Wing Pheasant marabou, two plumes with four strands of silver flash-a-bou on top of each plume
Cheeks Church window feather tips
How to tie it
Lay a thread base on the size 8 5XL streamer hook all the way back to the bend.
Tail: pull a small tuft of Pheasant marabou down so only the tips are left, and bind it in at the bend about one hook gap long. Leave the butts in and bind them forward with open wraps to build a little underbody, then snip the excess.
Bind medium silver oval tinsel in a bit further forward, then one strand of the cream wool yarn (split off a three-strand piece) at the same point, and carry both back along the top of the shank with open wraps. Bring the thread back to the front.
Wrap the yarn forward to the head. If it starts widening out, give it a clockwise spin to rope it up, but not so much that it segments. Tie off and snip the excess.
Take one full wrap of the oval tinsel at the very back, then rib forward in open spirals and catch it off with two or three thread wraps.
Throat: stack a pinch of white Bucktail, then hold it by the tips and pull the shorter hairs out of the butt end to thin it by a third or more. Bind it under the shank reaching just past the hook point, using a pinch wrap and one more only, and snip the butts short. Be economical with thread from here on - several components still have to go on the head.
Wing: lick your fingers and gather a big tuft of Pheasant marabou, measure it to the back of the tail, and set it on top with a pinch wrap and one more. Do not trim it yet.
Slide two strands of silver Flash-a-bou under the thread and lift them onto the top, a little closer to your side because the thread will spin them round, then take two tight wraps. The marabou is now held by four wraps, so you can snip its butts close without cutting the flash.
Bind a second Pheasant marabou plume of about the same size and length directly on top of the first with two wraps, then two more strands of Flash-a-bou on top with two tight wraps, so the first flash ends up sandwiched between the two plumes. Snip the marabou butts off.
Take a few medium-tight wraps working rearward to lay the marabou and flash down and smooth the head area.
Cheeks: strip two Church window feathers back to a small tip each and lay one along each side, reaching about half the body length. Set the height, adjust it until it sits right, then lock it with tight wraps and snip the butts. Trim all eight strands of flash to the length of the marabou.
Run the thread up to the eye and build the head into a ramp - a streamer wants a head substantial enough to hold a big drop of cement - then whip finish and cement.