Category Archives: Feather Facts

Golden Pheasant Crest Feathers for Arts And Crafts at TheFeatheredEgg.com

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Golden Pheasant Feathers for Sale The Feathered Egg

These Golden Pheasant Feathers for arts and crafts are available over at www.TheFeatheredEgg.com, and they come from our own flock.

Golden Pheasant are one of the ornamental pheasant breeds that we raised in our flock that gave us our cruelty-free feathers for arts and crafts.

Their plumes and feathers are an exceptionally fun resource to use as feathers for crafts.

They are a charming and funny breed. Our two males spent most of their time dashing in front of every hen, no matter what kind of hen, and stopping them in their tracks for a dazzling feather display.

They would display for us as well, they were not exclusive in their attentions.

The Golden Pheasant joins a variety of Red-Gold, Yellow-Gold, and other mixes of this kind of pheasant… and breeders have a challenge sorting out the varieties and keeping them pure. Ours is probably more correctly named a Yellow-Golden Pheasant, but I’m sticking with the generalization of Golden Pheasant

The crest feathers are spectacular. They form a kind of helmet at the back of the Pheasant’s neck. These crest feathers are limited only to the neck, and I have them packaged in two sizes, medium and small. The tips are encrusted with special iridescent clusters of different feather texture, so they are kind of naturally bejeweled.

The bird is native to the forests of China, and it is hard to believe that their vivid coloration is consider camouflage, but they are hard to see in their home habitat.

Golden Pheasant are not difficult to raise and were not dangerous, even during mating season. That is not always the case with Pheasant. The Goldens were funny, gentle, and almost affectionate. But they also needed their hens – they would not have been happy alone or with only other males.

It was as important to be admired for their beautiful feathers as it was to have food and water. We continue to cherish the Golden Pheasant in having their feathers for arts and crafts,

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Lady Amherst Pheasant Feathers at www.TheFeatheredEgg.com

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Lady Amherst Pheasant Cruelty Free Feathers

These are the green crest feathers of the male Lady Amherst Pheasant. Our own pheasant, cherished for his whole life, is the source of these cruelty-free pheasant feathers.

The Lady Amherst Pheasant was THE pheasant that inspired me to order a batch of day old pheasant chicks from a hatchery and raise them myself.

The story of that adventure is available at www.TheWestchesterPress.com – and it is kind of hilarious.

When we ordered the chicks, we knew there was no guarantee we would get a Lady Amherst Pheasant, and if we did, it might not be a male.

But we got one. Exactly one. No hen, just this beautiful boy with green on green neck feathers, black edged crest feathers, crimson head feathers, and so much variety, iridescence, shape, and texture that there was no end to the wonder.

Lady Amherst was a British countess who spent some time in India and brought a breeding pair of these pheasant back to England. I saw my first Lady Amherst pheasant in a zoo.

The feathers in the photo are the green neck crest medallion feathers, and my stock is entirely cruelty-free. We cared for our boy throughout his life, and cherish his feathers today. We loved to watch his display behavior and his pride in his feathers.

These feathers are ideal for jewelry. The round end is about the size of a quarter, and the edges flash deep teal and green in bright light. Small to large, they are only found on the pheasant’s neck.

All of the Lady Amherst Pheasant images on www.NaturalFeathers.com and www.TheFeatheredEgg.com are from our one male, who we named, with great creativity, Mr. Lady Amherst Pheasant.

 

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Black Feathers Are Not Always Black

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Cruelty-Free Feathers at Natural Feathers

Black Feathers are mysteriously elusive… and symbolic!

I often get requests from feather artists for cruelty-free feathers that are truly black, not blue black, not purple black, but … just… black.

The first time I heard this, I thought “Sure, I have black feathers… no problem!” but then I pawed through my feather inventory and had a hard time finding feathers that were just… black.

Black feathers are often iridescent. Indescribably beautiful. Shimmering teals and greens and turquoise and cobalt and indigo and every kind of purple. But these feather artists didn’t want that. They just wanted black.

And those feathers usually come from the underneath or sides of  the bird, or are secondary feathers in wing or tail. The supporting cast of feathers, not the stars.

It turns out that birds can see into the ultraviolet, and the iridescent feathers send messages, usually love notes. The black feathers have more melanin granules, and are often stronger than lighter-colored feathers. This is why birds have black-edged feathers, the black resists wear and tear longer.

