Desert-dwelling sandgrouse resemble pigeons or doves, but they have a very different superpower: males can soak in and hold 25 milliliters of water in their feathers, which they carry tens of kilometers back to their chicks. The key to this ability is the microstructure of the bird’s breast feathers. Unlike other species, where feathers have hooks and grooves that “zip” them together, the sandgrouse’s specialized feathers have tiny barbules with varying bending stresses. When dipped in water, their curled shape unwinds, allowing water to soak in through capillary action. Barbules at the tips curl inward, holding the water in place so that the sandgrouse can fly home with it.
Studying nature’s solutions for water-carrying will help engineers design better materials for human use, whether that’s a water bottle that avoids sloshing or a medical swab that’s better at absorbing and releasing fluids. (Image and video credit: Johns Hopkins; research credit: J. Mueller and L. Gibson; via Forbes; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)
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