Introduction to feathers for fly tyers

I thought a quick article on one the key materials we use in fly tying/dressing, feathers, would be useful. Having a standardised set of terminology when we communicate fly tying patterns is important that when others come to use the pattern they know exactly what was intended. The terms quill, vane, shaft, web, and barb are commonly encountered in fly patterns but are we all intending the same thing when we use them. A classic example is stripped peacock quill, which is infact not a quill at all but a stripped peacock barb. Peacock herl on the other hand is defined appropriately with herl meaning barb or barbs of a feather used in a fly dressing. This in part arises from the fact that big birds, like ostrich and peacock, produce feathers that are large enough that the barbs themselves are more substantial.

Birds and their plumage is a large and complex technical area. If you want to read a detailed article that will tell you everything you probably ever wanted to know about feathers, their purpose and evolution then read this. This short article is designed to be a simple generalised introduction focusing on the aspects that apply in most situations for fly tyers. When in doubt, the feather atlas glossary is also a very useful resource for standard definitions of feathers and their constituent parts. The feather atlas also has a handy guide to the position of feathers on a bird and how to identify them.

Feathers are made primarily of keratin which is a tough and flexible material. They have a spine down the middle, called the shaft. The lower portion of that shaft, the calamus or quill, holds the feather in the skin follicle below the surface of the birds skin and is hollow while the upper portion, the rachis, is mostly not. Either side of the shaft is a flat vane; in flight feathers the narrower forward facing portion is called the anterior vane while the wider trailing half is referred to as the anterior vane. The vane is comprised of barbs that extend out perpendicular to the shaft. The barb is comprised of a a tapered central axis, the ramus, with rows of smaller barbules, called vanules, projecting from both sides of a barb. The barbs and barbules interlock creating a solid flexible fabric like web or vane (although the surface is not solid at all and comprised of as much air as matter). The base of the vane may be downy and provide some insulation and is referred to as the plumulaceous vane. The remaining portion of the firmer vane is referred to as the pennaceous vane. Some feathers are plumulaceous, others are pennaceous while others are both plumulaceous and pennaceous. 

Feathers used in fly tying come from various parts of the bird:

Wing Primary Flight	Wing Secondary Flight	Tail
Outer wing feathers, attached to the bird’s small, fused “hand” bones	Inner wing feathers, attached to the ulna bone of the lower “arm”	Attached to the fused caudal vertebrae or pygostyle
Most groups of birds have 10 primaries; 9 in some passerine birds, 11 in grebes, storks, and flamingos; 16 in ostriches	The number depends on the wing length, 6 in hummingbirds to 19 in the great horned owl and 40 in albatrosses	Variable number, most commonly 12
Provide the forward thrust on the downstroke of the wing during flight	Generate lift during flight	Function primarily in steering and braking during flight
Elongate, finger-like tips on outer primaries, especially in birds of prey	rounded tips	The outermost tail feathers are generally asymmetrical (narrow outer vane, broad inner vane) and the left and right tail feathers are mirror images of each other.
pointed tips	slightly asymmetrical vanes	The feathers become more symmetrical toward the centre, with the two central tail feathers usually exactly symmetrical (vanes on both sides of the shaft equal in width) and the shaft perfectly straight.
very long quills	shafts usually curved	Shafts may be curved or straight
Some birds, especially waterfowl, have a waxy-looking patch on the underside of the feather along the shaft called the tegmen.		Many gamebird tail feathers are important in display and may be boldly patterned and/or elongated.

Some feathers used for fly tying inherit their properties from other unique attributes. One such example is CDC (Cul de Canard or ducks bottom in French) feathers that are located around the preen gland of many waterfowl and duck. The natural oils in the feather assist in repelling water while the structure of the feather gives it buoyancy as the barbs on the feathers trap air bubbles. 

If you are tying older patterns an additional challenge that you will face is the availability of feathers that were once used. These days many of the species used in years gone by are listed under various protection schemes as their populations are threatened to some extent. An example of this can be found in Emrys Evans fantastic record of traditional fly patterns used by Ffestiniog anglers. Many of the traditional stiniog patterns called for nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), corncrake (Crex crex), bittern (Botaurus stellaris) and tawny owl (Strix aluco) feathers which are no longer available as these species are species of conservation concern. The modern patterns suggest replacing these with hen, grouse and pheasant/woodcock, respectively, as these are suitable sustainable substitutes.

We frequently talk about using marabou in our patterns, like the dancer patterns. The marabou is a large African stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) which is on the CITES list of protected species, and feathers from this bird should not be traded or used for fly-tying or anything else. In modern parlance, when we talk about using marabou feathers we are not suggesting that the feathers come from this bird, the marabou feathers used today come almost exclusively from turkeys and chickens. In general if you are buying your fly tying materials from a reputable source it is likely that you won’t run into issues regarding the law. One area where you should be careful is the difference between legal captive bred feathers and illegal feathers harvested from wild populations, jungle cock (Gallus sonneratii) is one such example – you should always buy jungle cock feathers from certified dealers to ensure you are on the right side of the law. Similarly, if you are going to pick feathers up in the wild then it is best to apprise yourself of the law as it is not straight forward, even if you didn’t kill the bird. A subject for another post.

These days many of the feathers that we use in fly tying come from specially bred chickens or CITES approved captive bred specialist species like the jungle cock (Gallus sonneratii). These bred birds offer a multitude of options for feather barb length, consistency of barb length along the rachis, stiffness for dry or wet fly purposes and most importantly colour variations to suite every conceivable pattern with increasing levels of realism. The videos below provide a good summary of everything you need to know about hackle types, selection and use.

Tight Lines

Greg