Full dress feather wing Atlantic salmon fly dressings often include feathers and/or barbs from different species of Macaws. The most commonly used feathers come from the blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) and the scarlet macaw (Ara macao). Though other feathers from macaws are used in tying salmon flies, the central tail feathers are the most useful.
It should be noted that there is no single center tail feather; there is a definite right and a definite left. These feathers are most often used as single barbs to create horns on salmon flies. Some dressings call for strips of a few barbs that are married into the wing, and/or as a veiling at the tail. Occasionally body feathers may be used as hackles, but that will not be discussed here.
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