Here in wildlife enquiries we often receive feathers in the mail from people wanting them identified. We thought it would be an interesting topic for a little quiz. So below you will find five pictures of feathers from four species of British bird, see if you can identify who they belong to. We'll give you the weekend to work it out and let you know the answers next week. Apologies in advance for the quality of the pictures!
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
Unknown said: Hi Ian I think you and Big Robbo have now given me something else to go on. I'm still going for tawny owl wing feather on 1, but I'm now also going for pheasant breast feather on 5
Hi Ian
I think you and Big Robbo have now given me something else to go on.
I'm still going for tawny owl wing feather on 1, but I'm now also going for pheasant breast feather on 5
Ian says spot on with those but pheasant is wrong inj my eyes.
Here' a picture I sent in and I saw it drop from the bird Ray
or is it different
a good laugh is better than a tonic
Hi Barnsley Lad
Your's is similar to feather no 5. but you haven't said what bird did you saw it drop from.
After Ian's clue and Big Robbo's guess I Googled pheasant feathers, and came up with this bunch that has one exactly like the No. 5 image.
Best wishes Chris
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Snipe
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Woodpecker said: Hi Barnsley Lad Your's is similar to feather no 5. but you haven't said what bird did you saw it drop from. After Ian's clue and Big Robbo's guess I Googled pheasant feathers, and came up with this bunch that has one exactly like the No. 5 image.
Hi woodpecker
Mine came from a flock of grey partridge and was very surprised by the colour. When I checked with the book it matches the feathers on the birds flanks. Now it is possible that the feather was stuck to the birds feet after a pheasant has been around but doubt it.
Ray
Hi again
Checked the google and if its the same picture it contains feathers from more than one species including pheasant ,partridge guinea fowl.
Ray Hope I'm wrong but 90% sure
Ian H said: OK, i'll give you all nudge in the right direction, The feathers belong to a game bird, a wader, a woodland bird and an owl! Not neccessarily in that order!
OK, i'll give you all nudge in the right direction,
The feathers belong to a game bird, a wader, a woodland bird and an owl! Not neccessarily in that order!
I think we might be missing a clue for one. We have 5 feather pics and 4 bird clues.
I still have 3 to get, not 2 LOL.
This particular quiz is really frustrating!
Woodpecker said: OK, i'll give you all nudge in the right direction, The feathers belong to a game bird, a wader, a woodland bird and an owl! Not neccessarily in that order!
Hi again woodpecker
Take it yuo have read my caption
If you put partridge in the search box of the google thread the same picture comes up telling you what feathers are included. Its only for fun anyway and i,m hopeless with the others
OK, i'll put you all out of your misery! There are 5 different feathers from four species of British bird (and a ruler but no points for identifying that!).
1 is from the wing of a tawny owl and is a secondary flight feather (180 mm)
2 is from a woodcock, this is a tough one as they are body feathers
3 is also from a woodcock, tail feathers to be precise (Craig was spot on!)
4 is a tricky one and is also a tail feather, this time from a green woodpecker
5 is the controversial one, it is indeed a game bird and i believe it to be a Pheasant shoulder feather. If memory serves me correctly the grey partridge flank feather is similar to the pheasant shoulder feather in colour but has a pale tip with dark speckles as opposed to the pheasant feather having the dark red colour right to the tip. I have not got grep partridge feather to hand to show you in comparison but i'll post a picture if i come across one!
Well done to those who got some right, not an easy challenge when you can't pick them up and see their actual size. I'll post another batch later in the week with a few easy ones and maybe a few more unusual ones!
Number 4 a Green Woodpecker, I would never of got that. Thats what I love about this Forum, always something to learn.
Cheers.
Rob.
Feed The Birds....not the cats!!!!
I know....my spelling's crap !!
hi Ian
Thank you for putting me out of my misery
I cannot believe I didn't get green woodpecker after seeing one so close only yesterday!
No 2 and 3 were the same bird species, so that was why we only had 4 clues. LOL
Oh well 2/5 was fair