I started writing a fic re: Hawks and was led to your blog for really cool avian trait headcanons that I've been enjoying reading a lot, so I was wondering your thoughts on Hawks and preening, esp re: preen oil & the uropygial gland, which I recently learned was a thing!
Ooo! Okay, so time for more birb talk!
So interestingly enough, I actually don’t think Hawks would have a uropygial gland. The purpose of the gland is to secrete preening oil, the important of which varies between bird species. For some species it’s vital because it provides waterproofing and helps with maintaining the feathers in good condition long term. For others it’s not as important and they may not have a uropygial gland at all because they use powder down instead and/or feather care just isn’t that important to the species.
In Hawks’ case, given that he destroys and regrows his feathers so quickly and regularly, not to mention his feathers have the ability to harden somehow such that they can be used as swords, I think he actually wouldn’t have any natural preening oil. Instead, he has powder down feathers that grow constantly and leave a layer of dust which he can use for preening!
The trade off to this, is that Hawks wings are not waterproof unless he gets a specialized oil and preens it into his feathers himself. So, if he knows for a fact it’s going to rain or be wet on a mission, he can prepare for that ahead of time and he’ll be fine (although it takes quite awhile to preen all his feathers properly, so he might need a hand or two), but!!! If he’s caught off guard by sudden rain/water, then oops, you’ve got a soaking wet birb that can’t fly because his feathers are all waterlogged. Poor baby. Maybe Dabi can help him dry off a bit faster.
