Meridians
Most people think a bird's feathers cover his whole body quite evenly, and are evenly distributed across the skin. This is actually quite wrong.
While the feathers are capable of covering the entire body, and provide an unmatchable light, weatherproof 'coat', they do not grow evenly spaced across the bird's body - rather, they grow in rows (sometimes called 'meridians') from which they will spread to cover the flesh on either side of the row as they finish growing in.
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