Which outcome occurs when a migratory bird's flight feathers degrade, diminishing surface cohesion during flight?

💡 Explanation

When feather cohesion degrades, the disrupted airflow over the wing due to the separation of barbules decreases lift, because it increases turbulence and reduces the wing's effective surface area. Therefore reduced lift results, rather than temperature increase, enhanced maneuverability, or parasite resistance which require different biomechanical factors.

• Which outcome occurs when soaring bird surface contour feathers become contaminated with oil?
• Which outcome follows when water availability sharply drops within a CAM photosynthetic pathway?
• Which outcome occurs when ecdysone production prematurely triggers imaginal disc development in holometabolous larvae?
• Which mechanism causes leaf temperature increase when submerged aquatic plant stomata close during an algal bloom?
• Which mechanism assists soaring birds in compensating against increased wing loading induced by added mass, for instance rainwater accumulating in plumage?
• Which functional impact results when birds' flight feathers encounter fungal keratin degradation disrupting barb interlocking?