On Mon, 5 Dec 1994, Kelly Cassidy wrote:

> The reason you can't collect feathers is that

Well, you "can't" but you can, really. While it is technically illegal
to posess feathers, dead birds, etc. the authorities are not
particularly concerned with salvaged flicker feathers. In fact, in
addition to their educational value, many salvaged birds end up in
museum collections, and thus contribute to science, too. Since the
ordinary people (self included) who donate birds to collections are not
licensed to collect or salvage birds, this whole process would be
eliminated if the authorities applied the letter of the law instead of
the intent. So, go ahead and pick up that feather or nest.

Having said that, I must emphasize that there are a few important
exceptions to the to the above comment.

The authorities will NOT allow the following:

Killing an animal to collect it (obvious).

Posessing ANYTHING connected with an endangered species. DON'T touch a
road killed perigrine falcon if you encounter one. Notify the US Fish
and Wildlife Dept. There are very serious penalties for messing with
endangered species.

Even more than endangered species in general, EAGLES in particular (and
eagle feathers, eggshells, etc.) are strictly protected. When near
active bald eagle nests it is not hard to find feathers around. Leave
them there.

Don't pick up a road killed deer, bear, etc. Your explanation that
you were picking up a large food or trophy type animal in the interest of
education or science will not get you too far. It's also probably a bad
idea to fly a large roadkilled raptor from your car antenna :)

I don't want to end with all those DON'Ts, so here's some more positive
advice about "what to do with that dead bird." While I am just an
ordinary birder, I have had more than occasional contact with zoology
museums. So for what it is worth:

Consider donating a specimen to a museum. The Burke Museum at UW accepts
donations, as do almost all actively curated bird collections. The
estimated useful life of a specimen (birds are prepared as stuffed skins,
skeletons, spirit (pickled) specimens, and frozen tissue samples for use
in molecular techniques) in a museum is measured in centuries. Much
valuable information on molt, taxonomy and distribution can come only
from museum specimens, and donations of salvaged birds either provide
information that would not otherwise have been available, or may even
allow a researcher to use salvaged material that otherwise would have
necessitated killing wild birds (and I have known researchers to go to
great lengths and expense to avoid killing wild birds, even of common
species).

OK, so maybe you want to donate that window banger or road kill. The
most important thing you can do, from the museum's point of view is
include the DATA with the specimen. This is very simple: write down
three things: the DATE the bird was found, the LOCATION it was found and
the name of the COLLECTOR (you). Any other information is also welcome,
though not essential. It is best not to jump to any conclusions - write
"dead on road" instead of "hit by car" unless you *know* it was hit.
Don't be afraid to put down a tentative ID. Mistakes can be corrected
later.

Then put the data with the bird in a plastic bag and pop it in the
freezer. Check with local colleges or natural history museums whether
they accept such donations. Often local nature centers end up
channelling specimens to museums simply because they are brought so many
injured or dead birds. I'm new in town, so I won't give any specific
suggestions for who to contact, other than the Burke Museum at the
University of Washington.

Sorry I was so long-winded on the "dead birds" topic, I know the original
post was concerned with feathers and nests :)

Cheers,

Chris Hill
Seattle
cehill at u.washington.edu