# Blue Jay Feathers!



## AngryRhino

Picking my son up from daycare last night, I noticed a small pile of Blue Jay tail feathers near a light-post.

They are really striking, and I thought they would look nice on a pen!

Anyone able to cast these? I can mail them out to you. If you would be so kind as to mail me back one of the partiularly striped completed blanks, I'd sure appreciate it. You can keep the rest for your own purposes.


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## Justturnin

Dont do it.  Very protected.  Best to toss them.  If you make a pen I would not take it out of the house.


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## AngryRhino

Thanks for the heads-up, Chris.  I didn't realize it was illegal to possess feathers you found on the ground.  I've discarded them, and they are no longer in my possession.


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## roddesigner

Michael all song birds along with a number of others are protected best to leave them be


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## ashaw

Yep they are protected under a federal law.  You can not have feathers, nests or eggs.


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## seamus7227

Seriously?! if you find feathers on the ground, it is illegal to posses them? That is nuts


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## AngryRhino

I would just like to make it clear that I do not believe that any of these animals should be harmed, mistreated, or otherwise disrupted to obtain their feathers.  I do no sell, distribute or condone the harvesting of any migratory bird feathers of any kind, wild or otherwise.


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## Justturnin

AngryRhino said:


> Thanks for the heads-up, Chris.  I didn't realize it was illegal to possess feathers you found on the ground.  I've discarded them, and they are no longer in my possession.



Yea, FOG feathers are no good because I could pick one out of the tree, pluck him and say I found them on the ground.  So like was said, Song Birds and Migratory birds are out. 

Edit: Saw Penguin and realized I forgot Predatory birds as well.


I think you are limited to Pheasant and Quail and maybe a couple of others.  Maybe one or two duck species but I would just avoid those.


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## The Penguin

seamus7227 said:


> Seriously?! if you find feathers on the ground, it is illegal to posses them? That is nuts


yeah - and don't even think about using owl or hawk feathers that you may find.

big time violation if you get caught.


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## Akula

seamus7227 said:


> Seriously?! if you find feathers on the ground, it is illegal to posses them? That is nuts



Yep, the Migratory Bird Protection Act specifically states any parts and and goes on to name feathers as illegal with a fine up to 6 months in jail and $15,000.00

I like Birds.  When my Daughter was born about 6 months later a Mockingbird decided to build a nest right outside our front door.  We endured the dive bombing attacks daily.  It was serious.  Everyone would get hit in the back of your head.  No one would do anything, and all stated we could not do anything to move or bother the birds.  I was talking with a animal control officer one day about it and he said there sure seems like a lot of hungry outdoor cats.  He offered me some live traps to use to help remove them.  He said just put out some food and water every night until the problem was gone.  I tried and tried but was never able to catch any of the cats for some reason LOL  What was strange, the mockingbirds left the area.


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## JohnU

It's a sad waste of mother natures beauty but unfortunately all WILD bird feathers are illegal to use for pens, no matter what bird.  Some laws allow the use of some feathers for making fishing flies and lures but not pens.  If your going to make anything with feathers, they must be from domestic raised birds, and keep your receipts, tags, or any papers you can get to prove it. I would avoid all song birds, birds of prey, and endangered species.  You don't want to get on the wrong side of the DNR, it could get costly.


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## cwolfs69

yes i think it is wrong to harm the birds as well. notwithstanding that, what seamus7227 said is correct. if found on the ground they are illegal, that is ridiculous. the poachers will not stop just because there is a law, they will still have their trophies and the law abiding are pestered.


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## its_virgil

Seriously! I once had an eagle feather and a red tail hawk feather I found int he Wichita Mountains. They were in my truck. I was at Lake arrowhead and a game warden (and also a good friend) saw them and asked where I got them. I told him and then he told me how illegal it was to have them and instructed me to arid myself of them. He could have given me a ticket with a huge fine but ... yes, he is a good friend... 
Do a good turn daily!
Don



seamus7227 said:


> Seriously?! if you find feathers on the ground, it is illegal to posses them? That is nuts


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## roddesigner

unfortunately if there is any type of profit to be made on the feathers a lot more birds would be on the endangered species list about the only way to protect them is making it illegal to posses them so everyone suffers because of the few who would take advantage


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## Russianwolf

yep, from their point of view it is too hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. So the law is written such that it lets the officers assume everyone is a bad guy. Then the officer can decide if he really needs to write a fine or just advise.


