Unless you can provide Tribal Identification and are currently enrolled with a tribe, don't even think of pulling that kind of stunt. A USF&W officer will look on that as an attempt to lie your way out of charges and will likely press charges.
The difference between confiscation and confiscation with charges is often the way the person acts.
Dump the feathers, it isn't worth the hit your reputation will take. Every Conservation Officer and USF&W Agent will carry suspicions about you from then on. Who wants to live with that kind of worry?
Aside from all that, they really are beautiful, ain't they? Each of the individual barbules on the central spine of the feather has "velcro" type hooks that zip it into the barbule next to it. When the feathers are slightly ruffled, the bird just gently grabs the feather at the base and strips it thru the beak. Presto, chango! Good as new. Now, being a shed feather this probably won't work, but newly grown flight feathers on owls glow light pink under strong blacklights. Owls can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, so they must be able to see this. Some species of owls, like the northern saw-whet owl can be aged by putting the wing under blacklights and determining which feathers are glowing pink. They do not replace all the wing feathers when they molt. When they do molt wing feathers, it is a different pair each year of life, so the position of the pink new ones tells you roughly the age of the bird.
