Have you ever “zipped up” a feather? It starts out ruffled. Then, zip! It becomes smooth when you stroke the plume between your fingers.

Feathers are one of the many wonders of creation. Only a Master Designer—God—could have dreamed them up. 

Inventors and scientists get great ideas from feathers. They have for hundreds of years. Adhesives? (Think glue and tape—sticky stuff.) Robotics? Insulation? Feathers have inspired all those things. 

Feathers are beautiful. They’re intricate. And they’re functional—they work. Feathers are riddles of a sort too. They repel water . . . or absorb it. They muffle noise . . . and they make noise. 

Feathers protect birds against wind and cold. They provide camouflage. They rotate. They’re sturdy, soft, and light.

“There is no manufacturing technology that comes close to a feather,” says engineer David Lentink. He co-wrote a paper examining feathers in the journal Interface. He’s also used feathers to design a robot that flies without vertical tailfins—like a bird does.

Why? The intricate design and great usefulness of feathers show us how marvelous the mind of God is.

Recommended Reading: For more about birds, read The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White.