What you may hold

Replicas and casts

Updated October 2026

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Why the category exists It can be handled Casts of skulls and bones too Label it as a replica, plainly Jars suit replicas well No preservative, no shipping problem And the honesty is a selling point References

A replica is not a compromise, it is the thing you can actually hand to somebody.

Why the category exists

The MBTA makes possession and sale of a native migratory bird’s egg unlawful without a permit. A cast or printed replica is not an egg, not a part and not a product composed of one, so it sits entirely outside that sentence.

It can be handled

Which is the practical argument. A real egg in a sealed jar can only be looked at; a replica can be passed around a classroom, weighed, compared and dropped. For teaching that is a better object by a wide margin.

Casts of skulls and bones too

The same reasoning covers a replica skull, and it avoids the separate questions a real one raises about species, provenance and state law. The display problem is then purely a display problem.

Label it as a replica, plainly

Not in small print. A replica sold or displayed without being identified as one misleads a buyer about what they have, and it invites exactly the wrong assumptions if the collection ever changes hands.

Jars suit replicas well

A clear straight-sided jar is a cheap, sealed, stackable display case with a flat label panel. 19 of the 29 containers on this shelf are clear, and the wide 58-400 and 70-400 necks let a solid object in and out.

No preservative, no shipping problem

A dry replica in a glass jar is not a hazardous material, so none of the 49 CFR 173.4 conditions apply to it. That removes the second half of this property entirely, which is worth weighing.

And the honesty is a selling point

A collection that says plainly which items are replicas and which are permitted specimens reads as more serious, not less. The alternative leaves a buyer unable to tell, which helps nobody.

References

16 U.S.C. 703, Taking, killing, or possessing migratory birds unlawful. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful to possess, offer for sale, sell, barter, purchase, ship, export or import any migratory bird, any part, nest or egg of such a bird, or any product composed in whole or part of them. Subsection (b) limits the subchapter to species native to the United States or its territories. law.cornell.edu

49 CFR 173.4, Small quantities for highway and rail. Class 3 and other listed materials are not subject to other requirements where the inner receptacle holds no more than 30 mL of liquid, is not liquid-full at 55 C, is glass, earthenware, metal or plastic of at least 0.2 mm, has any removable closure held securely with wire, tape or other positive means, and is packed with non-reactive absorbent able to take the entire contents inside a strong outer packaging, the whole demonstrated by prototype testing. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal statute and regulation, not from a collection room. Wildlife law is federal, state and sometimes tribal at once, and the Lacey Act makes a state or foreign violation a federal matter. Nothing here is advice on a particular specimen, and the permit questions belong to the Fish and Wildlife Service.