You may have heard the urban legend. One day a guy is hiking along a trail and he spots a gorgeous-looking feather on the ground. He picks it up and carries it around in his hand, looking at it with wonder and curiosity. That’s when he’s arrested and fined $100,000 for possessing a feather illegally.
Sounds preposterous right?
Wrong. While the details of the urban legend may be exaggerated, it is in fact illegal to collect certain bird feathers thanks to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
The nearly 100-year-old act was put into place to protect birds that migrated between the United States and Canada because of a decline in bird populations. Hunting was fairly rampant because the fashion during that time featured hats adorned with bird feathers.
The treaty makes it unlawful to hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell migratory birds. The statute extends to any bird part, including feathers, eggs, and nests.
It seems harmless to pick up a nest or feathers you find on the ground, but it’s against the law because it’s difficult for enforcement officers to figure out whether it was obtained through ignominious or accidental means. So they put the burden on the carrier of the feather and took away the question.
More than 800 species are currently on the list, including the Bald Eagle, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, American Crow, Canada Goose, Mourning Dove, Barn Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Barn Owl, and more. That means the feathers of all of these birds are forbidden.
An exemption to the act does exist, however. The Eagle Feather Law allows the collection of Golden Eagle and Bald Eagle feathers for religious purposes by Native Americans. In order to quality, individuals must have certifiable ancestry and be enrolled in a tribe.
Despite sounding a tad ridiculous these days, the roots of the law are sound and still serve a purpose.
You might also be asking yourself what about the bird feathers you see at stores.
Since certain species aren’t protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, picking up and possessing their feathers is perfectly legal. That means nonnative species like House Sparrows and European Starlings aren’t covered, along with nonmigratory birds like turkeys, chickens, Mute Swans, quails, and the like.
So the next time you see a bird feather on the ground, you’d better be sure it’s from an invasive species or nonmigratory bird or leave it alone.
jeff
Only in America……
Notz
… and many other countries around the world that have similar sensible legislation to protect wildlife from the gun and knife of unfettered commercialism. If America had been on the ball about this earlier, there might still be great herds of majestic by roaming the plains.
Why do Americans insist alternately that we are either the nation the most or the least free from governmental interferences? The USA is a nation very similar in most ways to the other constitutional democracies of the world.
Will Newhouse
(Response to comment by Notz…Nazi?? )Constitutional REPUBLIC. The word “democracy” appears nowhere in our constitution. The founders decided against a democracy as they always devolve into the majority abusing human rights and stealing from the minority, and historically always failed.
To fine a person for picking up a feather is insane and against the principle of presumed innocent until proven guilty.
tony d willIiams
Nice explanation of the incorrect, constitutional democracy as to the actual, constitutional republic. Those who call for the constitutional democracy seem to be those who ignore or state our constitution incorrectly, cherry picking and changing the meaning(s) of phrases and words at will and whenever it suits their current purpose.
M Deyoung
Yeah they can eat a D,,,,,,,,ick. You do realize the law is unconstitutional and the jurisdiction is not there. See we the people are governed by consent of the people. The government job and only is to protect the god given rights spelled out in the contract under oath to protect and serve the people and their rights.not restrict the people who are the true government. not elected representatives/ agents. Study law, understand your rights. and the jurisdiction of what they may govern. I’m an elected representative, I study constitutional law. And I win in federal courts because of the color of law, fake law that is out there that if you only knew was crap and fraud the elected scum, fraud you out off. Article 6 sec 2,3, binds them to the supreme law of the land. It also puts their life on the line as for if they war against the constitution they have committed treason and you know what that means. And we are a representative Republic not a democracy. Our elected government in congress and the house are the most stupid of the 335 millions of the americans in the USA. Find a feather keep it Full them. They work for you and I. We own them. We tell them what we expect of them. They don’t listen they pay dearly.
nope
For someone that studies ‘constitutional law’ you write at a grade school level and your understanding of the law is about the same.
James
Leave it to a Republican to whine about saving wildlife from extinction. Why do you call yourselves Conservatives when you never conserve anything? And why are you never screaming about your right to do the right thing?
Keep protecting Eagles from greed.
The only thing conservatives stre worried about is conserving their power, staying in the majority and riding that wave of white “power”.
I’ve never in my life heard of a Republican doing anything for a minority or an endangered species unless it benefited them. Conserving the white privilege since 1492.
Besides, anytime y’all get a chance to hunt anything you obliterate its numbers. In a matter of a year or two you’ll hear of everyone “finding” whole wings and full tail feathers of eagles.
8immituremanchild8
This has nothing to do with what you said but I can’t pick up a feather that I got in a perfectly ethical way fuck this law I’m pissed eat my dick and suck your mom
Diaval
Since you study Constitutional Law and win Curt cases, perhaps you can answer a question for me.
If this is truly unconstitutional, it should violate the wording of the United States Constitution, correct? This Act came out of a treaty. Under Article 3, section 1 of the Constitution, it is stated that the judicial power shall extend to all treaties made under their authority. Since this was a treaty made under the enumerated powers of the judicial party, the treaty and subsequent laws made under its scope apply to the power of the Judicial system. Therefore, it appears to fall under the exact wording of the Constitution. A treaty, rather than being left to state discretion, would be within Federal jurisdiction, wouldn’t it?
Diaval
I’m sorry, one more thing. You mentioned Article 6. It states that “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
If I understand English correctly, this is saying that any treaty made or shall be made under the authority of the United States, like this one here, becomes the law of the land. So, how does the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 violate Article 6?
Aniishinabekwe
You say “I am an elected representative” and then go on to say “ Our elected government in congress and the house are the most stupid of the 335 millions of the americans in the USA”
Enough said….
Hawk Bethany Lessard
I totally agree with you and feathers on the ground those are a gift from the Creator as far as I’m concerned. Even if you find a bird that has been roadkill it should not be illegal to pick those birds up and use the feathers. These people need to get a life as far as I’m concerned.
David
You mention the simple and the obvious logical truth that is beyond present-day IQs.
Sylvia M. Hertel
The reason the eagle is considered sacred has everything to do with it representing Jesus Christ ~ the Prince of Peace. You can find many references to the eagle in the Old Testament, especially in the books of the prophets, but I’ve found connections in books written more recently, too. I’ve been blown away by the large number of myths, legends, and histories ~ all that refer to, not just its connection to the USofA, but to the American Indians, as well, and to the Eurasian continent ~ primarily what we know as Russia and Ukraine today ~ throughout the Middle Ages.
ALL references are in the context of the descendants of the Israelites in Captivity.
Aniishinabekwe
Birds that are hit by cars, dead on the side of the road usually get picked up by wildlife service and sent to the bird repository where they are given out to those Native Americans who the creator left them for…..
Sarah
Thank you. I see the same kind of unfounded comments daily.
Dan Nugent
What an selfish and entitled statement to make! These animals are threatened because they are poached by people like yourself who have zero respect. Raptors help to keep rabies and other diseases to a minimum due to the fact that they are birds and cannot contract mammalian illnesses. Statements like the one you just made are not only moronic but dangerous.
Sage
I wish it was legal to find feathers on ground from shedding season.i like harm free feathers.but poachers are evil and greedy enough to abuse ways of obtaining birds😥
Adaira
Take a video of yourself picking it up off the ground.. then weather or not you harmed the animal would not be in question
Cherokee
And how are they to know you didn’t kill the bird, pluck it, and throw that feather on the ground prior to recording?
AJ
Wow! How confused people are! Look things up your self but the responses of those that degrade and use disgusting language we can ignore and override!
I think a class on our constitution is necessary since the politicians abuse and twist it!
