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josiesmom
07-17-2013, 01:32 AM
So I was reading somewhere of someone asking for feather donations, which led to other discussions about selling, shipping and what's allowed. Just out of curiosity, I had to do some research. From what I can find, it is illegal to sell feathers unless you document that they came from a domestic bird. So, my question is, how do you prove the bird is domestic and how do you prove the feathers came from that bird? Does the bird need to be registered somewhere? I have no intentions of doing this but now I'm curious. Any thoughts?

Turquoise
07-17-2013, 03:34 AM
Wow, I guess we all should research a bit before we get into trouble sometimes. I think I have read or heard that someplace, but I wonder if it means selling like bags of them or does it also include when they are made into earrings & jewelry. I know any wild birds' feathers that are on endangered lists can not be used or even legally picked up for your own use, such as eagles & hawks & I think some owl species. The only ones allowed to use eagle & hawk feathers are native American & unless they changed it those have to be ones that were passed down from generation to generation. I have read that some tribes are allowed to kill an eagle for their ceremonies yearly, but I can't remember which ones. Something else about Native American memorabilia, if you come across, dig up or otherwise find arrowheads, tomahawks, lance heads, anything old like that you are supposed to turn it in. To be caught with them is illegal as they belong to the government the way they see it. Prehistoric dinosaur bones also fall into that category.

Getting back to the domestic bird feathers, that would be hard to prove I would suppose. How do you prove it didn't come from illegally caught & smuggled parrots? I don't think smuggling happens very often, but I do think it still does. DNA would have to be done on the feathers is the only way I would know to prove a certain feather came from what bird. And that would get expensive!

coltfire
07-17-2013, 02:14 PM
So I was reading somewhere of someone asking for feather donations, which led to other discussions about selling, shipping and what's allowed. Just out of curiosity, I had to do some research. From what I can find, it is illegal to sell feathers unless you document that they came from a domestic bird. So, my question is, how do you prove the bird is domestic and how do you prove the feathers came from that bird? Does the bird need to be registered somewhere? I have no intentions of doing this but now I'm curious. Any thoughts?
i suppose it would work the same as my snakes, its illegal to take snakes out of the wild here along with a lot of other birds and wild life , but if the ranger comes around and your books are not up to date or they think you have wild caught they do a DNA test which show's the difference between wild caught and captive breed, what the diff is i dont know but i do know of people who have been caught and told exactly what one's were wild and which one' where not.

Mare
07-17-2013, 08:46 PM
I wonder if the law was put in place because people were killing birds for their feathers? The ones I pick up and save, to give a way, are found on the ground outside or in my bird's room and cages.

headfeathermistress
07-17-2013, 09:00 PM
I don't think that people mailing them even considered that there might be an issue

Mare
07-17-2013, 09:16 PM
The last batch I mailed to Maddy and the postmaster asked her usual questions of whether there were perishables, breakable s, etc. and I told her no, they were feathers. She didn't bat an eye sooo,, I'm guessing, it would be almost impossible to enforce this.

Honesty
07-17-2013, 09:36 PM
I also sent feathers to Maddy and was asked what the package contained. I told them feathers, and they were fine with that. I did not get asked any questions at all!

kathleen k
07-19-2013, 06:31 AM
i have a native american on my yahoo parrot group. there was a discussion about this years ago. his wife is navajo. can't remember what he is. i can ask him if you want. he would know the rules. he owns 2 macaws and his wife's tribe uses them in the ceramonies [i can't seem to spell tonight] i do remember that the tribes are not allowed to use eagle feathers. but there is a santuary for eagles and if i remember, the tribes can use the molted ones. just let me know.

kathleen k
07-19-2013, 06:36 AM
went hunting in my group and found this. sam is the native american. note the date on it.
=====
SAM.. WHAT SAY YOU ? GOOD OR BAD IDEA?
Posted By:
greyladytoo
Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:52 am |
Options



CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal government decision to allow a Wyoming tribe to kill two bald eagles for a religious ceremony is a victory for American Indian sovereignty as well as for long-suppressed religious freedoms, the tribe says.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted a permit March 9 to theNorthern Arapaho Tribe allowing it either to kill or capture and release two bald eagles this year.

While no one questions the religious sincerity of Northern Arapahotribal members, spokesmen for some conservation and animal rights groups question why the tribe can't meet its religious needs without killing wild eagles. They say the tribe could raise captive birds, or accept eagle feathers or carcasses already available from a federal repository that collects birds killed by power lines or other causes.

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Rescued
07-19-2013, 11:15 AM
As far as parrot species go I have no idea about the laws, you could check with fish and wild life.
Bald eagle feathers are prohibited unless you have a permit and appropriate documentation as a native American. There is a large fine and repeat offenders could face jail time. Interestingly my friend found an eagle feather and not knowing the law took it from a national park. She was seen leaving the park with it and the park official did nothing, clearly not everyone is aware of the law. The public is however responsible for following the law even if they do not know it. I am not sure how this law is prosecuted unless you are trafficking the items and are found that way. Who is going to get a search warrant for a single feather?

plax
07-21-2013, 03:19 AM
Concerning companion parrot feathers, one of two things must be true. It's either legal to sell or otherwise distribute them across state lines within the United States. Or, if it's not legal, the law against doing so must be seldom if ever enforced. I say this after visiting ebay and typing "macaw feathers" into their search field. After hitting enter a plethora of hits were returned (578 of them to be exact), mostly consisting of groups of naturally shed Macaw feathers that are being advertised for sale. If the US government were actively prosecuting folks for selling or otherwise distributing tropical parrot feathers, I'm fairly certain that ebay would not permit people to advertise them so plentifully on their auction servers. Many of the descriptions on these ebay parrot feather ads state something similar to: "These feathers were naturally moulted from my living pet birds." So that's at least my observation and assessment. I can't speak to the current legal reality involved since I haven't done the research.

As for Native Americans (or anyone else) being permitted to kill eagles for their feathers, I personally find it unnecessarily tragic and cruel, not to mention terribly wasteful of precious lives. Besides the existence of other avenues that could facilitate desires of certain tribes to obtain ceremonial feathers, in my view practices of human religion should not take precedence over the rights of wild animals to live free from the threat of losing their lives to such human constructs. Sometimes I feel that the human element grants itself too much control over this planet :(

kathleen k
07-22-2013, 04:03 AM
i asked sam, and here is his reply.
===
Hi Kathy, here are my thoughts about feathers. One must be careful when donating feathers. As in everything you have the good and the bad. I donate my macaw feathers to the tribal leaders for traditional dances that date back thousands of years. There has been archeological finds that confirmed that Pueblo Indians were using macaw feathers over a thousand years ago. When I donate feathers, by the way I have had help from group members; I know that the feathers are being used for traditional purposes. Now for the bad there are Native Americans that request macaw feathers for commercial use. Under the guise of tribal use “Buyer Be Ware”. They ask for donation only to turn around and sell the feathers to Fancy Dancers. For example a tail feather could fetch $75.00!



Here are my feelings on Eagle feathers; the government has a program in which they collect eagle feathers for tribal members. The waiting list is crazy! In my opinion there are enough captive Bald Eagles that could provide molted feathers for tribal usage. I do not believe that we should kill eagles in order to gather their feathers. Oh I must mention it is illegal for anyone with the exception of Native American to possess Eagle or Hawk feathers.