Editing Pin feather (section)

{{short description|Developing bird feather that has bloodflow}}
{{for|the 1933 short film|Pin Feathers}}
{{unreliable sources|date=May 2023}}
[[File:A nestling of rock dove with pin feathers.jpg|thumb|A [[rock dove]] nestling with visible pin feathers]]
[[Image:Wellensittich01.jpg|thumb|200px|A [[budgerigar|budgie]] with pinfeathers from infancy]]
A '''pin feather''' is a developing [[feather]] on a [[bird]].<ref>[http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww20e.htm Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Weather The Feathers Molting in pet parrots and exotic birds - Birds, Birds, Birds<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> This feather can grow as a new feather during the bird's infancy, or grow to replace one from [[moulting]].

The pin feather looks somewhat like a feather shaft. However, unlike a fully developed feather, the pin feather has a blood supply flowing through it; at this stage, it may also be called a '''blood feather'''. As such, if the pin feather is damaged, a bird can bleed heavily.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OiaNDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Pin+feather%22++birds&pg=PA108 Lovette, I. J., & Fitzpatrick, J. W. (Eds.). (2016). ''Handbook of bird biology.'' John Wiley & Sons]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hh11gLdZyDgC&dq=%22Pin+feather%22++birds&pg=PA360 Carnaby, T. (2008). ''Beat about the bush: birds''. Jacana Media.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=S-r6DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Pin+feather%22++%22sheath%22&pg=PA71 Jenni, L., & Winkler, R. (2020). ''The biology of moult in birds.'' Bloomsbury Publishing.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jXW6y1wSeWAC&dq=%22A+feather+at+this+stage+in+any+generation+is+often+called+a+pin+feather%2C+but+we+designate+it+as+representing+the+early+immature+stage+of+development%22&pg=PA199 Lucas, A. M. & P. R. Stettenheim (1972). ''Avian Anatomy, Integument. Part I.''  Agricultural Handbook 362. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C.]</ref>

As the pin feather grows longer, the blood supply is concentrated in only the base of the shaft, and the tip of the shaft encases the feather itself in a waxy coating. As moulting birds [[preening (bird)|preen]], they remove the waxy coating, and the feather unfurls.

When the blood has receded, the term "blood feather" is no longer synonymous with "pin feather" – it can only be referred to as a pin feather.