Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Prarie Bowyer on September 09, 2011, 02:47:32 am
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anyone ever use parrot feathers? do they work ok. I thought about calling around to mackaw and cockatoo breeders asking for tail and primary feathers. You cold get some real pretty naturaly colored feathers like that.
I saw some big turkey buzzard primaries the other day. Thought about picking them up for fletching but decided against for sanitation reasons. Unfortunately I thougthout out loud and my 4 year old picked one up before I could stop her.
Palm Cockatoo's are jet black. Hayacinth mackawas are a briliant cobalt blue. Then of course there are Blue and Gold and Scarlet mackaws, blends of blue, red and green are possible there.
Anyone use these sorts of feathers? I'd think they would be just like using duck feathers or goose feathers which I have seen.
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I use them occasionally. Google up images of south american arrows and related terms, you should find many examples. Two fletch seems to be most common.
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That would make sense. They don't molt all at once. And killing them for featehrs is an expensive endeavor. Hyacinth ~ $10,000. Blue and Gold $1,500 last I checked. I'm a bird fan.
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I'm sure any feathers will work for fletching, given that they are not too downy.
The deal w/ the vulture...I wouldn't worry so much about the sanitaty issue, but where I'm @, Indiana, USA, they are protected like eagles, owls and hawks. Big $$ fine if caught with them.
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Check the laws where you live. I'm sure it's illegal to use buzzard feathers.
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I'm sure any feathers will work for fletching, given that they are not too downy.
The deal w/ the vulture...I wouldn't worry so much about the sanitaty issue, but where I'm @, Indiana, USA, they are protected like eagles, owls and hawks. Big $$ fine if caught with them.
vultures(turkey and black) are protected under the federal migratory bird act and are illegal to possess anywhere in the us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture)
any wild or otherwise feathers i obtain are put it the microwave for 20 seconds then bagged and left in the freezer for sometime. then a dryer sheet is added to each bag to ward off critters. birds have mites. plain n simple. and other critters can invade your feathers while stored and turn em to dust.
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Thanks, Glad I didn't use it.
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I have seen some amazing Amazonian arrows twin fletched with parrot feathers.
What is really cool is that most coloured parrot feathers are one colour on one side and different on the other side of the feather.
I've only shot these real Amazonian arrows a few times (they belonged to a friend) but they worked well and seemed to have been failry durable.
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One of my friends breeds parrots and I got a huge bag of assorted parrot feathers from him, i'm not sure of all the species but I found them to not be all that great? Yes they look superb but when shot nito a target the vanes would carry on going forward with the impact...when you collect the arrows it looks like they are scared! With all the fibers are stuck upright!
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Any feathers will work for fletching because they are adding resistance and steerage to the arrow.
Any native feathers in the US are federally protected except for game birds. This means songbirds too. Any non native bird feathers should be OK to use and will make fletching with the right fletching configuation.
I saw James Parker make an arrow with pine needle fletching that flew surprising well.
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Does that mean I can't use buzzard feathers?
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If you don't mind paying at least $1000 per feather to the feds go right ahead and use them.
Like I said all native bird feathers are illegal to use(even song birds) except for game birds. It has been a Federal Law since the early 1900s.
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I mean I find them on the sidewalks when I go downtown, I don't kill the birds. They clean up the carcasses in the woods I wouldn't do that. I only use what they shed.
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You can not possess them no matter how you got them!
Google "Federal Migratory Bird Act" That should tell you all you need to know.
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Wow. I didn't know. :o That's kind of odd but there are stranger laws out there so I will let that one go. I guess their reasoning is that they have no way of knowing whether you killed the bird or not so just to be safe you should leave any feathers you find right there where you found them.
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The law was written back in the early 1900s to protect all birds from plume hunters that collected feathers for the fashion industry for womens hats. Many birds were driven into extinction or nearly so for the sake of fashion.
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Hm. Learn something new everyday I tell ya. Gonna have to do something other than groundsweeping for feathers now.
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Vulture feathers are every bit as sanitary as any other molted bird feather. Vultures take advantage of the UV germ killing of natural sunlight to bake the creepie-crawlies off their heads and feathers. And just to add to the general information out there, large hawk/vulture/eagle feathers are no better than wild turkey feathers. In some cases the web of the feather is actually less stiff than that of turkey feathers. I've handled enough of them at various raptor centers to get a feel for them. BUT you really don't want even a single unauthorized feather to show up in your possession because once you have an arrest on your record you are under suspicion for life. Ain't worth it. Not even with my Federal Raptor Permits is it worth it!
Many of the parrot breeders that you might go to for these macaw feathers are shipping all their molted feathers to an organization that distributes them between a number of Native American tribes. These feathers often have greater religious significance than those of raptors. Trade routes into Mexico, Central America, and even South America provided these feathers and even the live birds to these Southwestern peoples.
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They DO look fantastic, BUT ...everytime you try to focus your target you'll think of the beautiful feathers that might get lost. Plus as JW says raptor or parrot feathers are by no means better fletching than turkey or geese! I own a legal gold eagle pointer, and it feels by far softer than a turkey feather.
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ooo...pretty colors.......
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If you don't mind paying at least $1000 per feather to the feds go right ahead and use them.
Like I said all native bird feathers are illegal to use(even song birds) except for game birds. It has been a Federal Law since the early 1900s.
Yea, As I recall from other reading there was a considerble problem with the vanishing of blue herons for their feathers. Ladie hats were incomplete with out a blue heron feather at one point.