What goes wrong

The feather was the wrong bird

On this page11

A feather was picked up on a walk And then it was tied into a fly And the fly was sold An inherited collection was assumed to be grandfathered A species name was looked up from memory An exotic material was assumed to be covered by the same question A substitute was treated as second best The envelope was thrown away So copy it onto the container And buy from the mainstream trade References

Selling the fly is in the same sentence as taking the bird.

A feather was picked up on a walk

Possession is one of the prohibited acts, and a found feather has no provenance. Our beach and field finds property covers this directly.

And then it was tied into a fly

Which does not help, because the Act reaches "any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or part" of a protected bird.

And the fly was sold

Sell, offer for sale, barter, ship, transport and carry are all in the list. The craft's ordinary acts are the statute's verbs.

An inherited collection was assumed to be grandfathered

This property does not say whether it is. Possession is listed, permits exist for specified purposes, and the answer needs real advice rather than a catalog page.

A species name was looked up from memory

Taxonomy is revised and the list is amended. 50 CFR 10.13 is the list, it is in two formats, and checking it takes a minute.

An exotic material was assumed to be covered by the same question

CITES, the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act each reach material independently. Satisfying the MBTA question says nothing about them.

A substitute was treated as second best

Classic dressings are tied today with dyed domestic feather and synthetic fibre, and for a fly judged by a fish the substitution is a technical choice rather than a compromise.

The envelope was thrown away

Which is the quiet one and the one a container catalog can actually help with. The provenance arrives on the packaging and leaves with it.

So copy it onto the container

Species, supplier, date, in words on the body. Three facts that make the question answerable in ten years rather than unanswerable.

And buy from the mainstream trade

Which sells domesticated poultry bred for tying. The craft is lawful because of what it uses, and staying with the ordinary supply chain is how that stays true.

References

16 U.S.C. 703(a), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Unless permitted by regulation, "it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to barter, barter, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, export, import, cause to be shipped, exported, or imported, deliver for transportation, transport or cause to be transported, carry or cause to be carried, or receive for shipment, transportation, carriage, or export, any migratory bird, any part, nest, or egg of any such bird, or any product, whether or not manufactured, which consists, or is composed in whole or part, of any such bird or any part, nest, or egg thereof" as specified in four bilateral treaties. law.cornell.edu

50 CFR 10.13, the List of Migratory Birds. Its stated purpose is "to inform the public of the species protected by regulations that enforce the terms of the MBTA". Species are listed in two formats, alphabetically and taxonomically, with taxonomy and nomenclature following the American Ornithological Society Checklist of North American Birds, and supplementary reference to the Clements Checklist for species the primary source does not cover. law.cornell.edu

Written from 16 U.S.C. 703(a) and 50 CFR 10.13, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. This property does not say which species are on the protected list, because that is a lookup against 50 CFR 10.13 rather than something to assert from memory. CITES, the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act can each reach exotic tying materials independently and none of them is read here.