Nature's super feather: The tiny filoplume is a key feather for birds

Vanya, curator of birds and mammals at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, studies a turkey vulture wing at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. — Photos: BRYAN ANSELM/The New York Times

Vanya Gregor Rohwer slid open a drawer to display the rich pink spread wing of a roseate spoonbill, one of thousands of mounted wings at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates.

He pulled up a long flight feather to expose, at its base, a palm-tree shaped feather so minuscule it could easily be missed. For a long time, this tiny feature called a filoplume was indeed obscure.