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## Jim Smith

I'll tell you serious they are about this.  I live on a lake and the Canada geese always come up on my lawn to pick grass etc.  When they are molting, they leave their primary flight feathers all over the lawn.  Quite often 50 to 100 at a time.  I tie flies and these can be used for some patterns, but when I checked with Fish and Game, they stated that if I picked any of them up, even though they are a migratory game fowl, I would be subject to severe fines.  So now, I just run them over with the lawn mower.  What a waste. 

Jim Smith


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## sbwertz

I think you are limited to game-bird feathers.


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## joefyffe

I have a few skins of Pheasant feathers, some even dyed, that I bought from a fly tyers supply store.  Are there any issues on these?  I've slacked off on tying flies and have thought about using them to cast pens.

Yeh, We're from the Government.  We're here to help you!


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## bald9eagle

Timely thread for me.....my wife is trying to learn how to do these blanks.  I'm really looking for turkey feathers in these but never can find them.  I would buy turkey feather blanks but since I never see them we thought we would give it a try.  

So are turkey feathers (which I have plenty of) a no-no?  Do any of you guys do these in turkey?  I'm an avid turkey hunter and want some to make my buddies some gifts.  I'm also a call maker and though selling pens isn't my thing, thought I might sell/donate few to help with the call marketing end.


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## redneckmedic

I've got more chicken feathers than I can stuff pillows with... mostly Barred Rock.... and all legal!


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## SSGMEADER

seamus7227 said:


> Seriously?! if you find feathers on the ground, it is illegal to posses them? That is nuts


 
No not really these laws were put in place to protect species of birds that people were killing for plumage because some high society women liked wearing hats with feathers in them. It's why the American Passenger Pigeon was hunted to extinction.

You can however apply and get a permit for feather collecting. I believe you have to go through federal Wildlife department to do so. One of my professors was a bird communication expert and had one of these.


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## healeydays

If you were a taxidermist, you can get a permit but is still a bit restrictive.

http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-8.pdf

And if you find a dead bird on your property or any bird parts, you need another permit.

http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-10a.pdf


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## Russianwolf

wonders if the hawks in my neighborhood have a permit. They sure are good at plucking the other birds.


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## healeydays

Russianwolf said:


> wonders if the hawks in my neighborhood have a permit. They sure are good at plucking the other birds.



Oh they can get a permit sort of for that too...

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/regs08/Falconry Final Rule 8 October 2008.pdf


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## jtblckmaro

So minimum charge for those pens would be $15,000 plus materials?  lol


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## healeydays

jtblckmaro said:


> So minimum charge for those pens would be $15,000 plus materials?  lol



and you can't keep it at the end of the day...


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## jeweler53

"Unless and except as permitted by regulations, …it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means, or in any manner…to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, …possess, offer for sale, sell, …purchase, import…any migratory bird, any part, nest, or eggs of any such bird…"
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16U.S.C. 703-712)

It seems clear to me! All species except the house sparrow, feral pigeon, common starling, and non-migratory game birds like pheasants, gray partridge, and sage grouse, are protected.


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## JohnU

jeweler53 said:


> "Unless and except as permitted by regulations, …it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means, or in any manner…to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, …possess, offer for sale, sell, …purchase, import…any migratory bird, any part, nest, or eggs of any such bird…"
> Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16U.S.C. 703-712)
> 
> It seems clear to me! All species except the house sparrow, feral pigeon, common starling, and non-migratory game birds like pheasants, gray partridge, and sage grouse, are protected.



Bottom line is, wild birds are out.  Use domestic raised birds so you have permits, tags or receipts. Then there's no question.


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## Doc who turns

Hello,

This is my first post on IPA.  I did some extensive research regarding using migratory bird feathers in pens.  After discussing the issue with a federal wildlife officer he told me this.  I you legally harvest a migratory bird (i.e. Mallard) you have the legal right to harvest the meat and feathers.  They may be used in pens and given as gifts only.  They can never ever be sold.  The US wildlife department recommends attaching a letter with the pen stating that the bird was legally harvested and the pen is under no circumstance to be sold.

I agree with the other posts regarding using feathers from other migratory birds.  Do not possess them or use them.   If you can legally hunt it then you can make pens with them.

Just don't sell them.


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