# Is collecting bird feathers a crime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421 "2009-08-31T22:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/1 "2009-08-31T22:52:25Z")
That’s what I keep hearing, but I can’t find the statute anywhere. My guess is that there is a law that’s intended to keep people from killing endangered birds for their plumage, but I can’t imagine that would apply to someone picking up a stray feather in his front yard and keeping it as a knickknack. I’ve actually seen people get quite distressed at someone - even a child - picking up a feather. It all just seems like an over-the-top interpretation of a well meaning law. Tell me I’m not a criminal for using this blue jay feather as a bookmark. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/2 "2009-08-31T22:56:28Z")
My layman understanding? Oh heck yeah its illegal. If its the “wrong” kind of feather, no matter how you got it. The reason being, how do you prove you got that eagle feather in your front yard vs the local eagle killer? American Indians get some exemptions and probably some researcher/conservationist types. If you KNOW its a random blue jay or crow feather, no sweat. Not sure ? leave that sucker alone 🙂 On review, I dont actually know what feathers are legal and what arent ! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/3 "2009-08-31T22:59:17Z")
It is technically federal violation under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. You cannot collect feathers from any endangered birds and most other birds no matter how you get them. It is an unusually severe law if followed to the letter. You can google it but here is one explanation. There are other state and federal laws on top of it. [http://www.fws.gov/pacific/migratorybirds/mbta.htm](http://www.fws.gov/pacific/migratorybirds/mbta.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/4 "2009-08-31T23:01:33Z")
I never knew that collecting bird feathers was illegal. I just figured that parents telling their kids not to were doing it because ew, who knows where it’s been. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/5 "2009-08-31T23:09:43Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > On review, I dont actually know what feathers are legal and what arent ! My link below gives an answer to that. Almost all of them are illegal with just a few exceptions but good luck identifying those feathers on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/6 "2009-08-31T23:18:09Z")
[We’ve covered this before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=494149). Even ill eagle feathers are illegal. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/7 "2009-08-31T23:22:50Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > [We’ve covered this before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=494149). Even ill eagle feathers are illegal. The other thread doesn’t say: Anyone know how thoroughly this law is enforced? Are many people who pick up feathers as a hobby (as opposed to selling them) prosecuted? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/8 "2009-08-31T23:30:37Z")
Wait a minute. So I can hunt, kill and eat a mourning dove, but I can’t keep one of its feathers? ---
**Author:** ![Bisected8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a4c791/32.png) [@Bisected8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bisected8)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/9 "2009-08-31T23:34:52Z")
> [@El\_Zagna](#): > > Wait a minute. So I can hunt, kill and eat a mourning dove, but I can’t keep one of its feathers? From what everyone has said in this thread, if you _can’t_ hunt, kill and eat it, you _can’t_ own one of it’s feathers for any reason. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/10 "2009-09-01T00:02:53Z")
I only remember hearing about one person who was convicted for that sort of thing. In 1994, a woman named Peg Bargon sent a dream catcher that included a feather from an endangered bird to Hillary Clinton. I’ve read conflicting reports of whether Clinton turned Bargon in or if wildlife officials began investigating when they read about the gift in the press. Bargon ended up pleading guilty and paying a fine of $1,200. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/11 "2009-09-01T00:17:12Z")
As an addendum: There are rules in national and some state parks that also prevent taking things like feathers. I looked into these rules on my visit to Yellowstone earlier this year, and they made it illegal to take any part of any animal, regardless of the species or the method of acquisition. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/12 "2009-09-01T00:18:12Z")
Every once in awhile you read about a seizure of a feather collection. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/13 "2009-09-01T00:41:36Z")
Well, I found a copy of the statue [here](http://www.pacificwildlife.org/info/Online%20Docs/mbta.pdf). I’ve highlighted what seems to be the relevant parts: > [@](#): > > Unless and except as permitted by regulations made as hereinafter provided in sections 703 to 711 of this title, \*\*it shall be unlawful \*\*at any time, by any means or in any manner, **to pursue, hunt, take,** capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, **any migratory bird, any part (including feathers, I presume), nest, or egg of any such bird,** or any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or part, of any such bird or any part, nest, or egg thereof, included in the terms of the conventions between the United States and Great Britain for the protection of migratory birds concluded August 16, 1916 (39 Stat. 1702), the United States and the United Mexican States for the protection of migratory birds and game mammals concluded February 7, 1936, and the United States and the Government of Japan for the protection of migratory birds and birds in danger of extinction, and their environment concluded March 4, 1972[,]and the convention between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for the conservation of migratory birds and their environments concluded November 19, 1976. The penalties are pretty severe: > [@](#): > > Except as otherwise provided in this section, **any person** , association, partnership, or corporation \*\*who shall violate any provisions of said conventions or of this subchapter, \*\*or who shall violate or fail to comply with any regulation made pursuant to this subchapter **shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $15,000 or be imprisoned not more than six months, or both.** Six months in jail for a feather?! How ridiculous! I mean, I understand that they are trying to protect these birds, but if picking up a stray feather makes you a criminal, then the law is an ass. I can’t believe that they can’t tweak the language to allow for the casual possession of a few feathers. This is the kind of law that makes the government in general and environmentalists in particular look like a bunch of morons. OK, OK, I’m well into GD territory by now, so I’ll stop. But REALLY… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/14 "2009-09-01T01:07:36Z")
The laws came about because of the wholesale slaughter of birds for ladies fashion. It seems severe now, but the feather trade was like the the current elephant tusk or tiger penis trade of today. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/15 "2009-09-01T01:23:07Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I only remember hearing about one person who was convicted for that sort of thing. In 1994, a woman named Peg Bargon sent a dream catcher that included a feather from an endangered bird to Hillary Clinton. I’ve read conflicting reports of whether Clinton turned Bargon in or if wildlife officials began investigating when they read about the gift in the press. Bargon ended up pleading guilty and paying a fine of $1,200. If Clinton accepted the gift, I wonder why _she_ wasn’t prosecuted? ---
**Author:** ![snimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@snimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snimera)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/16 "2015-09-03T02:01:42Z")
What I think they’re trying to do is protect wild birds. I don’t think anyone could care less if you pick up a feather off the ground and save it as long as you did not harm or kill a bird to get it. The only other issue might be with the spread of disease, but don’t quote me on it. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/17 "2015-09-03T02:55:46Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > My layman understanding? > > Oh heck yeah its illegal. If its the “wrong” kind of feather, no matter how you got it. > > The reason being, how do you prove you got that eagle feather in your front yard vs the local eagle killer? > > American Indians get some exemptions and probably some researcher/conservationist types. > > If you KNOW its a random blue jay or crow feather, no sweat. Not sure ? leave that sucker alone 🙂 > > On review, I dont actually know what feathers are legal and what arent ! Yeah that is what I read too , you can’t pick up an eagle feather b/c it’s illegal ,but I wonder how many people are even aware of this . I never seen any signs in parks telling you this , have you? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-collecting-bird-feathers-a-crime/508421/18 "2015-09-03T04:04:56Z")
Since we ask that old threads be bumped only to contribute new factual information, I’m going to close this one. Colibri General Questions Moderator