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Report Banded Birds

If you have been birding for a few years, sooner or later you may come across a banded or color-marked bird. You should know what to do and there are a few new procedures involved in reporting such birds. In the United States and Canada 1,057,918 birds were banded in 1996. Of this number 76,938 bands were returned - 90 percent of this number came from ducks and geese. This approximate 7 percent return each year represents a small but significant number.

Bands are provided by the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) in Maryland, and the Bird Banding Office (BBO) in Canada. BBL bands are inscribed with a unique eight or nine digit number along with the phone number and address of the BBL. Specialty bands such as those provided for hummingbirds and murres, have a letter followed by five numbers. Foreign countries also band birds. Russian and Japanese bands are sometimes found on waterfowl in western North America. In the east, Danish bands are found on Greenland. Canada geese and Brazilian bands are found on terns and shorebirds. These bands have a foreign address but may be reported to the BBL. Be sure to list all information as it appears on the band.

Banded birds not covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act should not be reported to the BBL. These would include banded pigeons (plastic-covered aluminum bands), cage-bird bands and a variety of private bands. Falconry bands, as well as those on grouse, quail, pheasant and turkey, should be reported to your state wildlife agency.

Auxiliary marking schemes include the use of color dyes, neck bands, nasal markers, colored leg bands and flags, web-tags and plasticine-filled bands, radio transmitters, patagial markers, and tail streamers. These methods are used in research projects and are useful in identifying individuals at a distance. The BBL keeps records of these birds.

When reporting such a bird, size, shape, color of marker, color of codes, age and sex of the bird, date of observation, exact location, and your name, address and daytime phone number are important. In the case of shorebird and peregrine sightings, you can make a sketch of the flag positions or color codes and fax the information to the BBL.

The use of the toll-free BBL report line has increased the number of recent band returns. The next time you spot a window-killed yellow-rumped warbler with a leg band, a bright pink great egret, or a ruby-throated hummingbird with a green or blue throat or a brown breast, call, fax, email, or mail the BBL or BBO.

BBL and BBO addresses and related information are:
   
  USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
  Bird Banding Laboratory
  12100 Beech Forest Road
  Laurel, Maryland 20708-4037
  1-800-327-BAND (2263) (phone)
  1-301-497-5717 (fax)

  bandreports@patuxent.nbs.gov (email)
  http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/recwbnd.htm (web)

  Bird Banding Office
  National Wildlife Research Center
  Canadian Wildlife Service
  Hull, Quebec, Canada K1A OH3
  1-819-994-9176 (phone)
  1-819-953-6612 (fax)
  
  BBO_CWS@ec.gc.ca (email)

- Beakly News