I conducted this project as part of Professor Pringle’s EEB321 class at Princeton University. Upon completion of the assembly of the foldscope, my lab partners and I found ourselves in between Jadwin Hall and Frick Chemistry Lab on Princeton University campus. It was about 35 ℉ and the only thing more noticeable than the harsh breeze, was the abundance of life around us. With a brief survey of the area, we stumbled across various fallen leaves, branches, acorns, grasses, sprouts, some common black ants (one of which I almost brought back with me), and a small bundle of bird feathers. Of these many observable fragments and organisms, I returned with many, but chose to examine the bundle of feathers for the purposes of this project. Each individual feather was no more than 2 cm from the quill to the very tip of the vane. Near the base of the quill the feathers were completely back, but as you ascend the shaft, the feathers shift to a brown/orange color.


Although I was not able to find nor identify the species of bird which left these feathers behind, there are any number of explanations to be inferred about the potential origins of the feathers. Of the birds found around Princeton campus, the house sparrow (a common resident bird found in most parts of the world) seems to possess feathers that most closely resemble those I found. This however is a simple comparison or a rather large assumption at best.  

Upon inspecting the feathers under the foldscope, I could just barely see individual barbs and barbules along the rachis but not in great definition. This was my first time assembling and utilizing a foldscope, so I still have much to learn in regard to operating it.