You may have heard the urban legend. One day a guy is hiking along a trail and he spots a gorgeous-looking feather on the ground. He picks it up and carries it around in his hand, looking at it with wonder and curiosity. That’s when he’s arrested and fined $100,000 for possessing a feather illegally.
Sounds preposterous right?
Wrong. While the details of the urban legend may be exaggerated, it is in fact illegal to collect certain bird feathers thanks to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
The nearly 100-year-old act was put into place to protect birds that migrated between the United States and Canada because of a decline in bird populations. Hunting was fairly rampant because the fashion during that time featured hats adorned with bird feathers.
The treaty makes it unlawful to hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell migratory birds. The statute extends to any bird part, including feathers, eggs, and nests.
It seems harmless to pick up a nest or feathers you find on the ground, but it’s against the law because it’s difficult for enforcement officers to figure out whether it was obtained through ignominious or accidental means. So they put the burden on the carrier of the feather and took away the question.
More than 800 species are currently on the list, including the Bald Eagle, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, American Crow, Canada Goose, Mourning Dove, Barn Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Barn Owl, and more. That means the feathers of all of these birds are forbidden.
An exemption to the act does exist, however. The Eagle Feather Law allows the collection of Golden Eagle and Bald Eagle feathers for religious purposes by Native Americans. In order to quality, individuals must have certifiable ancestry and be enrolled in a tribe.
Despite sounding a tad ridiculous these days, the roots of the law are sound and still serve a purpose.
You might also be asking yourself what about the bird feathers you see at stores.
Since certain species aren’t protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, picking up and possessing their feathers is perfectly legal. That means nonnative species like House Sparrows and European Starlings aren’t covered, along with nonmigratory birds like turkeys, chickens, Mute Swans, quails, and the like.
So the next time you see a bird feather on the ground, you’d better be sure it’s from an invasive species or nonmigratory bird or leave it alone.
189 Comments
I just learned about this. I have lived and worked on this homestead as a property caretaker for over 3 years now. About 2 acres of the land here is a privately owned animal sanctuary where hunting is forbidden. I am not allowed to go on certain areas of this property. I was curious and did some counting and taking pictures of the animals that I have seen here. I could not get a good enough identification for some of the birds who live here so I contacted an orinthology department for some help. There are 2 different bird species that are endangered species and they are in mating pairs — mom and dad that have babies. There is an endangered species of snake in a mating pair with mom and dad as well as the babies. There are 15 species that are considered threatened. Birds moult and drop feathers everywhere and I was cleaning them up at different times during the summer. Now I learn that I can be fined for cleaning up the mess with various feathers around here. So, why is it that I cannot clean up the feather mess during the summer moulting season?
How does picking up feathers off the ground kill birds? Banning people from picking up feathers off the ground does zero to protect bird species. Things like not allowing industrial waste to dumped in our waters, Laws ordering and enforcing the proper storage and disposal of things like chemical weapons and radioactive materials, Not allowing forever chemicals, round up, fire foams and all kinds of DNA damaging pesticides and crap on the market protect birds. This is a classic example of the stupid symbolic acts and gestures that that most American and European citizens have been taught to follow to make it seem as though the government and industry care. Under your logic, sending out junk mail to raise awareness about a near extinct animal and the mail is actually printed on the hide of that almost extinct animal that you are killing so you can make the junk mail would make total sense. This law protects real animals and birds about as much as passing a law saying you cant posses a drawing or picture of an endangered animal would. Do you even think about the things you are defending? I can get a permit and shoot as many crows as I want, but I can’t pick up or possess their feathers? I can shoot a turkey, but I cant possess its feathers? I can shoot ducks by the dozens but I cant possess their feathers? Are you starting to see how stupid and ineffectual this law is?
Dude people for the most part arnt poaching goddamn protected species of birds in the United States, this isnt the 20s or the victorian era where ladies are walking around with half a dead pheasant on their hat. Secondly shed feathers serve no purpose to the bird and if they wanted to use them for a nest, they would do so. The real reason this law still exists as it was written back then has more to do with the US Government making physical evidence of pollution caused by certain chemical weapon stockpiles and control of Native American practices, just like the ban on peyote has to do with making everything sacred and central to Indigenous religious practices illegal or making tribes have to ask the US government for permission to take what is rightfully theirs. Think thats nonsense, then why is the Sundance and Ghostdance still listed as treasonous acts and illegal? Why are reservations registered with the federal government as prisoner of war internment camps on paper? Maybe if the USA wasnt over run with European Illegal immigrants the pressure on the land and animals wouldnt be so great. Money stolen from a bank is still legal property of the bank no matter how much time has passed, the same principle applies to the land, you wanna complain about people picking up what the Great Mystery has put down, go do it from a Europe bound airliner, we didnt invite none of you people here so your 2 cents are unwanted. Your stupid laws can protect a BIRDS feathers but not the lives of the Native Children, you can hunt down poached animals but not the thousands of missing Native women? government and This law is stupid as hell, when concerning feathers, why the hell cant people get a permit for collecting feathers from the ground? You have no right to govern our people, you have no right to occupy our lands, you have no right to ruin the land and drive the animals to extinction and then say its because our people take what Turtle Island and the Great Mystery gives us. You have no right to drive our people to near extinction through murder and theft. We have been patient with you, If we banded together with our Black and Latino brothers, we could easily drive you all out and burn washington Dc to the ground, but instead we have, tried to reason with you, we have shed our blood in Korea, on the beaches of Normandy, at Iwojima, Our sons have fallen in Vietnam, Kosovo, We have been blown apart by roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been so accommodating, we have been faithful to your flag, we haven’t sided with the enemies of the USA and you people have the balls to lecture us for picking up a feather?