Feathers, photographed and scanned.

June 17, 2013 10:02 AM

Feathers, photographed and scanned. [via mefi projects]

See also.

posted by aniola (16 comments total)

And per the Projects page, MeFite nevercalm is looking for more feathers. "If you can send me a feather or two, I'll pay the postage both ways, return your feather unscathed, a print along with it as well as my undying gratitude. Anything you send me will be very gently handled and stored."
posted by filthy light thief at 10:19 AM on June 17, 2013

Very pretty. I was immediately reminded of the album art for The Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl. I like the project, too. I may send a few in.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:21 AM on June 17, 2013

Gorgeous. Oh, how I long for IDs on the feathers, though!

Maybe I'll send some (raptor, ID'd) feathers to nevercalm....I mean, if I had any. Which I wouldn't, because possession is illegal. Yeah.
posted by rtha at 10:56 AM on June 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

I thought yesterday was Feathers Day.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:00 AM on June 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

I'm with rtha, easy ID on the display page would be great.

These really are beautiful. I found a dead golden eagle under the powerline last week. Of course I didn't save any feathers.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:13 AM on June 17, 2013

I'm pretty awash with bald eagles where I live. They're practically in the flower beds. Is it legal to take a feather if it falls off naturally?
posted by cjorgensen at 11:17 AM on June 17, 2013

Yeah, it is. Because you might have killed or otherwise interfered with a federally protected species (that is, a migratory species - the law does not just apply to recognized endangered species) in order to acquire it, and just looking at the feather doesn't tell anybody how you got it. You'd need to be a licensed falconer, bander, or registered tribal member for possession to be legal. (Tribal member specifically for eagle feathers, that is.)

Now, the likelihood of you being caught by an officer who knew what they were looking at and knew the law? Very small. But still.
posted by rtha at 11:44 AM on June 17, 2013

Ooooooh pretty. I grab red-tailed hawk feathers whenever I spot them, maybe I could send one in. Almost got owned by a Canadian goose last week too, and the feathers were just laying on the ground, those fuckers are so territorial it's crazy.
posted by polly_dactyl at 12:03 PM on June 17, 2013

I now have an excuse to chase the ducks that are eating the fish in our fountain/canal thingies.
posted by sciencegeek at 12:14 PM on June 17, 2013

Is it legal to take a feather if it falls off naturally?

Gah. Bad at reading am I: it is NOT legal to possess a molted feather, or one that's come from an already dead bird. Sorry 'bout that.
posted by rtha at 12:17 PM on June 17, 2013

What is the policy as far as using these images for personal projects, such as modeling 3D armor for a demo reel, etc.?
posted by ShutterBun at 2:30 PM on June 17, 2013

That's of raptors specifically? It's presumably ok to have feathers off your own chickens, for instance, since those are legal to kill. Or from your pet bird.

I've seen some pretty amazing chicken feathers.
posted by aniola at 4:05 PM on June 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yeah, chickens and other domestic birds are fine. It's basically any bird on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act list.
posted by rtha at 4:41 PM on June 17, 2013

Wow, thanks folks! So the verdict of the masses is that i need to ID the birds, most of which I know. I'll get on that right away.

As for feathers, I'll take anything anyone wants to send. If you have nice chicken feathers, great! I'm no feather snob....

If anyone has any questions, memail me. Other than that, thanks for all the positivity!
posted by nevercalm at 5:09 PM on June 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

Beautiful stuff. I've seen enough scanography in person and at impressive print sizes to know the true detail of these is impossible to convey onscreen. What I'm saying is anyone sending feathers and receiving a print in return is getting a pretty sweet deal.
posted by Lorin at 9:47 AM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Reminds me of "Australian Native Bird Feathers"
posted by jbalwen52 at 8:41 PM on June 18, 2013