what are the laws on having feathers etc from birds that died naturally. which ones can you keep, if any? I am cauious because i work at a wildlife sanctuary and unfortunatly it is too late for many birds that come into our care and it seems awful to think that these bautiful bird just get cremated.
thankyou to anyone who can shed some light on this for me
Hi there Kestrel
As far as i'm aware it is illegal to keep feathers from predatory birds like eagles and hawks i'm not sure on other feathers but i can guarantee you will get the correct answer on here everyone is so knowlageable
regards Kimbo
Feeling More Positive :-)
I think the relevant clauses in the Wildlife and Countryside Act are these ones:
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[It is an offence to] Kill, injure or take any wild bird
and
[It is an offence to] Have in one's possession or control any wild bird (dead or alive) or any part of a wild bird which has been taken in contravention of the Act or the Protection of Birds Act 1954
A person may take a wild bird if he can satisfy the court the bird had been injured other than by his own hand and that his sole purpose was to tend it and then release it when no longer disabled; or he may kill it if he can prove it was so seriously disabled as to be beyond recovery. Sick and injured birds listed on Schedule 4 should be registered with the Department of the Environment or passed to an approved keeper.
If I understand this correctly, it would only be an offence to keep feathers from wild birds if you killed the bird, or caught it from the wild (without intending to treat it for injury). Keeping feathers from birds brought in to a wildlife hospital for treatment should therefore not be an offence. Best to wait for an RSPB bod to show up and confirm this though :)
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Totally agree with Aiki. The only thing you would have to worry about is if you ended up with a CITES / Sched 4 specimen and wanted to pass it on (or get it stuffed). Then you might need to get advice. The scenario you describe wouldn't really fit that. A lot of people have feathers, wings etc for educational purposes.
The Cotswold Water park sightings website
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Hello everyone
I can understand the reasoning behind not wanting to see so many lovely birds and their feathers going to waste by cremating them, and I would have thought that if anyone needs proof of how any bird died, then the wildlife sanctuary would have no trouble supplying it. I know it wouldn't be to everyone's taste but I would have no problem looking at a taxidermy bird if I knew it had died in the way outlined in the regulations. It might be of interest in a teaching environment as well.
thanx for that i think i will go ahead but get a copy of the records for proof.