How do birds stay dry?

We started our bird unit in science this week, in preparation for the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend! I didn't get the books requested from the library, but they will be in soon, so we went ahead and started the labs, anyway. The first lab recommends going to a zoo to view and observe the different birds. Both of my kids have colds. Kutey's is nasty. The zoo was out of the question. So we moved on to lab 2: how do birds stay dry.



The lab was quite simple, but demonstrated the idea very well. Birds oil their feathers, oil and water don't mix, so the oil repels the water and the bird stays dry.



We had 2 "bird" bags--we oiled one, left the other one as is. Then we sprayed with water. I stuck my hand inside as they kids sprayed. I might have pretended the "bird" was flying. Maybe.

Not oiled:


Oiled:


It was immediately obvious what the difference was. I think the kids enjoyed using the spray bottle the most.

This is from Unit 23 in R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey-Life 1.