Nature in motion: Bird banding provides critical information

I will never forget crawling out of my tent one night on the Pacific coast of Oregon. I was in high school at the time, and I was absolutely amazed by the seemingly endless flights of migrating geese passing overhead.  

 

They were difficult to see, silhouetted against the evening sky, but their continuous calling back and forth must have gone on for half an hour. It seemed like an eternity.  

 

I wondered what kind of geese they were, where they came from, how many were traveling together and how they could tell where they were going.

 

Some 40 years later, I am still fascinated by bird migration. Fortunately, a lot of data has been gathered that helps feed my curiosity. In a 2017 “Nature Notes” column, I 

reported that an osprey was said to have flown over 2,700 miles in 13 days. The “Friends of Midway Atoll” (friendsofmidway.org) website claims that an albatross there today named Wisdom is at least 72 years old. We know these claims to be true because of a biological tool known as banding.

 

The widespread use of bird banding to study and manage various species really began in the early 1900s. The principle is simple. Someone catches a bird (or birds) and puts a harmless metal band with a unique number around its leg. Its species, sex, banding location, estimated age and the date are recorded, and it is set free again.  

 

At some later time, the bands may be recovered by hunters, hikers, birdwatchers or anyone else who might come across them. They have information on them about how to report the recovery. The data from these reports is used to study migratory patterns, lifespans, population size and health, etc.  

 

Jim Westerhold is a longtime friend and former employee of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. He described duck banding at Santee Coastal Reserve: Ducks there are fed in order to concentrate them and then captured by a 40x40-foot “rocket net” fired over the feeding flock.  

 

In other habitats, birds are corralled while molting (and flightless). Some bird species are caught in flight in smaller “mist nets” for banding, and some large waterfowl or other birds of particular concern have even been fitted with harnesses and GPS tracking devices.

 

Bird-banding permits are controlled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the returned data is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Bird Banding Laboratory.  

 

I have been fortunate enough to recover eight bird bands. A couple of them were very old and nearly worn through, and in one case I was asked to submit a picture of the band because the goose had lived well past its life expectancy. The USGS sends someone who reports a band a certificate with information about the banded bird.

 

Westerhold noted that while bands are neat and fascinating collectibles, bird banding is primarily an important biological tool. Anyone who encounters a banded bird needs to report it because each recovery could offer critical new insight into how to best manage our wild places and the animals that live there.