It was always going to be the problem, the feathers are so good its hard to show them off. Its a good picture though, gets the colours pretty well
have you tried a black background (preferably material) and lighting them from both sides so you get the sheen without using the flash. You'll need a tripod to eliminate the camera movement and it might be worth experiment with the shutter speed to get the depth of field.
Might be a good excuse to pop over for a coffee, just a pity I'm working till sunday
Sandy