Our Feathered Planet

The mural, titled From So Simple a Beginning, covers more than 2,700 square feet in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s visitor center.

Inspired by words from Darwin’s Origin of Species and completed in 2016 by artist Jane Kim, the mural reflects the evolutionary journey it paints—from long before dinosaurs to present-day birds.

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

– Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, 1859

The piece invites viewers to marvel at the diversity of birds and then to contemplate the evolutionary forces that brought them into being, spread them across the globe, and led to their dazzling variety of forms and colors.

Each bird family of the world is represented by one remarkable species, painted life-sized, in colorful detail within its home range.

To remind us of the deep evolutionary roots of modern-day birds, extinct species spill down the stairwell as they appear chronologically in the fossil record.

The timeline begins with ancient amphibious “fishapods,” moves through a diverse crowd of dinosaurs, and ends with a parade of progressively more bird-like creatures.

As you explore our feathered planet, you encounter a riot of different plumes.

Unique to birds and their dinosaur ancestors, feathers are extraordinary structures that have helped birds spread to every corner of the globe, master the skies, and even the seas.

Wings outspread and talons open, Jane Kim’s fierce Osprey is poised to pluck a fish from just below the ocean’s surface.

A careful look at the wing helps us understand how the feathers of modern birds support flight.

Arranged along the trailing edge of the wing are long stiff feathers whose interlocked structure create the surface area needed for liftoff. Smaller feathers on the front edge of the wing smooth airflow by covering the gaps where flight feathers attach to the bone.

Other birds astonish with their impressive breeding plumage. The artist carefully realized the beauty of the male Wood Duck using at least a dozen different paints. But how does the bird create this lively palette?

The browns and blacks come from a pigment called melanin, while the reds and yellows are the result of carotenoid pigments gathered in the bird's diet.

The artist has also captured how, when the angle of the sun is just right, the Wood Duck's head shines with hues of purple and green.

This iridescent effect is thanks to a complex feather microstructure that dramatically alters the visual effect as the bird moves. When the viewing angle is just right, the colors pop and when it isn't the colors disappear.

Moving east on the mural, we encounter the Superb Lyrebird of Australia. He's in mid display, with his long tail plumes tossed over his head and beak open to belt out a cacophony of noisy notes. This courtship dance also features fancy footwork and a slight quivering of the feathers that shade the bird's head.

Captured on the mural in South America with wings spread, the Sunbittern looks like the ultimate showoff. But unlike the lyrebird's courtship dance, this display is used to discourage intruders, not to impress mates.

Quickly fanning its wings in response to danger, the bird reveals a striking pattern of bright reds and stark blacks that some have likened to the eye spots on butterfly wings.

This attention-grabbing wing pattern is created by remarkable transitions in color along each feather. Some go from black and white at the tip, to red in the middle, to brown at the base—an extraordinary variety for a single feather.

The stately Emperor Penguin anchors the mural on its lower edge, standing over three feet tall. Though not immediately obvious, penguins are covered in feathers too. But these aren't just any feathers. They are specialized to help the birds survive some of the coldest air temperatures on earth, as well as in the frigid waters where they fish.

The artist's detailed brush strokes clue us in to the dense coat of feathers that help these penguins stay warm in their extreme environment. The outer feathers you see here are maintained through constant preening to form a waterproof coat-like barrier. Just underneath lie the down feathers that trap warm air next to the skin. A layer of blubber also helps these birds survive the cold.

The mural traces the evolutionary origins of feathers. Recent discoveries have uncovered fossil evidence of proto-feathers on a variety of dinosaurs. Small creatures like the Sinosauropteryx were covered head to toe with so called "dino fuzz."

Surprisingly, ferocious creatures like the huge Yutyrannus were also fuzzy—rather than smooth and scaly like lizards. These early feathers were simple in structure compared to the flight feathers of an Osprey, and probably helped these dinosaurs stay warm.

We also now know from detailed analysis of well-preserved fossils that some early feathers were colorful, suggesting that bird ancestors used them to show off to rivals and potential mates.

Anchiornis was a bird-like creature from the Jurassic that had black and white feathers along all four limbs and a bright red crest.