Eric Bulbosa
Dude people for the most part arnt poaching goddamn protected species of birds in the United States, this isnt the 20s or the victorian era where ladies are walking around with half a dead pheasant on their hat. Secondly shed feathers serve no purpose to the bird and if they wanted to use them for a nest, they would do so. The real reason this law still exists as it was written back then has more to do with the US Government making physical evidence of pollution caused by certain chemical weapon stockpiles and control of Native American practices, just like the ban on peyote has to do with making everything sacred and central to Indigenous religious practices illegal or making tribes have to ask the US government for permission to take what is rightfully theirs. Think thats nonsense, then why is the Sundance and Ghostdance still listed as treasonous acts and illegal? Why are reservations registered with the federal government as prisoner of war internment camps on paper? Maybe if the USA wasnt over run with European Illegal immigrants the pressure on the land and animals wouldnt be so great. Money stolen from a bank is still legal property of the bank no matter how much time has passed, the same principle applies to the land, you wanna complain about people picking up what the Great Mystery has put down, go do it from a Europe bound airliner, we didnt invite none of you people here so your 2 cents are unwanted. Your stupid laws can protect a BIRDS feathers but not the lives of the Native Children, you can hunt down poached animals but not the thousands of missing Native women? government and This law is stupid as hell, when concerning feathers, why the hell cant people get a permit for collecting feathers from the ground? You have no right to govern our people, you have no right to occupy our lands, you have no right to ruin the land and drive the animals to extinction and then say its because our people take what Turtle Island and the Great Mystery gives us. You have no right to drive our people to near extinction through murder and theft. We have been patient with you, If we banded together with our Black and Latino brothers, we could easily drive you all out and burn washington Dc to the ground, but instead we have, tried to reason with you, we have shed our blood in Korea, on the beaches of Normandy, at Iwojima, Our sons have fallen in Vietnam, Kosovo, We have been blown apart by roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been so accommodating, we have been faithful to your flag, we haven’t sided with the enemies of the USA and you people have the balls to lecture us for picking up a feather?
John D
You are a Racist.
Henderly
You are an idiot.
Adam
Ahh, the mantra of the Fascist –“Your comments are stupid and dangerous! You are entitled, because you don’t agree with me. That makes you dangerous. Sieg Heil!”
For those that understand law, there is letter of the law, intent of the law and interpretation of the law. Let’s go off topic to illustrate the point. A municipality passes a law that says, “no motorized vehicles shall be allowed in the park.” A month after the law goes into effect, a double amputee is stopped and fined by a park official for having his motorized wheelchair in the park. Civics question: is the man in the wheelchair a criminal? By the letter of the law, yes. He is a criminal. He violated the law. What was the intent of the law, though? Was the intent to keep cars, trucks and the like out, but not motorized wheelchairs? Was the motorized wheelchair not exempted simply because of oversight, or was it just never considered that some idiot would enforce the law that way? It is then up to a judge (or the jury in a full blow trial) to interpret the law in light of its intent. Most judges and juries would throw the case out, dismiss the charges and call the park official an idiot.
Fascists don’t allow themselves the thought it would require to apply good sense to the law.
The principle is the same here. The intent of the law (treaty in this case) was to stop the wholesale killing of the birds and discourage the trade in their feathers. It was not the intent of the treaty to stop people from possessing a feather from a bird that had shed the feather as part of their natural molting or collecting a feather from a bird that had died by means other than hunting. Unfortunately, people are rarely willing to engage their thought. It is a symptom of conformist, intellectual laziness. No one want to apply good sense to the law and use good judgement. A shed feather has no owner, and morally, ethically and should be legally up for grabs. Likewise a bird that has died by means other than human hunting, does not own its feathers. There is no moral or ethical reason and no sound legal reason why those feathers could not be collected. Yet the fascists out there want blind obedience to written laws, not critical interpretation of its fitness to a given case.
D
And there we have it: reductio ad hitlerum.
Bruce
Take the law and shove it up your ass!! You are a subhuman piece of shit and so is every lawmaker, liar for hire pig lawyer and judge. You will all rot in the abyss of hell where you belong with your father satan. Karma always wins. You’ll all get what you deserve.
Hawk Lessard
Thank you Dan I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Donna
Yeah, it’s called the ‘Migratory Bird Treaty Act’ because it’s a Treaty. That means other countries have agreed to exactly the same thing. Those countries are Canada, USA, Mexico, Japan, and Russia.
So, definitely NOT ‘only in America.’
Terrie
I’m watching a show on Animal Planet called Lone Star Law. A child picked up a Hawk feather and gave it to his mother. They almost wrote her a $1000
Fine for picking it up off the ground. That a little ridiculous in my opinion.
Paul
Love lone star law
Legion
Japan isn’t good on some things, like they still hunt and kill whales. So much for caring about endangered animals.
Sabastian knight
Does that mean we should ban the Yankee Doodle song?
Anonymous
I just learned about this. I have lived and worked on this homestead as a property caretaker for over 3 years now. About 2 acres of the land here is a privately owned animal sanctuary where hunting is forbidden. I am not allowed to go on certain areas of this property. I was curious and did some counting and taking pictures of the animals that I have seen here. I could not get a good enough identification for some of the birds who live here so I contacted an orinthology department for some help. There are 2 different bird species that are endangered species and they are in mating pairs — mom and dad that have babies. There is an endangered species of snake in a mating pair with mom and dad as well as the babies. There are 15 species that are considered threatened. Birds moult and drop feathers everywhere and I was cleaning them up at different times during the summer. Now I learn that I can be fined for cleaning up the mess with various feathers around here. So, why is it that I cannot clean up the feather mess during the summer moulting season?
Birder
Actually people are still killing birds to use their feathers and even breaking in to museums to steal bird feathers from specimens. This is for various reasons but a big faction of feather fanatics are fly-fisherman that want to make the coolest looking fly fishing lures using cool bird feathers. Museums have to have extra security of bird collections because of there is an illegal market still for wild bird feathers. Others black market uses are for jewelry, art, etc. Sad but true. Also there is no need to “clean” molted bird feathers off the ground. This is not a “mess” just part of the natural world. Also other birds and mammals need those feathers which they pick up to line their nests or to line their winter roosts with. Yet another reason not to collect feathers. There are also still people in USA and around the world that will kill and eat any kind of wild bird even one that doesn’t have a season. This can be a big issue in countries such as Italy where song birds are considered a delicacy. Other ‘elitist’ groups think it is cool to eat endangered species. These laws are much more nuanced and not by any means outdated.
Blackhawk
Your a lieing sack of shit and made all of that up.
Wanda
Ok wait…. I double checked, since I’m old now. I live in Alabama. As long as you hunt in season… You can KILL mourning doves and Canada Geese. But it’s illegal to keep the feathers. Where in the world does that make sense? I don’t pretend to know the laws by heart. But I did read my fishing and hunting license.
just me
It breaks my heart that my child can’t pick up a couple dove feathers that are laying in my backyard. Someone visiting told me about this law and told her not to. I’m researching this and find that it’s really a law. It made her cry, and she can’t understand how she’s hurting any birds by picking up feathers that are just laying there and there’s not even any birds around. Now I have to explain to her that some bad people would kill birds to get their feathers so this law has to be here to protect the birds and reassure her that of course she is not a bad person for wanting to pick up a feather that’s just laying on the ground.
Victor Proulx
Any rule that makes a little girl cry has to be a bad rule. – Charles Schulz
Dan Nugent
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Tell your girl that if every other little girl on the continent gets to have feathers that there would be a no such thing as these species. Tell her being a steward of Nature isn’t about what you get to claim for yourself. Tell her about the West African Black Rhinos, Passenger Pigeon, Quagga, Sea Mink, Tasmanian Tiger, Javan Tiger, Great Auk, Barbary Lion, Dodo and Laughing Owl that she will never get to see or appreciate because of human activity. Let her know that for the first time in all of history we have the power to decide the fate of our planet and ourselves.
