Reporting bands is very important – and it’s getting easier. All reports of banded birds are coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Lab. Back in the 70s, it took weeks to get results. Now, you can do it by simply sending in a text message from your blind while you wait for the next flight of birds to come in. Here you see a young male wood duck that was just banded.(Richard Hines)
One thing that always seems to get other hunters’ interests going are the bands hanging on your duck call lanyard, and while talk always gets around to what type of duck call you are using, my question is always, where was that duck banded? After all, I banded ducks for over 30 years, so I’m always curious where the bird was banded. Being lucky enough to shoot a banded duck is the prize of any duck hunt. But many hunters go through numerous seasons if not their entire hunting life without recovering a banded duck. It seems almost impossible especially when you realize that over 250,000 ducks, geese, and swans are banded each year. At some point each year, every state agency, numerous researchers, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are banding waterfowl.
Every species of bird, from hummingbirds to the largest species, the wandering albatross has been banded. Waterfowl lead the list for total birds banded. Early efforts were to simply band as many ducks as possible, but now certain species are targeted at specific times of the year such as banding on wintering grounds or nesting areas. Each state or unit now has specified quotas. For instance, a state might have a banding quota that needs to be banded prior to hunting season.
Over my career (in the southeast) I banded wood ducks followed by mallards, black ducks, and Canada geese. Most of the wood duck banding took place during the summer months. We were targeting juvenile woodies to determine movements from nesting areas. The black ducks we banded was to determine long term changes in wintering locations. Where we conducted banding, we used the same locations each year. The sites were kept cleaner than your front lawn, no weeds or debris. This was essential when using rocket nets as any type of debris could tangle the net as it shot over the ducks. Typically baiting would start several weeks ahead of the “shot” so birds would be accustomed to walking around exposed nets and rockets. Even then, the slightest sound or disturbance would flush them, delaying the shot for at least another day. It is a time consuming process.
While birds have been marked in some form or fashion in Europe and Asia for several centuries, it was not until 1803, that John James Audubon is credited as the first ornithologist to mark birds in North America. Audubon placed silver wire on fledglings of eastern Phoebe’s (legs). He observed two of those fledging’s returning to his farm as adults the following year.
In 1890, a Danish ornithologist C.C. Mortensen was the first to use numbered bands in a scientific study in Europe, but in 1909, Jack Miner built a duck trap on his land near Kingsville, Ontario. Miner was the first person to band ducks and geese in North America when he attached homemade bands to birds. Each band had his return address and a biblical inscriptions such as “With God all things are possible.” The first band that was returned to Miner came from a hunter in South Carolina in 1910.
Overall, banding was limited and was not being conducted in large numbers until Frederick C. Lincoln traveled to Browning, Illinois where he banded 1,667 ducks in the Sangamon Bottoms in 1922. This was the first large scale trapping and banding of waterfowl in the U.S.
Here you see the author releasing a banded mallard at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge after verification of the bird’s age, sex, and band number.(Richard Hines)
Lincoln, who took charge of the U.S. Biological Survey bird banding program in 1920 began assembling all band data. By 1935, Lincoln was able to assemble enough band returns to begin piecing together the concept of flyways that we still use today. Since 1922, over 14 million waterfowl have been banded in North America.
Originally, anyone wanting to band a duck could do it, but today, only persons who are issued a U.S. Federal Bird Banding and Marking Permit through the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory are allowed to band birds, and these birds must be banded with official federal bands. Keeping standards high allows better monitoring and sharing of information between researchers throughout the world.
Reporting bands is one of the most important steps – and it’s getting easier. All reports of banded birds are coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Lab. When I shot my first banded mallard back in the early 70s, the band address I wrote to was AVISE BIRD BAND WRITE WASHINGTON DC USA. “AVISE” is not a misspelling but a word meaning “report/send” in the principal languages of the hemisphere which are English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. In 1995, the 800-toll free phone number was added on bands, and in 2007, the current website address is now being used. When I wrote to the banding lab back in the 70s, it took weeks for them to tell me my mallard had been banded in Manitoba. Now, you can do it by simply sending in a text message from your blind while you are waiting for the next flight of birds to come in.
