This past Monday I posted about my day at Island Beach State Park and one of my observations was an American oystercatcher sporting a leg band. I reported the encounter to the Bird Banding Laboratory at the U. S. Geological Survey. I received an email certificate providing me with interesting information about this individual bird. He (I should say it since the bird’s sex was not identified) is at least 13 years old; its hatch date came back as 2009 or earlier. It was banded locally in Ocean County in May of 2011.
American oyster catcher with a black-on-gold colored leg band. © S. Weiss
Online certificate for American oystercatcher with leg band, KU.
I personally find this information interesting, and I think that the bander does too. Whenever possible I try to get a photograph of a bird and its band when I see one and report the encounter online. During late summer and early fall I commonly find banded oystercatchers and royal terns. The oldest bird that I got a return on was an oystercatcher that was at least 17 years old! I spotted it in October of 2019 and the banding information stated it had hatched prior to 2002. Banding locations have been as far as Massachusetts to the north and Georgia to the south. I found a banded oystercatcher on August 4 of last year. The information I received back on it stated that it had just recently been banded on July 10 and was too young to fly. Remarkably, in less than four weeks, it had found its way to Island Beach from near Hampton, Virginia. I find it interesting that it chose to move north rather than stay put or move south.
It is fairly easy to report a banded bird online. The website I use is:
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/ . The form is in multiple steps and very much self-explanatory. Once you submit the information you have an opportunity to add photos to your submission. Many of the colored bands are legible if photographed. Most bands are colored with either numbers, letters or a combination of both. Some leg bands, particularly with piping plovers, have no code. There are other types of auxiliary markers you might find, such as leg flags, neck collars, wing tags, tail streamers, web/toe tags or even transmitters.
Probably the most notable wing tags are those found on California condors. Unfortunately, I cannot share a photo of one since I still have yet to see a condor in the wild. It is my understanding that there are no California condors living in the wild without a wing tag. I personally have not encountered tail streamers or web/toe tags. Examples of the other types of markers follow.
Canada Goose with black-on-yellow neck collar and a silver federal band. © S. Weiss
Left, ruddy turnstone with a black-on-aqua leg flag. © S. Weiss
Right, a piping plover with a white-on-dark green leg flag on the left leg and a plain orange colored marker on the right leg. © S. Weiss
Left, red-cockaded woodpecker with silver federal band. © S. Weiss
Right, prothonotary warbler with silver federal band. © S. Weiss
The silver bands are very difficult to read in the field. If you can obtain some of the code, it is possible the banding laboratory can match the bird.
Left, osprey with a white-on-red colored rivet band on its right leg and a silver band on its left leg. © S. Weiss
Right, a roseate tern with a white-on-blue colored band on its right leg and a silver federal band on its left leg. © S. Weiss
A savannah sparrow sporting extra bling. © S. Weiss
The left leg has a dark green band on top, followed by an orange band then a red band. The right leg has a white band on top, followed by a silver federal band. It is important to list the bands in order on each leg when filling out the report form. Drop-down menus in the online form make the whole process rather easy. Some of the color options seem very similar, so adding a photo helps.
A snowy owl with what may or may not be a transmitter device on its back. © S. Weiss
The most common band is the small, silver federal band. There are three types of metal bands: the butt-end band for most small birds, the lock-on band for hawks and owls since they may be able to remove the smaller band, and the rivet band for eagles. Unlike the colored markers that have contrasting codes on them, the numbers on the metal bands are usually machine pressed. This band is almost impossible to read in the field, even with a good photograph. Luckily, most of the birds I have seen with a federal band also sport some sort of identifiable auxiliary band. The information from the colored band is, in most cases, enough to identify your bird.
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