Sage
Guns are evil mass murder machines
Joan M
WRONG! Guns do nothing wrong. It is the person using the gun in an evil way that is a murder machine. Same as automobiles, knives, shovels, and any other inanimate object.
Ellie Ash
Exactly!
Caleb Hutchison
True story. As a gun owner I can vouch for your statement. None of my firearms have ever hurt anyone nor will they.
Herman Baddley
I’ve had a gun for over 40 years. It’s never killed anything.
Unless you’re saying it sneaks out at night while I’m sleeping to cause mass murder?
I may have to watch it closer now. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Junkbx
Please don’t breed. We don’t need your ignorance passed down.
Patrick
My gun went on a rampage just the other day, all by itself!
LT
Wow. Still?
Melissa Berentsen
So Very True !
And To make owning a Gun illegal is the most STUPIDEST THING I have ever Hurd.
They Want to take away are Right to own
A Gun , the Very thing that will Protect US from those Evil People.
So Where do they get there Logic ??
What face with a. Evil person that wants to take or Hurt us ,
What we are to say wait let me call someone that is LEGAL to have come protect me. REALLY ?
Would like to know how we are to PROTECT OUR SELVES FROM THESE EVIL PEOPLE OR A DANGEROUS ANIMAL ?
I don’t get there LOGIC AT ALL ??
AND ALL THOSE FREAKING PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO TAKE ARE LEGAL TO OWN ARMS , TRULLY ARE AND HAVE ANY OF EVER BEEN IN A POSSION THAT CALLED FOR THE NEED TO USE A GUN TO SAVE THERE LIFE.
BECAUSE I HAVE. AND THERE WAS NO TIME TO CALL ANYONE !
THESE PEOPLE ARE MORONS ! !
Caleb Hutchison
People need only look to the areas of our country with the most stringent gun laws. Chicago, California, Washington DC etc , how have these areas with the strictest gun laws curbed gun violence? They haven’t had any positive effects. In fact those areas lead the country in firearm violence. Criminals unfortunately will not follow the laws. Taking guns away from law abiding citizens only hurts the people that aren’t contributing to the problem. This country may benefit in stopping the gun show loophole, but other than that maybe focus less funds on blaming guns and use those funds for better mental healthcare or organizations that help mentor troubled youth. Just my humble opinion
A. J.
LOL .. really ? .. ever fired a Black powder rifle? one shot.. 45 seconds to reload … ten shots.. clean the rifle.. just a momentously wrong statement to make .. a bow and arrow is faster than a black powder Rifle.
Riley
So Sage, I see you blame guns for mass murder and not the person. SO now I ask you. If someone is out drunk driving and kill a family. Do you blame the alcohol or the car? It is people like you that give me my daily laugh. I just shake my head and tell my husband they walk among us. Just Saying.
tony willIiams
I walk the woods and deserts for relaxation and exercise. I pick up feathers which have been molted or are leftovers when a bird has been eaten by other animals. These are placed in my braid attached to my hat.
To use some big high sounding words to reprimand and speak evil against a child who is enjoying nature and collecting feathers which the bird has shed. That sir, is disturbing. The child is not killing animals or birds.
Mankind can try but will never be capable of deciding the fate of the planet for betterment. A bit too much evil and forcefulness against those who cannot protect themselves, (IE), a little girl.
Cherokee
Don’t get caught with those feathers, then. You go to prison, or get thousands of dollars in fines, you have only yourself to blame.
Chris Whittington
While the reason for the law is sound, the penalty is absurdly heavy-handed and is an unreasonable infringement. It seems very little thought was given to this and so many other similar laws. To accept this situation is wrong and should be opposed. I refuse to recognize this abuse of my reasonable liberty. If I get caught and go to prison, I will blame the powers that be and the apathetic masses that have accepted the abuse of their liberty.
rebecca
Gag
M Deyoung
Yeah cause keeping a feather that was found on the ground is killing eagles all around the world. You are a total libtard…… Next time just tell us where the bad girl touched you and stop sounding like a lil girl. Your feelings don’t stop anyone’s rights.
CommunismWins
For being someone in the field of “Constitutional Law”, your English is discernable. Are you sure you don’t work at a minimum wage?
I just have quite a hard time believing anyone would take you seriously, let alone, believe that you are capable of Law practice, whenever you cannot even properly speak & write our native language.
Keep spewing that illiterate shit, as it just shows everyone how dumb y’all far righters are 😀
Kevin
Wrong , if every little girl picked a feather that was shed naturally, it would not impact the species in any way what so ever. It’s the hunters that destroy populations.
Eric Bulbosa
How does picking up feathers off the ground kill birds? Banning people from picking up feathers off the ground does zero to protect bird species. Things like not allowing industrial waste to dumped in our waters, Laws ordering and enforcing the proper storage and disposal of things like chemical weapons and radioactive materials, Not allowing forever chemicals, round up, fire foams and all kinds of DNA damaging pesticides and crap on the market protect birds. This is a classic example of the stupid symbolic acts and gestures that that most American and European citizens have been taught to follow to make it seem as though the government and industry care. Under your logic, sending out junk mail to raise awareness about a near extinct animal and the mail is actually printed on the hide of that almost extinct animal that you are killing so you can make the junk mail would make total sense. This law protects real animals and birds about as much as passing a law saying you cant posses a drawing or picture of an endangered animal would. Do you even think about the things you are defending? I can get a permit and shoot as many crows as I want, but I can’t pick up or possess their feathers? I can shoot a turkey, but I cant possess its feathers? I can shoot ducks by the dozens but I cant possess their feathers? Are you starting to see how stupid and ineffectual this law is?
KatyDid
You can own Turkey feathers. Also any non migratory species.
You can have:
Feathers from most birds that are not native to North America. European Starlings, House Sparrows, Eurasian Collared Doves, and Ring-neck Pheasants are not native to North America. Also, think feathers of peacocks, many parrots, most of the 55 species of pheasants, and small songbirds like zebra finches that are kept in cages. The biggest exceptions to this are the restrictions on having feathers of most birds that live outside North America that are critically endangered.
Feathers from most wild duck and geese you can own but can’t sell, except for mallards. You can sell other kinds of duck feathers only if it is for fly tying for fishing.
Upland birds that people hunt—like turkey, grouse, and pheasant. Each state can have more restrictive laws, like in Washington State the Sharp-tailed Grouse is threatened so you can’t have those feathers unless you show it came from another state where hunting is permitted.
You can’t have:
Feathers from almost all other birds in North America —not eagles of course, unless you’re Native American and obtain a permit, but also not gull feathers, songbird feathers, or even crow feathers (unless you have a permit to kill crows, but you still can’t sell them).
Feathers from many birds from other countries that are critically endangered.
Dave
Congratulations. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve read all day.
Tom Craig
Typical hysterical liberal diversionary comment. No bird was ever harmed by a little girl picking up a feather she found on the ground. Maybe if she picked up a black rhino and dropped it on its head it would die. Totally ridiculous statement.
Brian Bowman
There is a hunting season on doves in many states… so there would not be a problem possessing dove feathers.
Matthew
The rule is not enforced At All
There are only a few birds that’s feathers would actually pose a problem such as an eagle hawk or owl other than that as long as you don’t run around screaming that you have an illegal feather nothing happens and even if something did it’s like a 10 fall or fine
Jim Johnton
Eagle Feathers Protected? You have to kidding. Eagles are garbage hounds and scavengers for the most part. Nothing much noble about them if you have ever seen them in action in the wild. We have a flock of about 40 bald eagles at our landfill – seagulls chase them off if any good eats arrive. Funny as hell to watch.
