macaw feather

Hello all!

I've been lurking on FAOL for quite a while, but I'm new to posting. I've started a fly swap to help introduce myself and I'm looking forward to getting to know some of you!

Yesterday someone that my wife works with brought me a bag of Macaw feathers that she thought I might be interested in. They are wing feathers and they're beautiful! Most of them are blue and yellow with some of them being blue and red. They are very irridescent. The color shades change dramatically in different lights and viewing angles. I would post pictures, but I can't imagine that it would be possible to do them justice. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as a use for them? I'd like to come up with at least one nice fly to give back to the person that donated them.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks
JeremyH

Nice to meet ya. Try making up your own "Macaw Special." Who Knows what could take shape.

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"Just when I've caught a nice trout and feeling very proud of my fly fishing ability, my feet fly out from under me and there I sit, wet, flustered and properly humiliated by the Fly Fishing gods."
Jimmy Moore, "Taken Down a Notch or Two"

If you can find two of the feathers that match in reverse (so back to back they are identical) Follow the instructions here and replace the ringneck pheasant wing with the macaw feathers. [url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/atlantic/cheap/lesson1.html:e012d]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/atlantic/cheap/lesson1.html[/url:e012d]

Thanks for the replies. I've considered all of the obvious things like wing cases and quill wings. They could actually be pretty nice. However, I wanted something flashy that uses a big chunk of the feather to give to the owner of the bird.

halomidge - that looks like a great idea. Unfortunately the feathers that I have are much too large for that pattern. That is the idea that I was looking for though - some kind of salmon or steelhead fly.

JeremyH

JeremyH
check out Ronn Lucas's section on tyeing Alantic Flys, If you have larges feather that match you can do a full feather wing. But read Ronn's article first. you got your self a real find there you know
Ghost

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time is like a river running though the world, if you dont take a moment to sit and watch it go by we loose so much. GrayGhost

Hi JeremyH,

Bird's wings have many different kinds of feathers that are useful for different things. They have primaries which are the leading edge of the feathers which are the furthest away from the body. Unfortunately, these are of minimal use. At least I haven't come up with or seen a use for them. The next large feathers are the secondaries and for the most part, they have limited use but some. You can use them for strip wing flies or VERY big full feather wing flies. Next are several areas and sizes of covert feathers. These have the most potential for use for full feather wing flies and sides on fully dressed flies. Hopefully your friend will continue to save feathers for you so that one day you will have many of them to try to pair up for some fancy flies. The Macaw tails (Center three pairs) are the most used feathers but mostly as horns on the full dressed flies so they last a very long time.

My recommendation is to go to my series and start to tie the fancy flies. You never know how much fun you can have unless you try.

Happy Trails!
Ronn

Ronn,

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I'll definitely check out your article. I believe that what I have are the primary wing feathers, but they may be secondary. Not having seen the bird I wouldn't know how to tell. I also have some other feathers that are slightly smaller, but still way too large to be used complete. The feathers have such an amazing look, but I'm afraid that they're lost on me. Small dries are really my "thing".