Spread your wings and fly! Or just stand still, no worries either.

Almost didn't make it this time! Is it just me, or more and more it feels the days should have more hours? 😁 Should probably try harder to improve my time management skills, but still... here's the #featheredfriends post! This week's challenge: wings!

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On to some geekiness first: wings have a lot of different feathers, with different functions. The flight feathers, the bigger ones the form all the wing contour, are called remiges. The ones from the tip of the wing are the primary feathers, and are normally used for "fine tuning"; after the primaries (they are normally 10 to 12), we have the secondary feathers, that aid more in the gliding part of the flight.

The shape of the wings has also a few variations, as different species have different requirements: some birds need longer, sustainable flight; some need speed. And some even need to swim!

Bored yet? Off to the photos!

^{Changeable hawk-eagle - Nisaetus cirrhatus}

This is by far one of my luckiest photos: not only because it's not that common to be able to get so close to a bird of prey, let alone seeing her spread it's wings while perching.

My friends were already thinking about killing me and hide the body, after the amount of time I spent taking photos to this beauty; totally worth it!!

I was lucky with another big bird spreading its wings for me, in a different continent; Costa Rica vultures are cool!

^{Black headed vulture - Coragyps atratus}

His flight and tail feathers weren't exactly in its best shape, especially the outer primaries. Maybe some damage during the carcass feeding frenzy!

If for some species catching a glimpse of spreaded wings while perching is hard, seeing spreaded wings on this next species is probably one of the most common way to see them.

^{Little cormorant - Microcarbo niger}

Cormorants have to dive to eat, and in order to facilitate in the process, their wings are not that waterproofed: in this positions, they are able to dry their feathers faster; so this is a common position for all cormorant species out there. Notice the difference in wing shape versus the vulture!

Two more birds of prey, since seeing them in flight is always a delightful show for me. One of them, I have no idea which species it is; I saw it fly by in Sri Lanka, and couldn't even get a decent photo.

The other one, is one of the birds of prey I see more often here in Portugal:

^{Common kestrel - Falco tinnunculus, female}

There is a couple that usually perches in the street lamps, just 100 meters from where I live, but I'm yet to catch them on photo! And I do feel the need of adding more bird photos to my portfolio!

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Have a great weekend!

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