Stellers Jay Feathers

[palletfrog 0]

We found a stellers jay that had been hit by a car and the body had decomposed but the wing feathers as well as several tail feathers were still intact. What are some good patterns that incorporate these feathers? Thanks for the help!

[flytire 0]

You haven't read the pissing match about protected feathers in the "I found a feather" thread?

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=79171&page=4&do=findComment&comment=601088

 

Fyi: strollers Jay is protected by US laws

 

Google "migratory bird act" then decided if you want to tie with those feathers

 

If you do, be creative. Experiment!

[palletfrog 0]

You haven't read the pissing match about protected feathers in the "I found a feather" thread?

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=79171&page=4&do=findComment&comment=601088

 

Fyi: strollers Jay is protected by US laws

 

Google "migratory bird act" then decided if you want to tie with those feathers

 

If you do, be creative. Experiment!

Wow I didn't realize they were protected. They are so common in the area that I live I didn't even think they would be. I guess I'll just go put them back outside. Thanks for the heads up.

[Sheepdog8404 0]

Hypothetically, if these feathers weren't illegal to posses, how would one tie with the wing and tail feathers of the bird? I've seen many birds whose most beautiful feathers were on the wings and tails but they have the hardest and thickest stems. Just curious how you could tie with that particular feather. What part of a fly would it be good for?

[FlaFly 0]

some flies can be tied with a few barbs off a wing feather (see Teeny's Nymph) and many "winged" flies such as Royal Coachman, mayflies, etc, using about 5 or 6 barbs for each wing, but those generally need to be from a little larger wing feather than that of a jay, depending of course on how small your fly is. But if you use a found feather, don't tell us about it.

Do you know anyone who has chickens? Those aren't protected.

[mikechell 0]

Classic fly married wings are, I believe, wing feather barbs. Legs on small bugs can be convincingly made from wing feather barbs. In other words, you don't tie with a wing feather, you tie with a few or individual "strands" or barbs.

 

I am one of those who believes ... if I found it in my yard, I can use it. I do NOT shoot birds for their feathers, but I do have a dozen bird feeders in the front yard. So, on any given day, there are a few feathers lying on the ground out there.

I don't sell my flies, I don't even give them away, and I am too cheap to buy something I don't need (like an entire bird skin). So, I use what I can find.

[flytire 0]

In other words, you don't tie with a wing feather, you tie with a few or individual "strands" or barbs.

 

ummm thats not really true!

 

the flies below uses wing feathers from a eurasian jay (legal feathers) for the wing of this fly

 

 

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2012/03/08/ray-bergman-collection-178-jay-blue/

 

 

 

 

[rockworm 0]

Hypothetically, if these feathers weren't illegal to posses, how would one tie with the wing and tail feathers of the bird? I've seen many birds whose most beautiful feathers were on the wings and tails but they have the hardest and thickest stems. Just curious how you could tie with that particular feather. What part of a fly would it be good for?

Not all wing feathers have "hard, thick stems." There are many small feathers there as well (called coverts) which make excellent collars for soft-hackle flies. And even the larger feathers can be used when split and soaked a bit to increase their pliability.

[utyer 0]

The Teeny Nymphs are tied with barbs from the Pheasant tail, not the wing. Pheasant wings are good for many uses, but the barbs are not really long enough for wrapping the Teeny Nymphs. Some of the coverts could be used like the tail feathers for small nymph bodies.

 

There are other birds with much longer wing barbs that could be use to make nymph bodies. I use red turkey quill barbs for the center joint on my Royal Wullf patterns. Goose wing quills also have barbs that are long enough to wrap like herl. I use the softer fuzzy ones for gray nymphs.

[Sheepdog8404 0]

Interesting. I've seen how people will marry fibers from different feathers for classic patterns using a couple fibers from each feather. But I've tried that with a handful of different random feathers I have and couldn't get it to work at all like the pictures I've seen. Every time I tried it, the fibers seemed to get bent and wouldn't marry like I believe they should. So that's when I figured you would just use the wingtip that's intact and tie the stem in like on the picture above. In order to marry the fibers, do you need to use a specific feather from a specific type of bird? ie: waterfowl wing feathers vs groundbird feathers...

[phg 0]

Married wings are made from specific feathers. Generally, it's best not to mix species, but some of the Full Dress Salmon flies mix bustard, goose shoulder and turkey in the same wing without any real problem.

 

Duck, goose, swan and turkey all make good married wings. The feathers should be the same type, i.e. primary flight, shoulder or tail, and, for best results, should come from the same type of bird. No hard and fast rule, of course, it's just you'll get your best results if you use only Duck wing quills or only Goose shoulder, etc.

[Sheepdog8404 0]

Thanks for the explanation, PHG!

[JSzymczyk 0]

Although it has been covered ad nauseam before, my OPINION is that only a real a$$**** would give someone a problem about tying a fly with a picked up feather. Unfortunately, the world is full of them. (opinions AND a$$****s)

 

But, laws are laws. Don't violate them.

[FlaFly 0]

...also regarding married wings, from what I've read (haven't yet tried it myself) you need two feathers - one from each wing, so your two wings on the fly are right and left wings. Otherwise the wing on one side will curl the wrong direction.

[JSzymczyk 0]

FlaFly is correct- for decent results you need matched pairs. The exception I can think of is the center TAIL feathers of a turkey. There are two feathers which are almost symmetrical, a slip can be taken from either side of the "stem" and a decent pair of wings can be tied. (Muddler minnow or hopper pattern, for example)