There is no reason it couldn't evolve, but what are its limitations and niche? ---------------------------------------------------- The bird would almost certainly be **flightless**. Flight is precluded because in order for the armor to be effective it has to be strong, and dense. Stronger armor means heavier scales, and heavier scales means flight will be increasingly difficult to accomodate. This is kind of a one or the other scenario. In order for the scales to effective the flight part of this animal has to be sacrificed. If we aim for a middle ground of keeping both adaptions then neither adaption (flight, or armor) will be effective. In the scenario of having both adaptions, evolutionary pressure would probably favor reverting back to flight since it is a smaller change. See [Occam's razor][1]. This bird's wings would probably be [vestigial][2] and destined to disappear. This is because the wings would serve no practical purpose anymore, except perhaps as implements with which to manipulate objects. Since this is a flightless armored bird, the most obvious niche for it to fill is that of other flightless birds like the [chicken][3], or [Cassowary][4]. However something that has evolved the necessity for armor plating must also have an overwhelming **threat** from **predators** that would make the other two types of morphology unfeasible. Otherwise the adaption would never evolve because presumably these other two morphologies are easier to reach. All these factors will shape its [niche][5]. I surmise that you will find this kind of bird somewhere isolated, where predators are highly prevalent. It will occupy a space that other birds cant because they are killed too often for a population to survive in that place. However in this niche the armored plates of our new breed of bird will protect it from these threats. In this space, the armored bird may be the only bird around, and less armored variants struggle, otherwise the evolutionary pressure will be to lose the armor. One suitable habitat is an island infested with cats and leopards, and snakes, and bird eating spiders, and so on. Heavy armor is a necessity. This species can be [endemic][6] to that island, and so be found no where else on the planet. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestigiality [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_junglefowl [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_niche [6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endemism