Greetings,
I'm hoping someone in the community is up for a challenge in identifying a bird via feathers. The extra challenging part is these feathers were found in Kirtland, Ohio, USA.
The longest feather was around 7-8" (20cm). It was suggested that it may have been a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) but I can't find any pictures that have the single stripe/bar and there's a distinct lack of blue.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
A bit of a tall order, Thom. I'd be hard pushed to ID many American birds except the common ones. I find feather ID is hard enough in the UK so I've little or no chance for birds in the USA.
I can only point you in the direction of Featherbase. This is a German site although most of it is in English. The problem is that you've got to know what you are looking for to have much chance of a successful ID. I'm not sure how many American birds it has on the database but it does have the Blue Jay. There are some similarities to your feathers but not the central band.
I would have thought you might do better to ask someone at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology or The Audubon Society
Good luck