Goose Biots
A biot feather is a stiff fibre from the leading egde of a primary or secondary wing feather. They are stiffer than the rear facing fibres as their main job is to deflect the air over the birds wing thus generating lift.
Their structure means they are an elongated triangular shape and in general goose biots range from 1/2 to 1 1/4 inches in length. They are often used as tails, wing buds and cheeks especially when dyed in bright colours.
Commercially they are usually sold as a strip taken from the quill of a white domestic goose. This makes it easier to dye the biots. Wild birds are more difficult to dye as they have a grey colour and are also likely to be damaged from flight dirt and dust etc.
Dry flies tied with Biot bodies are usually tied with the biot taken from a turkeys wing. This is much longer and softer as turkeys do not fly long distances as geese do.
Other useful biots include those from large seabirds, especially gulls
When buying dyed biots always take the opportunity to open them out and check the colour has taken inside the feather as they close up tightly and if not opened in the dye bath will be dyed only on the edges
Hope this helps
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Chris REEVES
www.flydressersguild.org
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