M Deyoung
Just like our representative government. They all suck. It’s time to take back our nation from these imbeciles.
Brooklyn
Dove feathers are not illegal to own. Native bird species are because of the way they were all hunted for fashion accessories during the first century of this country history. Most non native bird species have no laws around then it their feathers, but again that’s most so do your research. And yes explain to the girl the reasons for this. She might not be hurting the birds by picking up a feather but she could make other girls want feathers and eventually if the demand is high enough then bad people/poachers will start killing the birds so they can sell the feathers (legally or illegally). Explain to her that many sacred bird species to many Native American tribes are now extinct due to these reasons and that these native people are unable to use them for ceremonial reasons due to these extinctions, helping to break down and destroy cultures along with multiple species of bird. And tell her that even native people have no right to collect these feather any more than she does, they must be obtained through appropriate and legal cultural trade.
Fin
You could explain that a shed bird feather is just as important when its on a bird as other birds and wildlife might use the feather to make their nest or bedding soft and warm. Some small animals or insects might even eat feathers for their dinner. Last but not least lets people like your daughter know that a certain bird also lives in the forest, by leaving it there, she is sharing her knowledge in letting other people know this beautiful bird visited.
Brandon
Not true, a dove is not an on the migratory bird list and is not endangered. It says its legal to get bird feathers that are not from an endangered species. Your daughter can pick up as many dove feathers as she wants.
Blue jay Lover
God bless you and all of the other people doing a bunch of research for this little girl that you don’t know.
Leah
Is it illegal to have blue jay, American Robin, and mockingbird feathers? I thought that it was ok. I have been collecting feathers all the time!
Liz
I just read the list and Mourning dove is on it.
Zoan
Buy a hunting license. Shoot a dove. Pluck all the feathers and give them to your child. Wrap the bird in bacon. Place bird on grill and cook until medium rare. Eat bird. The circle of life continues.
Elizabeth
Can I pick up ibis feathers?
Cliff
I live in rural Missouri farmland. We have all sorts of raptors here including Bald Eagles. I own hundreds of acres and come across Bald Eagle feathers all the time. I do pick them up as well as whitetail deer shed antlers. They are on my property and according to the law , every rock, twig, blade of grass and scoop of dirt belongs to me. I’ve never heard of anyone calling a state agent to surrender found animal parts. It really is absurd . My property is mine. If a meteorite landed in my field, it literally becomes my meteorite, just as all rainwater that falls on my head and wets me becomes a part of me.
Kevin
Government overreach, possession of a feather is not proof of harm to the bied that shed the feather
James
Kids are so damn spoiled these days. They’ll GET OVER IT. Teach them something.
Birder
Best to just take photos of the feather and then leave it. Other animals need that feather you find on the ground. Actually people are still killing birds to use their feathers and even breaking in to museums to steal bird feathers from specimens. This is for various reasons but a big faction of feather fanatics are fly-fisherman that want to make the coolest looking fly fishing lures using cool bird feathers. Museums have to have extra security of bird collections because of there is an illegal market still for wild bird feathers. Others black market uses are for jewelry, art, etc. Sad but true. Also there is no need to “clean” molted bird feathers off the ground. This is not a “mess” just part of the natural world. Also other birds and mammals need those feathers which they pick up to line their nests or to line their winter roosts with. Yet another reason not to collect feathers. There are also still people in USA and around the world that will kill and eat any kind of wild bird even one that doesn’t have a season. This can be a big issue in countries such as Italy where song birds are considered a delicacy. Other ‘elitist’ groups think it is cool to eat endangered species. These laws are much more nuanced and not by any means outdated.
Blackhawk
Why dont you explain to her that the laws are bullshit and need to be changed!!! Try speaking the truth and reality!!!
christoper laro
I know this law. It is as f….kn absurd as the men who wrote back in the day when a woman, I discovered was arrested for making bird feather hats? Something like that back in the 20’s – who cares. Anyone who wishes to honor the death of birds with ceremony or crafting of sacred items like medicine shields and other american indian artifacts may surely do so. The treaty was to prevent sales of feathers from endangered species not to prevent the local woodsman from collecting sacred feathers for non commercial purposes. America, the stupid. Look at trump. Peace.
Else van Erp
You are so wrong. How do we know that you didn’t whack that bird out of the sky because you found it irritating to have around. People don’t always know the difference between a protected species and a common everyday starling or house sparrow. Do you know the difference between the Canada geese sub species? Probably not. You would look at them and not notice that one species is much larger then the others in the flock. Or that one is much smaller.but it looks like a Canada goose. Never called Canadian goose. There are many different races,some more rarer than the next. There is the aluetian Canada goose and the Pacific,the Richardson,cackling,dusky, the lesser and the greater. They all look like Canada geese but they are all different. Some are rarer than others. At on time the greater Canada was thought to be extinct. Hunted out. By people who didn’t know the difference. And so it goes with many species. Hope this helps in understanding the whys and wherefore.
AJ
That fact that a crime could have occurred doesn’t mean you should take the right away. With that line of thinking, everything fun would end up being illegal eventually. Deer can be poached, better outlaw deer hunting. Lots of good dark viewing spots for astronomy are on private property, better outlaw awesome telescopes. Underage person could get a hold of that beer, better make alcohol illegal. etc. etc. How is making it illegal for me to pick feather up from my yard going to help the birds?
TomK
@AJ:
The same way keeping law abiding citizens from owning guns is going to keep guns out of the hands of drug lords and Chicago gang bangers.
Brie
That has nothing to do with what he is saying. He is saying that this law is too strickt. It would make more sense if they knew how to tell if a bird feather was ripped out of the bird rather than it falling out. And i am sure theres a way to tell because you can tell if a hair is ripped out of an animal or person by the way the hair looks from close up.
Blue jay Lover
I understand where you’re coming from here, but they aren’t saying for all laws, just this one in particular.
Dan Nugent
For all I care, go drink yourself into oblivion. There’s way too many humans on this planet already. Your ‘right’ to be a moron who has zero respect does not in any way shape or form outweigh these precious species, who actually do some good for the environment, right to exist on planet Earth. Your just as bad as the poachers
Allen
And you sound a lot more dangerous than a little girl picking up pigeon feathers.
Gail L
just because we pick up a feather out of the yard doesn’t mean we poached the bird. its pretty sad that a child can’t pick a pretty feather up out of the yard without being accused of shooting it. You too have the ‘right’ to be a moron that everyone is out to get the birds. Kids see a pretty feather and can’t pick it up because it’s illegal. This law needs to be changed, if you have one feather from a wild bird, you can be charged for poaching one?????? that is ridiculous. They cant tell the difference???? give me a break!!!!!!!!
George
Fuck you, asshole!
Adam
I wonder if you can actually understand what you are writing. “There’s way too many humans on this planet already.” That is what you think? There is an old saying that is worth mentioning here.
Never offer a solution unless you are willing to be the first to implement it.
So….are you willing to lead by example and begin reducing the human population by killing yourself? I suspect not. Yet the extremity of your responses suggest a highly unbalanced personality with an inconsistent worldview. Can you not see the irony of your statements in this? You call others dangerous and privileged, yet you act elitist and expect others to bow to your opinions and take the conversation to nihilism when they will not. Who is privileged and elitist? Who is dangerous? I would suggest that you need some serious therapy. Any person that would even suggest nihilism redress the fact that others do not agree with them….wait, that sounds familiar. It sounds like 1930’s and 1940’s German rhetoric.
Kayla
It seems no one has really been charged for picking up an eagle feather, and people who were charged often had the conviction added onto other laws that were broken or were actively killing birds and/or selling their feathers.
The law exists to punish people like that, which is why you don’t see the DNR or USFWS knocking on the doors of hikers and bird-watchers asking if they have any illegal feathers.
