Bryan,Originally Posted by NMHighPlains
I agree that broken feathers are an exception but I don't agree that they are so much of an exception as to make note. Perhaps things have changed now, but I did my M.S. research in the Goshutes in 1989 and I don't remember writing down broken feathers as part of the recorded information of the thousands of birds we trapped. Ditto working with prairie falcons and golden eagles on the Snake River- did that for 4 years and we didn't make any special note of broomed feather tips, esp not in immature birds.
In any case, we still don't know if that is a falconry or wild bird on the cover of the HC.
Maybe the HC oughta go back to illustrations. That would be one good way to guaranteed perfect feathers.
Documentation of physical condition likely varies by refuge policy, wildlife managers and research methods or scope. In the studies I worked in, we always noted condition, but I realize that not every bander/scientist does.
As a falconer, I’ve trapped birds with broken feathers, but it was so rare, that I took photos for reference and can remember each individual case. I’ve even trapped raptors with only one good eye (owls and redtails); or only one foot (a gyrfalcon and a redtail). The interesting thing: all the birds were fat, suggesting that they adapted and survived with those injuries.
It’s irrelevant if the 2014 Dec Hawk Chalk redtail is “wild” or “captive”; it’s on the cover of a falconry magazine so people will assume it is a falconer’s bird. Stacia
PS: By broken feathers, I mean feathers snapped off on the main shaft, not “erosion” of the feather margins (or louse-eaten feathers), which all wild birds have. Feathers broken at the main shaft (vein) are indicators of poor handling. Thanks for the conversation, your points are good.
