How to tell if feathers are real?

[SummerRain]

Is this a silly question?

I really want to buy a drinking bird. They usually have this brightly coloured feather on the back... how do I know if it's a real feather? How likely is it? (Are there even fake feathers?).

I've seen a couple online, but they don't say, and I either can't work out how to contact the seller (amazon... is this just me? I can't find a way...) or the sellers are individuals, so I don't really trust that they'll know (ebay).

Any ideas? I could look for one without a feather but all the ones I see have a feather. Or work out how to contact amazon seller, or find a manufacturer to ask... but I guess I was hoping someone will know that either there are so such thing as faux feathers, or it's very unlikely it'll be a real feather, or something.

 

[shyvas]

From the look of the feather (green) it does look like it is a faux feather. I would gather that real feathers would make the article very expenisve. It is easy to contact the mp seller - click on to the profile 'ask this seller a question' and voila. I often e mail sellers and ask them queries.

 

[Pirate]

I didn't think there was such thing as fake feathers, I thought they were all real. I had a google, and when something is "artificial feather" it appears to mean that it's a white feather dyed a different colour, I could be wrong. Surely feathers are a byproduct so they'll be pretty cheap. Hmmm. I'd love a dippy bird too though

 

[KLS52]

I don't know how you would tell if a feather was fake or real, but a quick search revealed that fake feathers do exist. I would think that a novelty item such as your Drinking Bird would not be made with real feathers, but you I guess we can't be sure. So that was helpful, huh? Lol

 

[Second Summer]

I feel pretty certain I could tell if a feather was real or fake if I had it in front of me, could touch it etc. The fact that it has a unrealistic colour doesn't mean it's necessarily fake as it could have been dyed. And I can't imagine real feathers being all that expensive, since they are by-products from factory farming.

Yahoo answers has a couple of ideas:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110219213112AAe8nr7

Hard to tell unless you have a specimen in front of you, though .....

 

[SummerRain]

Hm interesting, thanks guys. I found how to contact the supplier on amazon (I was looking at the "shop" not the supplier before) and so I have tried that, although I'm not certain if they'll know, presumably they just own the warehouse they store it in... but maybe they can find out. I'll keep you updated.

I suppose if nothing else, I could buy it and send it back if it looks/feels real... or try to find one in a real world shop.

 

[shyvas]

I found the following article which is highly interesting.

http://featherdust.critter.net/featherorigins.html

 

[Second Summer]

I found the following article which is highly interesting.

http://featherdust.critter.net/featherorigins.html

Yes, it says:

There are no artificial feathers in existence that look like real feathers; even the 'faux feather hair extensions' look far more like artificial hair than they look like feathers! There are no man-made feathers that look, feel, and move like a real feather. If it looks and feels like a feather-- it is one, and it came from a real bird.

If that is true, then I guess that means the drinking bird feathers probably are real feathers.

However, I did come across some almost-real-looking vegan feathers on this blog:
http://veganburlesque.wordpress.com/tag/not-feathers/

 

[Calliegirl]

It looks like the hand blown glass ones come without feathers, but they are pretty expensive.

 

[SummerRain]

Ah, got a reply, it is a real feather. What a shame.

It looks like the hand blown glass ones come without feathers, but they are pretty expensive.

Oh, do you have a link? How expensive ?

 

[Calliegirl]

Here you go.
http://www.shinyshack.com/product.php?prid=211167
http://www.xump.com/science/Glass-Drinking-Bird.cfm
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-Ha...040?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ecdda8dc8

 

[Mischief]

Real feathers are cheap and plentiful, as IS said. They just dye them.

I've never seen a fake feather. I think that the closest you'd come to a "fake" feather is a cheap one cut and dyed to look like a rarer one (like some inexpensive fur s treated to look like more expensive fur). I suspect that's what is meant by references to "fake" feathers.

 

[KLS52]

OMG...I don't know why I'm so surprised. A google search for artificial feathers came up with this website. The word 'artificial' is used repeatedly until you click on specifications. Some even have veterinary health certificates...WTHeck?

http://m.alibaba.com/products/artificial_feathers.html