Wings, tails and shoulders from most fowl are great. Try to get mallard wings to tie a bloody butcher from a shop... They're around but good luck getting hold of them. I look at these poor mallards in the park with strange eyes...
If you're tying wet flies or spiders these small feathers from the bird shoulders are great. The main feathers from the wings are great for the, well, wings of wets. Larger feathers are working nicely for quill body in nice natural colours.
All these feathers can be removed from the skin so you don't have to treat the skin. Put them in separate zip lock bags and make sure to avoid possible contamination with other material and you're fine.
I've always been tying on a budget and i love finding feathers, there're something really nice about the direct connection from the bird to the fly.
I'd happily exchange finished flies for some nice feathers, just need to be selected a little so you don't end up with ton of fluff you have to ramage through to get to the good feathers.
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