Prum showed me one of his favorite examples: the opal-crowned manakin from Ecuador. The tiny bird amply earns its name. Its head glitters as if its feathers were cut from stone.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Every hand-carved wood feather in the Fallen Feathers Memorial tells a story of sadness and pride, in 281 variations. Each feather represents an Ohioan lost in the war in Iraq ...

The feathers take anywhere from 80 to 150 hours of carving for the final product. Webb carves individual feathers for every fallen soldier from Ohio. "It needs to be done.

A single crown feather from a golden-crowned manakin, which U of T researchers discovered to be a rare hybrid species (photo by Don Campbell) “Most Amazon bird species diverged from their most recent ...