Jay

[Traditionalist]

The Jay or Blue Jay (Garrulus glandarius 14" ) it is not the same bird as the American bluejay!



Jay wings are extremely useful for a large number of flies. At one time the primary and secondary flight feathers were very popular for winging various flies. The blue barred primary coverts are also used as hackle on a large number of flies. They can be difficult to use, and are often applied as beard hackles, or the feather stem ( "quill") is split with a razor blade in order to allow it to be wound. There are also some very useful hackles on these wings, which make excellent spiders. Some of the undercoverts and scapulars are also very useful and can be dyed with spirit marker to substitute for other feathers.





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