Another piece of nature found on my walk

Q&A
1

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.]

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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.

2

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.

3

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!

4

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

5

Quail is possible, or grouse maybe…

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

6

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:

7

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.

8

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:

9

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:

10

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!

11

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:

12

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!

13

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:

14

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

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