Re: feather ID

[Jordan Brooks <jb323@usa.com>]

"Alex Netherton" wrote:

>I didn't realize Flickers were migratory.

I believe the Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects everything but European
Starlings, House Sparrows, Rock Doves, and certain game birds. You can find
alphabetical and taxonomical lists of birds protected under the act at:

http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/intrnltr/mbta/mbtintro.html

>Are Dove or duck hunters prohibited from keeping the
>feathers from the birds they take legally?

Different regulations apply to game birds and I know nothing about them, but
I would guess the answer to that question is
no.

>These are not nit-pick questions, but asking for information. >Also, I
would like to know the reasoning behind this law.

I believe the law was enacted to stop the wholesale slaughter
of birds for use in millinery. Hats decorated with bird feathers (and in
some cases, entire birds) were very much in vogue
around the turn of the century and hundreds of thousands, if
not millions, of birds were slaughtered to meet the demand.

It's a shame the law was enacted too late to save the Carolina Parakeet and
the Passenger Pigeon. And while I'm on the subject, please allow me to put
in a plug for _Hope is the Thing with Feathers_, by Christopher Conkinos.
Excellent book.

Alex, did you not hear about the woman who sent then First Lady Hillary
Clinton a dreamcatcher she'd made that contained bald eagle feathers? It
wasn't as "juicy" as the other Clinton pardons, but I know that NBC gave it
a bit of attention on the evening news.

-- 

Jordan
Raleigh, NC
"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature." 
 -- Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)

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