And yeah, if you want to use the slippery slope argument that everything fun would end up being illegal eventually, sure. But we’re dealing with an animal endemic to North America, and a symbol of the United States at that, that was almost extinct because of the way humans were interacting with the environment. As far as I’m concerned, humans had the opportunity to do right by this animal and they took advantage of it. So now we have the laws to prevent people from killing the birds and selling them to people who might claim “but I found it!”
It sucks, but getting upset about it is useless because 1) It allowed the Bald Eagle to be removed from the endangered species list in 2007, and 2) unless you go around flaunting it, you’re probably not going to have someone breaking down your door if you happen to pick up a bird feather.
Sage
Bird lives matter I am glad they are protected from disappearing.poachers should be caught.people making sacred medicine pieces need to be cautious about poachers selling them feathers.upmost respect for sacred spirits.this forum is good education
Chris Whittington
Well said! I applaud your thinking through so far on this matter, which is more than I can say for the authors of this ridiculously heavy-handed law. It would appear that nearly no thinking went into it at all. This law is an abuse and infringement on our reasonable liberty.
Blackhawk
What a bunch of bullshit!!
You make me sick.
Frank
Laro, can’t you make a statement and leave politics out of it? No? Then how bout this….Take you snowflake butthurt whiney azz back to your mommy’s basement and cry for the next 7 years…maybe longer if we are lucky!
Sage
I’m sad because though my native blood is strong it’s not enough to carry sacred feathers.i have visions from my ancestors but cannot use found feathers on my dreamcatchers.i own no guns not know anybody with any still can’t have.i want to take a DNA test to prove I’m native but still won’t be enough to use found feathers in creating my heart spirit dreamcatchers.
Cherokee
First, unless you know you are Anishinaabe, you should not be appropriating culture by making dream catchers. Second, if you don’t know, you shouldn’t be trying to claim you are, just because you like our cultures.
Sage
Look the higher powers gifted me my gifts of weaving if you don’t like it talk to the greater spirit. My webs are not done like “dreamcatchers”.they are far more intricate and painful to make useing hundreds of strings stacking intricate knots on top each other,they take 40 solid hours to make one.i self taught myself from a dream I didn’t appropriate any native style.so you can fuck off with your greedy bullshit, my ideas are sacred and I earned the right to use them.my hands are now very disabled from 25 years of making them,they are nothing like a dreamcatcher.dtramcatchers are so fast and easy to make.if I did the traditional dreamcatcher pattern I probably would be able to use my hands right now .so careful what you assume is cultural appropriation especially if you never seen the work it’s ignorant and ugly.besides if the higher spirit didn’t want me doing my own technique not the native one string looping technique spirit would not have let me.dont forget we all Earth siblings
Sage
P.s in 25 years I have met nobody who had the dexterity or vision to replicate my weaving style,but plenty of people make dreamcatchers.some don’t even really have much talent
Chris Whittington
Just take the feathers! This law is absurd and should not be recognized. But be discreet and don’t call attention to yourself…
Birder
There is more to this than meets the eye. Actually people are still killing birds to use their feathers and even breaking in to museums to steal bird feathers from specimens. This is for various reasons but a big faction of feather fanatics are fly-fisherman that want to make the coolest looking fly fishing lures using cool bird feathers. Museums have to have extra security of bird collections because of there is an illegal market still for wild bird feathers. Others black market uses are for jewelry, art, etc. Sad but true. Also there is no need to “clean” molted bird feathers off the ground. This is not a “mess” just part of the natural world. Also other birds and mammals need those feathers which they pick up to line their nests or to line their winter roosts with. Yet another reason not to collect feathers. There are also still people in USA and around the world that will kill and eat any kind of wild bird even one that doesn’t have a season. This can be a big issue in countries such as Italy where song birds are considered a delicacy. Other ‘elitist’ groups think it is cool to eat endangered species. These laws are much more nuanced and not by any means outdated.
Monica
I’m gonna pick up a feather I see on the ground and I don’t give a shit if it’s illegal. If you get it home without being caught no one is gonna know.
Know your rights and don’t let the police search your house without a warrant. And if they do have a warrant I’m sure they’re after something much worse than feathers.
mary lababidi
amen darlin; good god, amen; i kill nothing now, and try like mad to help keep things alive even, like discarded older human beings and unwanted children; bless the feathers honorably picked up from the ground, discarded by their owners.
Dan Nugent
I hope they lock you up and throw away the key. Your dispecable
Mason Perkins
Why does it bother you or a bird to pick up a feather? Like seriously, how?
Gail L
for picking up a bird feather?? your despicable to think that picking up a damn bird feather is so bad. If your related to Ted, I bet he has a different view.
LT
And you can’t spell, idiot..
Pavel
I’m gonna grab a kids bike left on anyones front lawn, and I don’t give a shit if it’s illegal. My kid has a right to a bicycle.
If I get it home without being caught no one is gonna know.
Know your rights and don’t let the police search your house without a warrant. And if they do have a warrant I’m sure they’re after something much worse than taking kids bikes.
Blue jay Lover
Okaaaaaaaaay, that might be over exaggerating just a bit much, no?
Linda
All you have to do is take a picture of the feather on the ground before you pick it up.
Shannon
Right. Because no one would possibly think you killed the bird and then posed the feather on the ground for a photo. A photo of a feather on the ground doesn’t get you off the hook.
Cherokee
No, wrong. You have no proof you didn’t kill the bird and throw it on the ground, and even if you found it, it still is NOT LEGAL TO POSSESS!
Elizabeth
I record myself on walks and than boom I find the feather and there’s proof I did not just throw it on the ground and record myself “finding it”
scott
i can understand the regulations about eagle and hawks, they do need to be protected but some of these are signs of environmental lunacy and over-reach…
what about the bird that breaks it’s neck on a window or flies into a car? what about the remains found after the cat has brought in something and left it on the front porch or sofa? we have a hawk the will catch birds in mid-flight near the bird feeder in the back yard…the mid-air impact leaves a circle of feathers on the ground…so you are saying i can’t pick up a feather in my own yard?….seriously?
i have trouble accepting there’s an underground market for goose feathers…
wild turkey feathers are also very attractive, as are those of pheasants.
so we can’t have those either? …absurd.
buschman
yes you can have wild turkey and pheasant feathers and carcasses-they are both legally hunted- these comments are full of falsehoods and misperceptions and misinterpretations
Cherokee
Do you know how to read? Turkey, pheasant, are legal. SOME goose feathers are legal.
mark
Bullseye Monica find one keep it, “common sense” would know that the majority of people who would fins a feather of such didn’t get it illegally, probably th big surprise to m is Canadian Goose which has a legal hunting season so your then not allowed to keep any feathers from it???????????????????? get real
Bryce
This article is definitely wrong about Canadian Geese. Not only are they legally hunted, taxidermy mounts of them (Containing all of the feathers) are perfectly legal in both the U.S. and Canada.
SamJS
Verifying the name of the hunter who killed the goose is easily traced through records as well as whether or not that hunter possessed a Federal Waterfowl Stamp to take a goose. If it all checks out there’s no problem. The Taxidermist if selling the mount, has to keep a record of the hunter that shot the goose, to prove he had the required permits, licenses to harvest the goose. They get ya coming and going.
Personally I find it a little foolish myself, but understand the purpose behind it.
Bob Wyman
It is “Canada geese” not “Canadian geese”, just so you’ll know…
Clint
What if the Canada Goose is from Canada? Then is it a Canadian Canada Goose?
Elizabeth
What about ibis feathers? There everywhere in my neighbourhood
Sue
It seems so wasteful to hit a bird by accident and have to leave it rot, or call the police and ask for a permit for the carcas, can you even get a permit for foul that have run amuck of your front bumper, or do you have to go to jail for not having your car under control when a bird is in flight?
