Another piece of nature found on my walk

As I posted about a couple of weeks ago, I found the bones of a small bird in front of my house.

On my walk with Sherlock this afternoon I found this bird wing, clearly left behind by a predator of some kind.

[Mod edit: Please click to see the picture. Note that this content may be upsetting for some.]

I’m not certain what bird it’s from, the feathers look grayish brown in daylight, and they look like theyre they’re from something perhaps the size of a blackbird or a little larger.

I’ve seen bird wings for sale on some websites and felt a little uneasy about buying them not knowing their source. But as with the bones, I was drawn to reclaim and honour this wing.

Does anyone know if there’s anything that needs to be done to sanitise or preserve it from a practical point of view?

From a craft point of view I’ll honour it appropriately and ask the bird permission to use the wing.

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I gave it a heart because I love that you are going to ask the bird for permission. I don’t know what that wing would belong to, though. I hope someone on here does know.

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Thinking about it, a pheasant is possible as we do have a lot in the fields round here, but it seems a bit small. Possibly a juvenile?

I’m only really used to studying my cockatiels’ wings up close so that’s all I’ve got for size comparison!

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Do you have mourning doves? Or quail if it was a small one? :heart:

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Quail is possible, or grouse maybe…

I’ll have to get my bird books out and have a scout through.

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I think it is wonderful that you have this connection with birds, @IrisW- it almost seems like the spirits of the passed birds are seeking you out! :bird: :heart:

I’m no expert when it comes to birds nor the preservation of animal remains, but if there is any flesh left on the bones then yes- I imagine you will need to do some kind of sanitization or preservation process!

Again, not an expert on this- but perhaps you could learn a bit more about preservation options by looking into taxidermy?

(And just a quick note that I hid the picture behind a blur- everyone can still click on it to see it, but doing so gives people who may be upset by seeing dead animal parts a choice to skip over it and just read the text)

Thanks for sharing- I hope you can discover the type of bird it was, and find a wonderful way to honor it’s memory! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Leave an offering where you found the feathers. That’s what I would do. And say thank you. I’m not positively sure what else could be done.

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I have doves that come to my yard more frequently than usual. I feed the birds and they’re amazing they just do their thing and once they got really close. I have a baby bird that hops up my steps, looking for food. It’s so cute!!! :parrot:

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I was watching a crowd of baby sparrows in my garden with much amusement the other day. They were making quite a show and a racket! Very demanding, poor parents :rofl:

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Thanks, I hadn’t thought about looking on a taxidermy site. I found info about what to do with bones quite easily but I guess that’s a simpler process, as you say without flesh.

There’s no obvious odour coming from it so it may be OK as is but I’ll do a little research at the weekend. Just need to get this week of work out of the way first!

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Oh! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: I love it! I’m always outside trying to get the newer birds to become familiar with me and food but I don’t want to start a bird territory fight. :rofl:

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I just find it a fascinating to watch them all, I get quite a crowd in the garden.

And I saw my first woodpecker in the local woods the other day!

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Great find! Feathers have elaborate and interesting symbolism in many cultures and they are useful as symbols of the land (local area) or as a connection with Air.

Here’s a very practical guide on sanitizing feathers:

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Thanks! I’ll take a look at that link.

I do like WikiHow, I often find lots of useful info on there.

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