# What birds are these feathers from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990 "2005-11-01T22:55:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/1 "2005-11-01T22:55:22Z")
I was recently gifted with an assortment of feathers from a friend. She knew what most of them were from but there were a couple she had gotten from someone else and didn’t know. I’ve scoured Google but can’t find photos of feathers that look like mine. Maybe someone here might know what birds these are from? [Here’s](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/MachTurtle/Feathers.jpg) a scan of them. The big brown one is approx. 12 inches long from tip of feather to end of quill, and about 2 inches wide at its widest point. The black and white one is approx. 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/2 "2005-11-01T23:11:32Z")
Left one is Blue Jay. The rignt one could be a wing feather from a turkey. I wouldn’t rule out some type of bird of prey. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/3 "2005-11-02T02:18:30Z")
The left one is definitely not a Blue Jay. They don’t have any feathers with multiple bands of white like that, and in any case the feather should show some blue. My first guess is that is may be a secondary flight feather from a woodpecker, but I am not certain. My first guess on the other one is that it is from a some kind of pheasant. Since we don’t know the geographic origin of the feathers, it may be tough to come up with a definitive answer. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/4 "2005-11-02T02:21:10Z")
Thanks for the blue jay ID! Yeah, the brown one doesn’t look turkey to me, unless it’s a variety I’ve never seen. I’ve worked with turkey wing and tail feathers before so I’m familiar with a lot of patterns; mottled, barred, etc. This feather I’ve got seems to have a thicker, harder quill, and the tip tapers to a swordlike shape rather than a rounded shape like turkey feathers. Any other ideas on this one? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/5 "2005-11-02T02:23:03Z")
Oh, not blue jay eh…hmmm. I’ll look up woodpecker and pheasant info and see if anything comes up. If these ring any bells for anyone else, let me know. I’ve been looking for info all day. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/6 "2005-11-02T02:27:28Z")
The one on the right reminds me of a tail feather from an India Blue peafowl - the peahens have brownish-red tail feathers and the peacocks have brown/red speckled feathers supporting their larger, showier tailfeathers. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/7 "2005-11-02T02:33:37Z")
Re [Woodpecker,](http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/htmsl/h3940pi.jpg) note how the wing feathers are blackish with multiple white spots on each one. There aren’t too many birds that have this kind of pattern. A [Blue Jay](http://www.ownbyphotography.com/bluejay-1075C.jpg) has only single white spots on the tips of the wing feathers. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/8 "2005-11-02T02:39:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Re [Woodpecker,](http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/htmsl/h3940pi.jpg) note how the wing feathers are blackish with multiple white spots on each one. There aren’t too many birds that have this kind of pattern. > > A [Blue Jay](http://www.ownbyphotography.com/bluejay-1075C.jpg) has only single white spots on the tips of the wing feathers. Yes, the woodpecker is much closer to the one I have. too bad the one pictured doesn’t have its feathers extended so I can see the whole wing. **ggurl** , I have a pretty strong feeling it’s a wing feather due to the shape. Tail feathers are usually symmetrically shaped on each side and more rounded at the tip. Also the quill on mine is quite stiff suggesting it would be used to support flight. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/9 "2005-11-02T03:13:24Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Yes, the woodpecker is much closer to the one I have. too bad the one pictured doesn’t have its feathers extended so I can see the whole wing. > > **ggurl** , I have a pretty strong feeling it’s a wing feather due to the shape. Tail feathers are usually symmetrically shaped on each side and more rounded at the tip. Also the quill on mine is quite stiff suggesting it would be used to support flight. Both are definitely flight feathers. Google only helped me a little, but most of the large game birds had a lot of barring and speckling, nothing subtle. You sure the one on the right is from N. America? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/10 "2005-11-02T03:39:19Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Both are definitely flight feathers. Google only helped me a little, but most of the large game birds had a lot of barring and speckling, nothing subtle. > You sure the one on the right is from N. America? I’m not sure of the origins of either - these feathers went through a few different hands before they came to me. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/11 "2005-11-07T20:41:17Z")
I finally got a positive ID on the feathers from a wildlife forensics site… The small black and white one is actually most likely from a redtailed hawk, and the large brown one is a peacock wing feather. Thanks for all the good guesses though! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/12 "2005-11-07T21:37:51Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > I finally got a positive ID on the feathers from a wildlife forensics site… > > The small black and white one is actually most likely from a redtailed hawk, and the large brown one is a peacock wing feather. > > Thanks for all the good guesses though! 🙂 Do you havea link to this site? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/13 "2005-11-07T23:30:40Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Do you havea link to this site? [http://fws.gov](http://fws.gov) FYI, I emailed the wildlife forensics division of this site with my scans. They were kind enough to ID them for me, but said they primarily investigate wildlife crimes and usually don’t respond to public inquiries. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/14 "2005-11-07T23:33:08Z")
Hmmm…the main site link’s not working. [Here’s](http://www.lab.fws.gov/lab/docs/idnotes/birds.html) the link straight to the lab’s page. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/15 "2005-11-07T23:49:38Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > I was recently gifted with an assortment of feathers from a friend. She knew what most of them were from but there were a couple she had gotten from someone else and didn’t know. I’ve scoured Google but can’t find photos of feathers that look like mine. Maybe someone here might know what birds these are from? > > [Here’s](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/MachTurtle/Feathers.jpg) a scan of them. The big brown one is approx. 12 inches long from tip of feather to end of quill, and about 2 inches wide at its widest point. > > The black and white one is approx. 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Wouldn’t a **REAL** Goddess know? :rolleyes: 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/16 "2005-11-08T00:18:55Z")
> [@drhess](#): > > Wouldn’t a **REAL** Goddess know? :rolleyes: 🆒 Only if the feathers were part of the costume of an Amazon Floozy! (In the 21st Century, we get specialists, even in pantheons! :rolleyes: ) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-birds-are-these-feathers-from/328990/17 "2005-11-08T03:27:57Z")
Yeah, MY costume is a jaguar skin bikini. 😃