Feathers ...mmm

[actionfinch]

Hi troops one thing i would like to understand or rather learn is bird feathers...
so how does one ID a feather?
where does one start to ID a feather .
hints ,tips, websites, etc most gratefully recieved..
I have 3 feathers that i would like to have id'd pls , i think the first one is a pheasant primary...and the smaller one ( in the second pic) is a poss a neck feather..
cheers yet again for your help .

[FUDGEY]

I would say the first two are Pheasant and third Im not so sure, looks Barn Owly but the dark spots are a bit big???

[RKB]

1 = female pheasant (tail)
2 = male pheasant (tip of a mantle feather)
3 = I think possibly Barn Owl too - inner tertial or greater covert. (spots = barring).

Best way to learn feathers is to closely examine dead birds.

[actionfinch]

thanks ... right need to find some dead birds.. no only kidding , but i see where ure coming from RKB...

[RoyW]

Before you find yourself a heap of dead birds (), an alternative would be to search the web for sites that show birds being handled by ringers. These will sometimes show birds with their wings spread to enable the find detail than can be used to identify the sex/age to be shown - which makes it a bit easier to compare the patterns with those on feathers that you find (you can't see much detail on the folded wings that you see in most photos!).

It won't be nearly as good as looking at the feathers on dead birds - which would mean that you could examine all the birds feathers, but it might be a start.

To start you off, take a look at this website, the site deals with a region in Spain but it covers quite a lot of UK species.

[actionfinch]

thats brill roy thank you....
An avenue i can go down...