Mike
Generally many places have permissions for picking up roadkill (excluding a few species) as it is considered to serve the public good.
CAROL DAVENPORT
I collect feathers that are on the ground, I have no idea who they once belonged to. But the fact is if the are detached from the bird and no one killed for it, It’s like me shedding hair, Birds lose their feathers we are slightly over board don’t touch feather but kill baby bears in their dens how sick is that really.
Brie
100% correct. Completely overboard.
Sage
Unfortunately the laws are made to protect birds from being slaughtered by bird murderous assholes who greedy want to profit.birds are sacred to me.all lives matter
Clint
So it’s already illegal to kill the birds… making a harmless activity like picking up discarded feathers illegal just cause investigators can’t tell the difference sounds like a problem for the investigators and a basic violation of the spirit of freedom. There should not be laws restricting Americans from performing completely mundane and harmless activities.
Bryce
This article is wrong about Canada Geese. They are a game bird with a hunting season. If having A feather is illegal how can you keep ALL of the feathers as a taxidermy mount??? Which by the way is perfectly legal in both the U.S. and Canada.
Jhay
I’m doing it anyway, haha 🙂
Iktomi
I keep feathers I find all the time. I’m Lakota so I guess that makes me exempt from this law? But I definitely see why there is such a law place, though it does go overboard. A few months back, the feds busted a black market ring on my tribes reservation in SD because a group of guys were poaching eagles and selling their feathers to a fence in Rapid City who was then selling the feathers to other natives (who didn’t know what was going on) for various uses. Over 200 eagles were killed. It sucks that we have such laws but we still need them.
Sage
That is so fucked,natives poaching sacred birdies
Cherokee
You are still technically required to have paperwork. Few years ago, feds decided to harass Natives at a pow wow, and most did not have paperwork for their feathers. The bust you mentioned, similar happened on the Yakama rez, Native couple were poaching and taking orders for golden eagle feathers and parts.
Dora
Knew the laws, you can pick that feather up study it, take pictures of it, use it as a teaching tool, but at the end of the day you must return it, if you don’t you now possesses it which is illegal for most Americans, and if you are a native American you must be actively involved in you religious beliefs or customs, To legal possess an eagle feather.
Annabella
I can understand birds that are on the endangered species list and also in the U.S. bald eagle and golden eagle feathers are illegal under a protection law.
Give me a break though…I find blue jay feathers and many other kinds in my yard or on walks. I pick them up and feel gifted…I don’t hunt or trap animals or birds. If we find a dead bird we call it in because of the west nile virus and the city or county deals with it. I live in a town that is called The City of Trees, if I didn’t see feathers I’d be concerned. I will keep taking my gifts where I find them…Thank-you very much!
DinnyR
Agreed, Annabella. I work in our county’s courthouse building, which is the annual home of a pair of peregrine falcons. They come, they brood, they lay eggs, and at the proper time a guy from the state comes and bands the chicks, which are the size of chickens and have really healthy lungs. And during the course of all this, the parents provide food for them, so the plaza around the building is often littered with the remnants of their hunts – a whole wing, a foot, a head, and of course feathers. (I call these snackbirds.) In my cubicle I have a few feathers from the falcons and one from a yellow snackbird, all of which I found while walking around the grounds, except for a bit of fluff I picked up off the floor after a banding. Another county employee who doesn’t come up to my floor very often saw them the other day and told me I could get fined, so I came here to check. The law is ridiculous. I love birds and would never hurt them, for feathers or any other reason. I get why protections need to be in place, because people are pigs, but for a kid, or me, a pretty feather is like a gift. My little collage is staying where it is.
Cherokee
So, don’t whine when you get fined.
buschman
another misperception of the law– there are only SOME migratory and/or endangered species of birds it is illegal to own feathers or carcasses of– your common pigeon or blue jay or robin or pheasant or turkey there is absolutely no problem with finding and keeping.. The law is mainly enacted to prevent poaching of birds but yes there are game rangers that will push the letter of the law to ridiculous extremes
brdygrrl
Not true! The law applies to all migratory, native species. The exceptions are for people with permits. Period. All the birds you listed are migratory native species. Do your homework.
medicine feather
…. unless youre a member of a federally recigonized native american nation.
it’s not illegal for us
Lcar
Where are these companies getting their goose down feathers for clothing and pillows?
Wulf
Farm-raised domestic geese, which are also slaughtered for food. They just collect the feathers/down as the geese are plucked.
Mamaboo cee
I bet you didnt know that the so called legal feather trade is not so “clean”. In china, where they breed geese for down and most of the down feathers in the U.S. come from – they tie the animal’s feet together, put a foot on a delicate wing or gracefull neck and painfully pull the feathers WHILE THE BIRD IS ALIVE. They panic, cry, fight, or shutdown. There is no way for them to get away. They do this repeatedly to the goose every time the feathers grow back or until the goose is dead. They treat the animals horribly, e en the baby chicks.
The living conditions are horrendous and sad. Yes, it is illegal to pull feathers from a live animal anywhere in the world, but they do it anyway for the sake of money. It is difficult to regulate. Look it up on youtube or on google. It is sick. I will never purchase anything with down again.
Gary
I am certainly all in for whacking poachers of our birds of prey, but I think it is really nuts to find a person guilty for simply having a feather. It is stating that you are guilty of some crime, even before you have the opportunity to prove yourself innocent. In other words, every criminal is presumed innocent until proven guilty…except some folks that have an eagle feather. It really is nuts, and completely unfair.
Beth Bonifant
I live on the Potomac River in Southern Maryland where there is a large and active population of eagles. Eagles are literally perched in trees all around me and fly overhead all day while fishing and hunting. Their fallen feathers are abundant and if they weren’t removed from the lawn, our mower would be spitting them out. Should I ask the eagles not to leave their discarded feathers scattered across my property?
Urout
Noltz is an idiot. How is picking up a feather that a bird has molted going to “protect wildlife from the gun and knife of unfettered commercialism. ” What the hell does that mean? The people who should be fined and jailed are the ones who wrote and enforce such a stupid law.
Sage
In the right season in the right spot u can find a whole birds amount of feathers on the ground.hunters could say they found the feathers instead the truth they hurt the bird. whole populations of birds have almost become extinct due to hat making useing feathers.
Jeff
I don’t understand why morning doves and crows are illegal as they both have a hunting season and require you (on doves at least I don’t hunt crows )
to keep the right wing of the downed birds until you arrive at home and the game is placed into the fridge or freezer or eaten
April
Because a touch of the info here is wrong/not elaborated. If you live in a state/have your bird stamps on your hunting licence (if required/called stamps in OR) you 100% can posses them. In my state we still can’t sell them but can have them.
April
American Crow is not on the list. Ravens are. Almost all US states have a Crow hunting season. So you may absolutely posses Crow feathers (may be dependant on state) if you have a valid upland bird stamp for them on your hunting license etc. You still however can’t sell them. But can gift them.
michael brooks
that is crazy
John Repischak
This seems like over-interpretation (or over criminalization). I understand the taking of a feather from a live bird, or the shooting of a bird for the purposes of harvesting feathers. But, if a feather is already on the ground, and innocently picked up, there is no intent to harm certain pieces of birds. Period.
Kayla
Yes, for someone who just happens to find a feather on the ground it’s all very excessive. But bear in mind this law not only helped the Bald Eagle be removed from the endangered species list, it also helps make sure other birds don’t fall victim to the same potential fate that happened when humans took advantage of these animals years ago. The feather trade allowed Red-tailed Hawks to be hunted to dangerously low numbers, and nowadays we can see them almost every time we drive down the highway!
