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Landline program about use of native birds to make hats.

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Subject: Landline program about use of native birds to make hats.
From: Anthea Fleming <>
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 13:47:36 +1100
     A long time ago, in the post-WW II era, a popular womens magazine carried coloured photos of ladies' hats with Australian bird feathers as decorations, and, on the cover, most of a Crimson Rosella on a beret.  Australia's best-known conservationist at the time, P Crosbie Morrison, condemned this in his very popular Sunday evening radio programme, and in his excellent monthly magazine "Wild Life". He also reprinted Mattingley's famous photos of the havoc wrought by plume hunters in the Murray egret rookeries, originally published in 'The Emu' circa 1904.  There were also protests from the RAOU, the BOC and other bodies.  Public feeling ran very high and the use of native bird feathers was forbidden in all states.  Milliners were restricted to domestic and aviary species, such as pheasants, chickens,  ducks and guineafowl.

   During the late 1990s on a visit to WA, near Geraldton, a honeyeater collided with our car and was killed. Its body was caught on the radiator-screen.  I handed it in at theGeraldtonwildlife authority's visitors' centre.  I was told that they were grateful and would have it mounted to improve their display of native birds, but that I was technically guilty of being in possession of native wildlife, for which there were large fines.  Perhaps WA authorities should remember this regulation.

Anthea Fleming



On 29/10/2018 11:44 AM, Philip Veerman wrote:

Yesterday I happened to see this item on ABC Landline https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-28/outback-milliner:-the-international-success-of-a/10439282 somewhat supportive or praising of this lady who is making a business of making hats, using feathers of native (and some domestic) birds. She is in Broome WA. It is presented as a hard luck story of a lady who has made good of herself. This is seriously concerning. It was the awful trade in, particularly Egret breeding plumage, decades ago, that lead to mass slaughter of these birds at their breeding colonies. Now we have this promotion of using feathers of many species in hats again. As I watched it I could identify most of the birds species used, (I consider myself particularly adept in identifying feathers) but will decline to type out a list here as a first approach. Some are mentioned by the narration (correctly or not). For example it refers to a “road killed owl” when the feathers shown at that point are clearly no owl, they are from a Pheasant Coucal, there is Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Brown Goshawk, Kookaburra, Bustard and many other species included, though the bulk appear to be Guineafowl and various raptors and parrots. It is hinted at that the birds are mostly road kill or just sent in by whoever to this lady to make into hats. What is clearly concerning is that provenance is in most cases unknown and unprovable. Especially if this becomes a commercial enterprise – I guess it already is. It is my understanding that whilst state laws may differ, in general it is illegal to possess without a permit, any feathers of native birds and certainly to trade in them. What is worse is if this starts off a bigger trend. We need to take action against that possibility. It sure is easy to kill birds to collect feathers if there is money in it and claim it to be road kill. I am disturbed that Landline presented this program without having instead advised this lady that what she is doing is almost certainly illegal. And I reckon most of us would find it highly unethical, if not just grotesque. Maybe readers would like to take up this issue with Landline. I wonder whether anyone has contact with the wildlife authorities in Western Australia to take up this case.

 

Philip Veerman

24 Castley Circuit

Kambah  ACT  2902

 

62314041

 

0411716177

 

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