Different Hackle.

[Mataura mayfly]

After some PM styled conversation between myself and a forum member in the upper UK, I discovered Songbirds from that neck of the woods are out of bounds for the locals and have a protected status. Many of their birds were introduced here when their forefathers claimed this little part of the South Pacific for the Mother Country, but here they have no protection nor status. Many older patterns or reference to them will call for wings of Blackbird or Song Thrush.
These simple spiders were hackled with Cock Blackbird neck feathers, except the silver ribbed one, which is hackled with an upper covert from the same bird and keeps trying to re-knit together. The bird had a bit of an altercation with a motor vehicle, so it was a want not waste not kind of thing.













Photos were posed to show the hackles, not the crumby flies.

[Hans Weilenmann]

Jeff,

I have seen many worse flies in my years, but what is this about hackle

Just kidding - i love these feathers.

Cheers,
Hans W

[Mataura mayfly]

Hans, those worse flies.... I probably tied those as well!

Are you able to use such birds in Holland? First time I have tried to use these type, they are very soft and fine (read brittle ) and the stems can support little in the way of weight when wrapping. The necks and throats would yield some nice hackles for #18 and below, the pictured flies are #14 Sprite Internationals and the feathers are from the base of the neck/ shoulder area.

[Roadkill]

Great looking flies but probably fragile to fish.

[Ruard]

Nice flies MM. Those hackles look like the hackles of the neck of the magpie: a bit brittle and black with some dun.



greeting

[Mataura mayfly]

Ruard, that is near exactly how you would describe them, black on the tips where the feather is exposed and dun under where the top next feather overlays it.
Your Magpie differs from ours, ours is the Australian version and self introduced to NZ. I can remember as a child when we first moved South nobody knew what they were, but they have colonised all the South Island now and are a pest bird that drive native birds from their territory. Ours are kind of mirror image to yours, ours are white where your birds are black and black where yours are white. Tail herls are nowhere near as good on our birds.

These may be soft in the stem and barbs, but should last a fish or two and are not as delicate as some snipe or other feathers I have used. In saying that, I cannot recall ever seeing Blackbird called for in a soft hackle for older patterns, more the primaries for wings.