Bird Banding

I'm sure many of you have noticed the bands around our legs.  Did you know that some birds in the wild have them as well.  They are put on by scientists and researchers as a way to learn more about birds. Auburn even has its own Bird Banding Research Station.  

The Auburn Bird Banding Research Station is run by Director Mark Blazis, a retired science teacher.  This group is comprised of professionals and volunteers, some of those volunteers are kids.  Isn't that cool. Banding occurs from Spring until Fall on Saturdays and Sundays from 8-11 at the Auburn Sportsman's Club weather permitting.  The birds are humanely captured, information is collected such as health, weight, wingspan measurements, they are banded and then released.  You can find out more about this cool opportunity at the their website or here at the library.  Oh and this event is free.

But why are birds banded?  There are a lot of reasons.  Wild birds are banded because it allows researchers to study birds in a way that is not intrusive.  Researchers use the band to study where birds live and where they travel, how long birds live for, they can monitor families and how big populations get, they are also for identification.  Once a bird is banded all the information they collect is attached to the band id so you can learn about each one and you don't have to capture the bird each time - just spying the band id through a pair of binoculars and reporting it can help researchers.  You would be surprised at the amount of information that one banded bird can collect (click here for examples).

Now I'm sure you are thinking that Kyp and I are not wild birds so why do we have bands?  You band wild birds to learn about their health and travels, domestic birds like us are banded to learn about our families. Our bands don't have ids but are different colors and each color represents our specific family.  This way the people who breed us can keep our families healthy.  I'm sure you've noticed that our bands are both pink, but if you look really close Kyp's band is a different shade of pink than my band.  What does that mean, well it means that we did not have the same mom and dad so we aren't brothers but with similar shades we probably came from the same place and could be cousins. 

Now banding doesn't hurt - it's a bit like wearing a bracelet. Kyp and I have had them for so long that we don't even notice them anymore.  But if you'd like more information don't forget to visit the Auburn Bird Banding Research Station.