect the bird
small feathers which are covered with a thin layer of light oil. When they are cold, they ruffle up these feathers and a pocket of air is formed.blubber also helps to keep the heat in and keep the cold out.
To shake or shiver as with cold; as, the hawk frills., To wrinkle; -- said of the gelatin film., To provide or decorate with a frill or frills; to turn back. in crimped plaits; as, to frill a cap., A ruffing of a bird's feathers from cold., A ruffle, consisting of a fold of membrane, of hairs, or of feathers, around the neck of an animal., A similar ruffle around the legs or other appendages of animals., A ruffled varex or fold on certain shells., A border or edging secured at one edge and left free at the other, usually fluted or crimped like a very narrow flounce.
A bird might ruffle its feathers to remove something on the feathers, to put feathers back in place where they belong after preening or after being handled, etc. Ruffling is just a way of putting feathers back where they belong.
Bird's feathers act as insulators against the cold. They often survive cold weather by finding a protected area out of the cold weather.
Most people believe that birds waterproof their feathers by the oil located on their backs but that is not how they waterproof it. The interlocking hooks and barbules on feathers is what makes a bird waterproof and not all bird are waterproof. -Kynlee Bird Expert
Feathers help to maintain body heat and scales do not~ (plato)
Ah, feathers. A beautiful thing, they are. They provide insulation by heat by trapping heat. If a bird is cold, it will generally fluff up it's feathers in order to capture heat. If it's cold, it'll slick them down to get rid of excess heat.
although birds do not have hairs but feathers to carry out this task. Also the feathers on the bird which make up a large surface area compared to the surface area on the body help to separate the warm air from the cold air, keeping the cold air away.
Bird feathers are similar in function to hair on mammals. They serve as insulation protecting them from both cold and heat. They are also important tool for communication amongst their species, both through color and movement of the feathers. They also do assist with some of the aerodynamics of flight.