I’m willing to bet people with the authority to arrest you for picking up a feather on a hike are rolling their eyes reading about how up-in-arms you are about the law, thinking, “Dude, chill. This law just helps us prosecute people who are killing birds or trying to make a profit off their body parts; We don’t care about the songbird feather you found in your backyard.”
Bob Wyman
Copied and pasted from Washington Examiner:
Modern windmills dotting landscapes across the American West kill at least 100 of the majestic (Bald Eagles) birds every year in California alone, according to conservative estimates. In all, about 573,000 birds, including 83,000 raptors — eagles, hawks, falcons and owls — perished in wind turbines in 2013, according to a study published by Wildlife Society Bulletin.
There’s no doubt we’re under-counting them and it’s an outrage, This is the dark side of green.
buschman
and pollution from coal burning plants and power lines from ALL power generation sources kill hundreds more. This is the dark side of extraction power .. Ya just gotta look at the good and bad balance of all things. windmills kill damns ruin watersheds and rivers and coal extraction and burning sends more pollution and combined radiation into the atmosphere then nuclear . Even with the bird kills wind and solar does less harm
Stealth Ghost
One day we will be able to tell the difference between a havested feather by plucking or one that was shed. Don’t suffer a child with brutal hippy logic. Try a different approach. This website was an absolute sham I hoped google would list legal feathers for harvest. Instead of protecting species it’s used the same way gun control is. Everyone is bad therefore to make everyone good restrict everything logic. There is no love in force, something I learned from God. P.S. the worlds going to end. Focus on your soul bro. Ps.ps. the law is the law to fix it write your congressmen. We have the technology to check for forensic evidence. Perhaps we can hire a small clerks office who can tell.
Oneniáshona
Ok, so I’ve been reading all the different comments on here because I was looking for a way to help a friend understand he could get into trouble for having certain feathers. I’m one of the very few who can proudly say I am still blood Native American (Kanienkehaka, better known as “Mohawk”). I, myself have, use and wear sacred feathers such as Hawk & Owl and various others. The breath Eagle is NOT, nor was ever meant to be worn and flaunted. Being gifted an Eagle feather is a great honor. Whether you were gifted it to you by the Eagle his/herself or a tribal and/or family member. It is to be kept safe and secure at all times. On the VERY rare occasion you do pull it out, it’s a big deal. Usually for special ceremonies such as a wedding, somebody crossing over, a naming ceremony or a birth. NOT randomly waved about at public powwows and such as something to flaunt and be like “look what I got”. That’s EXTREMELY disrespectful to the Eagle and tradition. As for the legal aspect, yes, it IS enforced. I’ve seen it first hand at powwows, events and gatherings. Yes, REAL Natives are legally able to have various feather for our spiritual beliefs, ceremonies and purposes but even we still get stopped and given hell about it. I seen a person at a powwow with hawk featherS who was claiming to have been gifted the feathers get arrested because he had actually bought them illegally from an online vendor of some kind. I have seen another person who was CLAIMING to be Native get arrested and found out later she was also fined for having various feathers when not even Native. If we, as Natives find feathers on the ground, we take it as a gift and sign/message of some kind. We do a prayer and offer tobacco (or other sacred herb depending on tribe) on the spot and in some cases won’t touch the feather without and elder and/or a Medicine Persons prayer and approval. As non-Native people, I honestly have no issue with the picking up of NATURALLY fallen/shed feathers but I do strongly advise legal caution to protect yourself. The fines get VERY hefty. I do, however also suggest Native or non-Native people of all creeds to make an offer and prayer. That bird has given you a beautiful gift, a piece of itself and there’s a specific reason YOU were the one who found it. Think on that as you reach for that feather next time. Tobacco is the normal offering, as it’s a sacred herb to MOST (NOT all) Native tribes of the USA.
WolfsLady
Thank you for that advice. I would be a person who would have a hard time not picking up a feather that I came across on the ground. Like you I have always felt like they were gifts. I’ve never thought much about their possibly being laws against taking fallen feathers. But I read something recently about not being able to pick up eagle feathers. Which I would never expect to be worthy of finding. But we do have 2 red tail hawks nesting either on or near our land. After seeing one land in our hayfield and then fly up onto the power pole in the center of the field I was thinking how cool it would be to find one of their feathers one day. It made me start wondering about the laws. So I did a search and ended up here.
I decided that if I ever find one I will quietly take it and leave an offering. I was wondering if there is a special type of tobacco that I should use? I don’t smoke, but it would seem like something nicer would be in order anyway. Or if what else might be acceptable.
We try to respect the small piece of land that my husband inherited. It’s only 20 acres, but we are working on managing it for wildlife. Which will become more important soon since a large subdivision is about to be started on land that abuts it. I wish with all my heart that we had been able to purchase the rest of the 61 acres that had belonged to my husband’s daddy. Or to at least get it into the hands of someone who wouldn’t have made it part of this large subdivision. But it was all we could do to fight to hold on to the 1/3 that my husband managed to keep. We fear that once the homes go in and the property values rise that we might not be able to afford the taxes.
But for as long as we can we plan to try to be good stewards and to teach our son to respect the land and the animals that grace it. I am working on making a list of all the bird species that visit or live there. Cardinals love the trees that grow on each side of easement road that divides the property. I love seeing them flitting from tree to tree. They seem so joyous.
CKH
I understand why the law was inacted, but there needs to be an amendment to it, maybe something like possessing a certain amount or being a certain age to be able to keep them. It shouldn’t be illegal to pick up and keep a random feather you find on the ground. Most people who pick them up probably are children who are just curious or want a “treasure” from a fun time with family. The people who are going to kill the birds or steal nests and eggs are going to do it whether there is a law or not, they don’t care or they wouldn’t do it in the first place, just like anything else that is against the law…abuse to any living thing, robbery and murder. I know we have to have the laws so we can have punishments for such things, but some laws are too strict and some are not strict enough, but nothing is perfect. I’m just glad we have the freedoms and rights we do have.
Don
Picking up a feather isn’t killing anything. We give harsher sentences for animal and enviromental “abuses” than we do crimes against others talk about ass backwards. How in GOD’S name is picking up a feather bad? It’s like you’re saying every time you pick a feather up a bird just falls out the sky. You envrio people kill me with your lack of common sense.
Mondo
How can they prove you’re not a native American?
Roger
The bald eagle was kill out by DDT a poison that weaken there edge shell through there food chain . There come back was getting DDT out of the envoroment. And a company called Seagrams made a bourbon called eagle rare and use the money to place pairs of eagles 🦅 all over the US . That’s your come back.
Paula Munro
Are members of the First Nations of Canada permitted to sell a work of art: carving, drum, etc., with eagle feathers as part of the design, composition and meaning of the work?
J Cole
I was blessed last spring. Walking in woods near lake pontchartrain in sw La I happened up on at least 25 golden eagles. Wow they are huge. They were feasting on a deer. I feel so lucky though it was a little scary. So many so big. Just saw 1 today and it looks like a eagle nest in a tall tree close by. Usurally just see 1. How majestic they are.
L Graham
I pick up feathers all the time. No one with any intelligence thinks that if I pick up a cardinal feather that I killed the bird to get it.
Janice Evans
So how do you justify a shaman gifting another spiritual healer with one for spiritual ceremonies?
jlstrueblue
If the bird trespassed on my property and left a feather, it’s mine now.
joanne
the real problem is what about the feathers in your yard? what do you do with those? wait until midnight and flush them down the toilet? I get bird feathers in my yard. I did not ask the bird to leave them there. Worse yet, I have a bird feeder and that attracts a lot of birds and feathers. What do I do with those?
