Seabird feathers

[MWithell]

I picked up loads of these on the beach earlier. They range from wing feathers to small ones that would take a couple of dust shot. Are these any good to anyone? If not, I'll bin them. Some are almost stripped of herl, some are almost intact. I'm happy to put them in an envelope and post them to anyone who would like them.

[Bob Brookes]

Not sure, but wouldn’t bird flu be a possible concern?

[MWithell]

They get that in Turkey

[Santiago]

I wouldn't worry about bird flu from seabird feathers laying on a beach. The virus is quite readily inactivated by sunlight within hours, so unless they're really fresh I wouldn't worry about bird flu. I'd be more worried about getting viral hepatitis (hep A). So I'd recommend washing your hands thoroughly after collecting and disinfecting the feathers in Milton before playing about with them.

[MWithell]

I think most of them parted from the bird a while ago. They were all on the high tide line, and some are almost stripped of herl. However, I can see what you mean and appreciate your advice.

[Grumpy]

Why not keep them and make some floats for your own use.Its good fun and great when you catch using a home crafted one.

[MWithell]

Sure, but there are the best part of a hundred, so I'll never use them all. There are plenty more on the beach too...

[Phil Arnott]

I've found gull feathers along the sea shore in the past and assumed the birds were going through a moulting stage replacing their flight feathers.

A quick search came up with this although from an American site referring to gulls I would assume the situation is similar in the UK -

"Feathers wear out. Most birds replace their flight feathers once a year and their body feathers at least once (in many species twice) in a year. In gulls however, birds hatched last year actually end up keeping their feathers for up to a couple months longer than a calendar year. Most immature gulls we see now fledged at the end of June last year, but their moult cycle usually begins in July and August."

[MWithell]

I don't think they've come off dead birds - just natural moult. They've also been well soaked in saline and dried in the sun. I'll try a few but that will still leave dozens unused. I'll disinfect them first though, according to advice here, just in case.

[Phil Arnott]

Having had a further thought on the subject, the nine larger cork bodied quills top centre in this picture are made with gull quills. The six smaller cork bodied floats to the left are made with crow secondary feathers. I think the larger quills are probably the primary feathers of black-headed gulls judging by their size. They are slightly stronger and heavier than primary crow quills bottom left. Crow quills, those bottom left, make superb light floats which take a BB and no. 4 shot. I used them a lot when fishing small drains and canals for tench and big roach.