It’s spring again, so I wanted to remind everyone of the Feather Atlas, our favorite resource for identifying birds by feathers found on the ground. The Feather Atlas is a searchable database of scans of feathers belonging to North American birds, run by the US Department of Fish & Wildlife.

It’s a great place to learn about bird anatomy, feather function & about our birds here in North America.

Just a reminder that it’s actually illegal in the US to collect feathers, nests, eggs, or parts of birds, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. I’ve never known a person who wasn’t willfully harming protected species to be prosecuted for collecting feathers, but as people are always shocked to learn this, I do pass on this info since people like to share about their collections online, never realizing they’re broadcasting what’s technically a crime.