What Information Can Be Collected From Banded Birds?

June 4, 2015

Question: While hunting ducks a few months ago at my hunt club, my son shot a double banded wood duck. It had the normal metal band on one leg and on the other leg it had a pink plastic band with the number 9 on it. The club next to us raises wood ducks and we were wondering if it may have come from there? How can I best describe to my kids why some ducks are banded? (Mike O.)

Answer: Bird banding is one of the most useful tools in the modern study of wild birds. Banding birds with uniquely numbered leg rings is meant to record where and when each bird is banded, its age, sex, and any other information the bander thinks crucial to report to scientists. Information from bands subsequently found and reported provides data on the range, distribution and migration habits, their relative numbers, annual production, life span, and causes of death of countless species of birds. Having this information increases scientists’ ability to understand bird habitat and behavior and assists them in their management and conservation efforts (source: USFWS website).

As far as the bands you found, it depends on what kind of metal band the bird has. If the band was issued from the USFWS with the internet address www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/, then you can easily find out where it came from … so you will want to start there. If it is not a USFWS issued band, that likely means an organization may be providing nesting habitat via wood duck nest boxes, then banding them as part of a federally-permitted study. Between the two bands, hopefully you can track it down.