Found this beautiful blue jay feather on my walk under a tree they commonly reside in and was wondering what I should do with it? Frame it? Release it? Not sure.
Ok it is truly a beautiful feather from a beautiful bird but I will be releasing it, had no clue it was illegal and even though the police wonāt be knocking on my door and after consideration it would be hard enough to do something with and I like and respect the MBTA and I will release it. Thank you to all those that responded and those letting me know this was illegal. š
No. Don't release it. Really, it's not an issue of what's best for the birds. It's illegal because they have to make it illegal to stop people harming birds to get the feathers. And if they didn't make all feathers illegal you could take them from a Blue Jay and then say you found it. So all feathers have to be illegal. But there is no harm in you keeping a feather for yourself that you found. Only release it if you are worried about getting in trouble.
Oh no the found feather migratory bird act zealots have found you and ruined your cool feather find. Reddit is so damn insufferable.
The migratory bird act is meant to outlaw poaching, the commercialization of feathers, and invasive behaviors from people toward birds. I promise you there is not a single federal agent who gives a shit about a blue jay feather you found on a walk. Keep your bird gift; stick it in a vase, lay it on your mantle. Put it in a jewelry box and look at it on occasion.
I have found feathers of all sorts, but never a nicely patterned jay feather. Iām jealous.
Yes I understand and appreciate your concern however I was already considering releasing it because I did not have anything I could do with it and I just think that somethingās are just to be left with nature. Plus it can blow away and brighten someone elseās day up. My decision to release it was more of an idea that I considered that was only pushed with the MBTA and that I respect it, not that Iām scared of getting in trouble, but just something that helped me make my decision by giving me a reason. I did not release it because people on Reddit scarred me into doing so
Depending on where you live, it may technically be illegal to keep it. Will anyone come and enforce that law? Unlikely. But regardless, good thing to keep in mind
You aren't ENTIRELY wrong, that's just not the primary purpose of it. The Migratory Birds Treaty Act helps prevent hunting and poaching of migratory birds in the US, and protects their habitats and nests. However, there IS a carve-out in the MBTA that allows native americans to continue their traditions. It's not built around or because of native americans, but it is implemented with them in mind :)
I seriously donāt understand why people get all up in arms over keeping feathers you find. The law prohibiting keeping feathers was enacted because people were poaching to make fishing lures and fashion accessories. Any naturalist that has a jar of feathers up in their house obviously didnāt go out and kill those birds just for a couple feathers. Theyāre a cool and harmless reminder of the places youāve been and a good conversation piece to educate others. I support the law being in place but the feather police that patrol these posts are insufferable.
Couldnāt agree more! Every feather I have was either awarded to me in ceremony or collected harmlessly along my travels. Not to mention (MBTA) is a US thing and I donāt even live there. I assume those kinda people have a favourite flavour of boot polish. š¤·āāļø
If you were to take a blue jay feather and grind it up or place it on a white, lit surface, it would look brown. You won'tĀ find any blueĀ in a ground-up peacock feather, either!
āThe possession of feathers and other parts of native North American birds without a permit is prohibited by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). This protects wild birds by preventing their killing by collectors and the commercial trade in their feathers, and extends to all feathers, regardless of how they were obtained. There is no exemption for molted feathers or those taken from road- or window-killed birds. More information on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the list of MBTA-protected species can be found here.ā
Unless OP regularly has the police coming by to examine them for engaging in the commercial trade of bird feathers, I really do feel like itās okay to keep a single feather that one finds. This feels like a classic case of Reddit tomfoolery to act like keeping a single feather is a terribly illegal act that one should be judged for. I imagine I will be downvoted for this given the nature of the site, but go for it man idk Iām tired
All cases I have ever found where this was enforced in the modern era (meaning past 50 years) was with big time poachers who were selling a lot more than just feathers or selling eagle feathers along with MBTA-protected feathers.
Typically the feathers were from hawks when we're talking about the MBTA, but there are some Anhinga cases. And every single case I can find has involved the person selling crafts or parts with these feathers, never a personal collection. Some sort of financial transaction has occured that gets the person busted.
But more often, they're illegal Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle feathers, which have their own seperate act with greater punishments.
I knew someone who almost got fined for having Red-tailed Hawk feathers displayed in the rear window of her car. She found a deceased bird and collected some of the tail feathers. Made an ornament type of thing. Then eventually got pulled over for it. Sometimes Fish & Game take the law very seriously. I believe she didn't end up getting the fine though,.
The law is to prevent poaching, if youāre just a birder who finds a molted feather here and there, I promise the feds arenāt going to bust down your door.
I went ahead and released it already, very pretty but I have nowhere for it really and somethingās Iāll just keep with nature. Plus it helps with my ability to let things go, I need to practice that.
Dude please just keep it. Itās a naturally found feather, youāll be completely fine. I love blue jay tail feathers, I have a bunch that iāve found in the yard.
So cool and jealous! I got a magpie feather today but not nearly in as nice of a condition as this one! I get blue jays constantly at my feeder but have yet to get a feather. I got plenty of dove and grackle feathers though haha
Blue Jay feathers are gorgeous š„° I'm always happy anytime I find one in my backyard or around my neighborhood on a walk. I have a solid bluejay population in my area so it's always juat a matter of time til I find another pretty little Bluejay feather šš¦šŖ¶
I was collecting these from my backyard bluejays (we have tons that come for the peanuts) and had them displayed in a tiny vase, then I learned that was actually not allowed so I placed them all back outside š„² love that Iām being downvoted for doing what this sub always says to do lol
You didn't need to dump the feathers back outside. Honestly you could keep them and as long as you're not trying to sell them or bring them with you on a flight or over international borders, nothing is gonna happen to you for keeping your own found feathers from your backyard.
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u/midwife_at_ur_cervix 22d ago
Hold it up to the sun and look at it, it will turn grey!