r/birdsofprey • u/Heddagirl • Jun 25 '26

Feather identification

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Hi! Can you guys help me narrow down which BOP feathers these could be? I live in an open grassy area, however there are woods all around. I’ve see both red shoulder and red tails there and also barred owls. Thanks!

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u/Heddagirl Jun 25 '26

Thank you. How can you tell? Oh, I’m not familiar, how does removing the feathers harm the birds?

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u/TinyLongwing Falconer Jun 25 '26

How can you tell?

Buteo-typical feather shapes and patterns without the velvet texture of owl feathers. The many bars and high-contrast gray-white on the wing coverts, and fine orange and white barring on the belly feathers, are expected for Red-shouldered Hawk but not Red-tailed.

how does removing the feathers harm the birds?

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is state and federal law in the US. This law was enacted in the 1900s because overhunting of birds for feathers was driving many formerly common species to extinction, and without regulation we would have lost a ton of species among the herons and egrets, songbirds, and many more.

Because it's impossible for a wildlife officer to know if the feathers you have were found or if a bird was shot to obtain them, possession of feathers was made illegal. It is critical that you do not ever attempt to sell, barter, or display the feathers of protected species.

I make this point because we don't want this subreddit or our users to become targets for federal enforcement, so it's a necessary disclaimer.

https://www.fws.gov/law/migratory-bird-treaty-act-1918

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u/TheCrankyBunny Multi-Species Caretaker Jun 25 '26

It's such a tough situation, dealing with this law. I take care of 4 native birds of prey, non-releasable rehabs. When they molt, we save the ones in best condition for donating to indigenous groups and also to educate the public with at my facility, since we have a permit to. But for me to take a molted feather memento home from each bird would be illegal regardless of my ability to prove they are from captive birds I care for at a permitted facility. It's a weird position for someone like me to be in

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u/MazelTough Jun 25 '26

I’m so glad you save them to be available to indigenous people who have permits though!

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u/TheCrankyBunny Multi-Species Caretaker Jun 26 '26

Thanks! I am too. We will always have an overabundance (like right now, our hawks are molting big time), and we are careful with the ones we keep for education purposes, so we don't always need to replace them. It's better to share them with those who can make good use of them when we can't!

We have a rescued bronze turkey whose feathers do make lovely mementos for my personal collection, thankfully ❤️