I pick up feathers all the time. So do most of the people I know, if not for fly tying, just cause they are pretty, or special or something. Does anybody truly think they are going to get busted for it??? Methinks there are more important things to worry about.

If there are any farms near by you might be able to get cheap or free chicken feathers, which can be versatile. There is a small farm animal "petting zoo" about 45 min from my house, they don't my me collecting cast offs there.

Also old down pillows maybe?

Be sure to freeze or boil any found feathers
Bob

How does some random, unidentifiable by all but the most trained observer, rather non descriptive feather found in the yard then being incorporated into a fly ever even come into any kind of situation with legal ramifications?

Is it common in places for some sort of trained in feather identification LEO to inspect flies you might be using for the nature of the feathers?

I get it if someone is selling multiples of can’t miss flies made from the marabou of spotted owls will likely be found out, but the random chickadee hackle dry in a box with dozens of other flies, how the heck does something like that come to anyone’s attention?

Did anyone mention the Migratory Bird Act? I perused the page 2 answers above but didn't read carefully.

The women's hat industry a hundred years ago threatened many species.

The Migratory Bird Act was passed. It is illegal to possess feathers from wild birds UNLESS the feathers come from A) a finite list of "game species" or B) the feathers come from "invasive species not natural to the Americas."

Snowy Egrets almost went extinct. Now they are back.
On the other hand you can do anything you want with Starling, House Sparrow, Collared Dove, etc, because they are invasive. Duck and Grouse are on the "game birds" list so you can possess and sell them. All others are, unfortunately, off limits.

When I rode my bike to work 20 years ago I noticed many dead birds on the sides of the roads in the early morning. Every morning. They were all gone a few hours later, taken away by cats and other birds. I tied with a few of the good ones. There are no feather police. Not unless you sell them. Which is a no no. Even in my book.

RE> The Feather Thief
There is an active and ongoing black market in illegal feathers. You can search for forbidden feathers on EBay. They are there for sale now. Every day. Wildlife guides (mostly birding guides) in Central America like the Migratory Bird Act and they complain bitterly about bird poachers in the own countries. Trapping macaws Toucans and Contingas (the severely declining Blue Chatterer to fly tiers) they see as a threat to their occupation. Wildlife tourism is about all that's left in Central America, not counting the drug trade.

Finally (I promise) there is also an active market for (alive) pet parrots of various kinds, especially for the big Macaws. But there is no pet trade at all for Toucan and Cotinga. And yet there is a lively trade in those feathers. Who is buying them?

It is a pretty good read Crusty. I was introduced to this book by Spencer Seim, the New Mexico flyfishing guide who first brought up the museum heist to the author of "The Feather Thief". He had a lot of good background material not mentioned in the book.

Larry