Nature Done Wright

    Last month, I posted a photo of a feather I had come across in the Celery Farm, which I had identified as a great horned owl's.

   That raised a very good question from a friend of this blog — how does one identify what bird bird a feather once belonged to?

   I doubt my answer was satisfactory. I think I said that I asked experts when I could and also consulted Google images.

  Which brings us to….

   My wife found the feather pictured above in a field not far from Hawk Mountain. One theory is that it is another great horned owl feather.

   That makes sense to me, but I saw two red-tailed hawks nearby, so I would make them the prime suspects for that feather.

   I wish I could find a bird-feather identification page on the Web.

   Can anyone help?

   Also found this one in my side yard.

   I am hoping it's a young screech owl feather, but I'm guessing. Again, suggestions invited.

   I did find the following site, which is more of a feather quiz. http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/FeatherQuest/feather4.html

   I also found a book that goes for $145. That's not happening.

    P.S. Just for the record, it is illegal to possess these feathers.

   According to a state's environmental protection page: "The Federal Migratory Bird Act states that most birds and their parts (feathers, eggs, nests, etc.) are protected by federal law from being killed, taken, transports, possessed, bought, sold, imported or exported without a valid federal permit."  (My bold-face.)