The law against feather/nest/egg collecting is a fine example
of good intentions warped by legal and practical necessity into ridiculous
extension of intent. The law is designed to prevent the wholesale
slaughter of birds for their plumage, etc. Such harvesting of
birds led to the near extinction of some species with attractive
plumage. The reason you can't collect feathers is that only the
collector knows whether the feathers came from from a live or
dead bird. There is still a high demand for eagle feathers (and others?).
You might explain to your students the reason for the law, but
also add that picking up a feather off the ground does not hurt
the bird. Now if the little rascals are inclined to collect feathers
with a BB gun....

Kelly Cassidy
University of WA, Seattle
kelly at u.washington.edu