• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

I need help identifying this feather (1 Viewer)

Isabella1103

New member
Germany
Hello, I found this feather today and I have no clue to which bird it could belong to. I thought of some kind of owl or falcon but I'm not sure.
Can somebody help me? :)

It's from western Germany, if that helps
IMG-20240624-WA0048.jpeg
 
With all due respect Alexander, that's one of your more bizarre suggestions, given the relative sizes of that feather and a lesser spotted woodpecker (c.15 cm total length) - this is a feather from a much larger bird. That said, I'm not entirely sure which bird - it looks familiar (common buzzard perhaps, or the underwing greater coverts of a juvenile osprey?), but the uneven/offset barring pattern is puzzling me. It's not a main flight feather (see the even width of the vane on either side of the shaft and downy base), so it's most likely a covert, scapular or axillary (though it seems long in relation to its width for a typical covert). Though worn, the apparent soft edges and uneven pattern make me think of an owl, of which short-eared owl would be the best fit, but I'm not fully convinced by this either.

In short, if I were forced to guess I'd probably go for short-eared owl, but I'm really not sure and I feel like I'm missing something obvious...
 
With all due respect Alexander, that's one of your more bizarre suggestions, given the relative sizes of that feather and a lesser spotted woodpecker (c.15 cm total length) - this is a feather from a much larger bird. That said, I'm not entirely sure which bird - it looks familiar (common buzzard perhaps, or the underwing greater coverts of a juvenile osprey?), but the uneven/offset barring pattern is puzzling me. It's not a main flight feather (see the even width of the vane on either side of the shaft and downy base), so it's most likely a covert, scapular or axillary (though it seems long in relation to its width for a typical covert). Though worn, the apparent soft edges and uneven pattern make me think of an owl, of which short-eared owl would be the best fit, but I'm not fully convinced by this either.

In short, if I were forced to guess I'd probably go for short-eared owl, but I'm really not sure and I feel like I'm missing something obvious...
Thank you for the detailed response.
I looked up a short-eared owl as well yesterday and it's kind of fitting.
The feathers of a red-footed-hawk seem to be the most similar but they are not native here and a very rare migratory bird in the west of germany.
So this owl would be the more logical answer.
I sadly did not find any other feather nearby which could make it easier to identify.
I found it in a very small mixed forest next to several agriculture fields and meadows.
 
Oh sorry Isabella and thanks Richard,

I shouldnt comment when I am tired and do some work at the same time.

(When I saw a faded blackish feather with large white bars in form of rounded spots, I thought of a Woodpecker and didnt realize its size)
You give a lot of detailed information on here and are a great help (as are many many others) so we forgive you - just don't do it again :LOL:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top