Nicole
So I suppose it’s just ok to mow your lawn and have a random feather chopped up versus letting your child pick up and save a feather that they think is so cool. OK🙄
Rylen
why is it so illegal to pick up bird feather’s why why whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Kathy Tobacco
Everything the eagle once stood for in America (strength, courage, freedom) is dead and gone and buried. Eagles are actually over populated and have become a public nuisance, and a horrific burden for farmers. They are flying sociopaths, killing more than they eat. It is fitting and right that the eagle now stands for the Neo America; government overreach, selective outrage, inequality under the law, presumption of guilt and the destructive rot of maudlin sentimentality that covers brutality.
Cliff
I live in rural Missouri farmland. We have all sorts of raptors here including Bald Eagles. I own hundreds of acres and come across Bald Eagle feathers all the time. I do pick them up as well as whitetail deer shed antlers. They are on my property and according to the law , every rock, twig, blade of grass and scoop of dirt belongs to me. I’ve never heard of anyone calling a state agent to surrender found animal parts. It really is absurd . My property is mine. If a meteorite landed in my field, it literally becomes my meteorite, just as all rainwater that falls on my head and wets me becomes a part of me.
Jake F.
It is a stupid law and will be ignored by this fly tier! I will pay no money for feathers brought to me by friends, nor will I ever harm any bird to get the feathers! Make the illegal harvesting consequences more severe than they are! Very simple solution! They think in this day and age there is going be some huge black market and millions made on chikadee feathers. Fucking morons!
Eric
Poaching is bad. Punishing people for picking up dropped feathers is dumb.
I assume you would need dozens of feathers for any commercial purpose. I highly doubt they’re going to find a poacher holding a single bird feather. You could just amend the law to punish having more than a few feathers of a single breed or using them for commercial purposes. That way, you could still pick up a neat one or have a small collection, but it’d prevent poachers.
Any ranger/federal agent who actually prosecutes someone for a single feather is evil by using an over general law for selfish purposes (probably too feel self important or to pad their department’s funds with fines).
Of course, changing the law will never happen because there are no incentives in slightly rolling back overly restrictive laws…
Jonathan colvin
Some wrong information here. The migratory bird convention does not include eagles and other raptors. These are the species covered:
The High Contracting Powers declare that the migratory birds included in the terms of this Convention shall be as follows: —
1 Migratory Game Birds: —
(a) Anatidae or waterfowl, including brant, wild ducks, geese, and swans;
(b) Gruidae or cranes, including little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes;
(c) Rallidae or rails, including coots, gallinules and sora and other rails;
(d) Limicolae or shorebirds, including avocets, curlew, dowitchers, godwits, knots, oyster catchers, phalaropes, plovers, sandpipers, snipe, stilts, surf birds, turnstones, willet, woodcock, and yellowlegs;
(e) Columbidae or pigeons, including doves and wild pigeons.
2 Migratory Insectivorous Birds: Bobolinks, catbirds, chickadees, cuckoos, flickers, flycatchers, grosbeaks, humming birds, kinglets, martins, meadowlarks, nighthawks or bull bats, nuthatches, orioles, robins, shrikes, swallows, swifts, tanagers, titmice, thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, whippoorwills, woodpeckers, and wrens, and all other perching birds which feed entirely or chiefly on insects.
3 Other Migratory Nongame Birds: Auks, auklets, bitterns, fulmars, gannets, grebes, guillemots, gulls, herons, jaegers, loons, murres, petrels, puffins, shearwaters, and terns.
jonathan colvin
Belay that, those are for Canada not the USA
Jon co
Belay the above, those are for Canada not the USA
Charles Charpentier
It’s too bad that a few jerks prevent families from collecting feathers for the joy of their kids and grandkids. We had a big vase full of feathers we collected on our 14 acres over the years, and, we had what we called the nature cabinet on the porch, where we’d put skulls and nests and other cool things found around. We always made sure the nests were collected well after the nesting season. I don’t feel guilty, because we love and respect wildlife.
Sally
I used to live in a place where there were many eagles flying overhead. They could easily have fallen in someone’s backyard. So, you mean the person has to leave it there to rot in place instead of picking it up? Ridiculous. Many feathers could be found on nearby trails in the parks without even trying to look for them. An eagle almost landed on my head one day when I was standing very still looking at the wind blowing through the tall grasses. No way I would shoot an eagle but if a feather just happened to be where I was walking, well, I don’t think I would just leave it there.
Lincoln Bowling
The other day a Red Tail Hawk was struck by a car in front of me downtown. The bird was daized and laying flat. I decided to put my flashers on and block traffic from running over the bird. I called authorities and 45 minutes later the hawk finally stood up but had no room in traffic to fly away. Police blocked traffic and in minutes the Hawk stood up flapping his wings and finally flew away.
The next day at work cutting grass on a golf course I came from a wooded path to a tee and standing straight up in the high grass was a perfect Red Tail Hawk feather.
I have no American Indian in me but I could feel the magic of the moment.
I kept the feather but will probably call the Park District and see if they will take it for educational purposes.
Fuck you
You don’t want me to keep the feathers I find on my property. Then keep the birds from trespassing on my land. Otherwise go fuck yourself.
Two-Dogs-Fu**ing
While I understand why the laws are in place, I think there should be something in place to protect citizens in a situation where feathers/deceased birds are found. Even if it was a simple call to animal control for them to verify that no illegal activity took place. The carcass of a large hawk has been laying on the strip of grass by the road a block from my house for 3 days now… before I ever saw the body I noticed a couple large feathers on the sidewalk that I did not touch. However after seeing the dead bird I realized what they were and after work that evening I walked back down to see if the feathers were still there. At this time I had no knowledge of the law… I didn’t see the feathers so I walked back to my house and lo and behold, the feathers had blown down the street and were in the drainage culvert in my front yard. To me that is the universe giving me a gift… I texted a friend to tell them the story, and it was them that told me it was illegal to pick them up. So in short, there are 3 beautiful hawk feathers in my yard, turning to shit, rather than being incorporated into a piece of art. There is an undamaged carcass decaying by the street rather than being used by someone who could mount the skeleton, or on the first day, perhaps have taken it to a taxidermist… perhaps it is a case of BECAUSE of those laws someone may murder a hawk in order to obtain the parts…. if there was someplace to call and report the deceased animal and have it recorded, registered or whatever, it’s remains could have served a purpose…. I’m 56 years old and that’s the first dead hawk I’ve ever seen. I’ve never wanted, needed, or thought about hawk feathers until that day. But when they are laying there on my property, even! it seems a shame not to be allowed to preserve them as a thing of beauty.
DIANA BEAM WEINBERG
What about the windmill farms that continue to kill thousands of. birds?
BarryD
Fascinating discussion! And who says politics invades everything eventually and only serves to divide us?
Fun fact: The same is true of leaves that fall from trees, but only migratory trees.
Fern
I love how you say that collecting crow feathers is illegal even tho we literally have a crow hunting season
Wakuwa Wichaka
This law violates my First Amendment right to practice my religion. This law has been challenged. There’s a material difference between the illegal act of a poacher and someone who picks up a feather in the woods, or someone who is gifted by an indigenous elder.
Anonymous
It’s ridiculous that there’s a law about picking up stray feathers but someone can shoot a pregnant wolf or their pups. Explain to me how that makes any sense, killing a beautiful animal that benefits the environment is perfectly okay but picking up a feather isn’t. The US government needs to actually read and understand the Constitution and stay out of everyone’s lives.
I don’t agree with poaching birds, don’t get me wrong but then why is it okay for the Metroparks to have a dead heron that died under their care? Or any other animals for that matter? Plus they use them for summer camp necropsies, rabbits, crows, and herons were some of what was used.
Evelyn
So if you find out that the feather you have belongs to a bird that is protected, what do you do? toss it back out?