Imping
Imping is the practice of replacing a broken
blood feathers (developing feathers) until they are fully grown and do not have a blood supply within them anymore.[1]
Imping is done by adding a small so-called imping needle within both the shaft of the remaining part of the broken feather and the shaft of its new replacement with the help of
bruising and irritation and affect the bird after its release, potentially even becoming detrimental to its own survival.[1]
Imping is an ancient practice, and the earliest document where it is mentioned is in the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II's book The Art of Falconry (originally in Latin), where he uses the term imponere ("to fix" or "to place upon") to refer to it. The English writer William Shakespeare also made a reference to imping on his play Richard II, where a noble incites his companions to rebel against the king to "imp out our drooping country's broken wing".[2]
References
- ^ a b c Barsony, Melanie (2018). The art of imping. The dynamics of raptor feather repair (PDF). Australian Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference. University of Sydney. pp. 1–11.
- ^ a b c d McGlashen, Andy (22 December 2017). "An introduction to imping, the ancient art of feather-mending". Audubon.
External links
- The dictionary definition of imping at Wiktionary