Somehow they have worked out that wing feathers had speckled white tips. This was to camouflage the bird from predators. The very large Haast eagle once existed that preyed on them. It is claimed that because the plumage of other flightless NZ birds is dull with speckled tips this idea is valid.
The scientists plan to get feathers from the end of the quill and further down the quill to compare coloration. It is hoped the findings will enable researchers to correctly reconstruct life-like models of extinct birds.
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