Fun With Feathers

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Anybody know what bird these feathers came from? Here's a hint: they look like ostrich herl if it was hackle.(Answer below.)

It's an exotic, and I've never seen it in any fly recipe. There's probably a good reason for that, but I was able to get my hands on some and have been enjoying playing with it. As you can see, these are very webby feathers, but they beg to be wrapped.

I started on the obvious, a soft hackle. I began with a short wrap...

Then went long.

Sure makes a soft hackle look like a mouthful.

Another obvious use would be as gills or wing buds on nymphs and emergers. This is as far as I got in that department

All those flies are on #14 hooks. I went to a #10 for this Wooly Bugger. Now that's a buggy Bugger.

All those are wets; I'll be interested to see how well this stuff floats. Could it be a CDC replacement? The friend I got the feathers from says the rain just flows off those birds. I'll tie up a CDC pattern next and try it out as soon as I can. I could do it in the bathtub, I suppose, but I think I'll wait for field conditions.

Give up? They're Emu feathers.