I’m still not sure why the artists want simple black, rather than spectacular black… because they are artists and they do not explain, they create! But the rest of my research indicated that black feathers are considered to be messages… maybe from angels, maybe from ancestors.

And a crow feather in your path is considered a warning. Of what, I don’t know, other than a warning not to pick up that crow feather because keeping crow feathers is illegal… warning from fish and game?

Anyway, black feathers are awesome, and harder to find than I thought they were!

 

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Wild Bird Feathers Are Illegal… Even If You Use The Feathers For Arts And Crafts

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Natural Feathers From Domestic Birds Only

Feathers from wild birds are very very illegal. Even if you find a feather on the ground in the woods, and even if it was molted from a live bird.

Feathers for crafts, even for your own use, must not be wild bird feathers.

Even if you found them outside, on the ground, from a molt.

Especially if the feathers are on, under, or even near… an eagle.
Or a Hawk, falcon, kestrel, or owl.

Crane? Run away…

There are very few exceptions to the feather laws so it’s better to just consider all wild bird feathers as illegal.

The laws are vigorously enforced by both private citizens and government officers, because it is a way to protect our wild bird populations.

Pheasant, Chukar Partridge, Rio Grande Wild Turkey, and Grouse are birds that live in the wild, but are also farmed throughout the USA. A farmer must have a permit to raise those birds, and a hunter has to have a permit to hunt them, but with those permits, the feathers are legal. All the cruelty-free feathers for sale on my site were raised with permits, for sure… because I did it myself.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 prohibits anyone from even chasing a bird, much less hunting it, killing it, capturing it, or selling it – dead or alive. It also covers the feathers, eggs, and nests in the same way.

The Bald Eagle Act of 1940 added special protections for both the Bald and Golden Eagles, who were on the brink of extinction. It also made room for certain Native American feather uses.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 added the third whammy to bird protection. With these laws, people were able to protect a bird’s nesting and migration grounds in addition to its body, feathers, eggs, and nest.

These are some of the most powerful environmental laws in our country, and they make sure nobody wants to mess with wild birds. It simply isn’t worth it. But not everyone knows that these laws cover every wild bird feather, egg, and nest you may come across.

The exceptions, which are pigeons, European starlings, and English house sparrows, are hard to identify, and Fish and Game doesn’t care if you make a mistake or if you are just planning a project with arts and crafts feathers.

One good solution is to work with domestic feathers for your crafts and make them look like the bird species you are admiring. There are some very talented artists who do this, particularly in the wild bird faux egg world.

Feathers for arts and crafts, especially cruelty-free feathers, are one of nature’s most fantastic craft products. I think it’s a great thing that wild bird feathers are illegal. The laws really have helped bird populations stay healthy. There are plenty of domestic feathers to meet our artistic inclinations… and I haven’t even started to look into domestic parrot feathers!

 

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Category: Feather Facts

Peacock Feathers For Arts And Crafts – Symbols and Facts

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Feather Jewels at The Feathered Egg

These tiny peacock body feathers are ideal for feather jewelry. They are sometimes hard to find, unlike the more common tail fan feathers.

Although I did not raise peacocks in my flock, I knew a woman who did, and kept her birds in the same way I did, resulting in cruelty-free feathers.

Her male peacock had fallen in love with her Rhea, and every year he molted. Every year, I bought his fallen feathers.

In this way, I had plenty of peacock feathers for arts and crafts.

The peacock tail feathers are the best known. The eyes on the feathers can turn away the “evil eye” and can symbolize all-seeing wisdom.

I loved the body feathers, because some of them were miniature versions of the tail feathers, complete with eyes, or with rainbow edges – which I used to make delightful small feather jewels.

The long feathery fronds that run up the edges of the tail feathers are called “herl” and I think they are great for mixed media texture, or grouped together for a different kind of feather jewel.

Peacock feather care is similar to our own hair care, except when blow-drying, it is easy to burn the floaty ends of the feathers, so be careful. They can be lightly soaped, washed, and then if you spread citronella or cedar oil on lightly on your hands, you can groom the feathers back to their natural shape. Clean and protected from bugs.

Peacock feathers are included in the feather sampler collections I have on my site. Gorgeous feathers from happy birds.

 

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