Matt Rogosky, a biologist at the banding lab, said, “The lab gets backed up from time to time and you can understand why. In a typical year your text message reporting your bird will be among 75,000 to 85,000 band reports coming in each year. Rogosky said, “There were some concerns when the old call center switched from the 800-phone number to online reporting, but we discovered the change was good, the data quality is much better, and information is not passing between multiple individuals but coming straight from the hunter.”
In 1909, Jack Miner (left) built a duck trap on his land near Kingsville, Ontario. Miner was the first person to band ducks and geese in North America. Each band had his return address and a biblical inscription such as “With God all things are possible.” The first band that was returned to Miner came from a hunter in South Carolina in 1910.(Jack Miner)
However, there is one time when you should mail in your band. If you recover one that is so worn the numbers are unreadable. In this case, the lab can use a chemical process to “raise” the numbers. After they are finished with the band it will be returned to you.
The United States is not the only country banding birds as each country have their own banding laboratory. The counterpart in Canada is the Canadian Banding Office. European countries refer to banding as “ringing” birds and these countries are in a group called EURING. It is not unusual for American waterfowl to find their way to Europe and Asia or vice versa, so if you happen to find one of these bands, just report it to the US Geological Survey Banding Lab where it will be reported to the appropriate country.
Rogosky said, in the waterfowl world, pintails are by far the top world travelers regularly moving between Asia and the Pacific Coast. Currently there are 27 pintail band recoveries from Asia.
A biologist I know was banding albatross and other sea birds on an island near Hawaii when two pintails dropped in for a short stay before moving on across the Pacific. I have seen blue-winged teal in Puerto Rico and Mexico, and Rogosky said the banding lab has reports of blue-winged teal from southern Brazil.
Many times at certain times of the year verification of age can be difficult. Biologists have to check both secondary and tertiary feathers for “buffing” around the edges or one down feather remaining from a previous molt all to determine age.(Richard Hines)
Some interesting stories come from one of my old books, Waterfowl Tomorrow told of a blue-winged teal that was shot in a marsh in Peru. Banded six months earlier in Saskatchewan, that blue wing had flown seven thousand miles and crossed a dozen international boundaries. Another blue wing was taken by a duck hunter in a volcanic lake 13-thousand feet above sea level in Ecuador. The best story was a letter from a South American hunter who returned the band, but had requested to have “Senyor Fish and Wildlife” supply him with a new .22 rifle for his efforts in obtaining the band.
For the most part, migration routes are somewhat predictable, but some band returns have shown that species such as redheads may, from time to time, be disregarding traditional flyways and traveling straight across the country almost establishing their own highways. With years of data now at our fingertips, scientists can go back and conduct analysis of various groups of band returns to make other conclusions.
My youngest son was a duck guide for several years. I always told him and his fellow guides, one thing you don’t want to see on the Weather Channel is a video of people walking around Chicago in short pants during the Arkansas duck season. The bulk of most waterfowl species will only move as far as they must to find open water or food. Most experienced duck hunters understand this. This has also been confirmed by a recent research project that looked at primary Mississippi Flyway wintering areas for mallards, pintails and green-winged teal. For the past 60 years, there has been a definite shift in the wintering areas for these three species that are now spending the winter 200 to 280 miles further north of what was originally considered their traditional wintering areas.
Band returns also tell us ages of birds. The day a bird is banded, its age is recorded as Hatch Year (HY) meaning the bird hatched that year. (Those banded on nesting grounds may be recorded as juvenile.) Another category is AHY or After Hatch Year indicating the bird was known to have hatched before the calendar year of observation. If a bird is over two years old, it cannot be reliably aged which places it as AHY.
When I held a banding permit, I periodically received reports from the lab concerning birds that I or previous biologists had banded in previous years. One day a report came in on a mallard that the refuge had banded 20-years before. It got my attention, but it was in no way a record. Rogosky told me that the duck with the longest longevity record is a mallard that was banded on Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana and was recovered in Arkansas 27 years and 7 months later. However, the waterfowl record is held by a 30-year-old snow goose, but sea birds such as the Albatross are now pushing upper 60s. Check out the USGS website which maintains a page showing historical longevity records of North American birds.
Other bands you may encounter are neck collars. These are used on geese and they come in a wide range of colors with large numbers making them readable at long distances. In many cases, each color refers to specific locations on Artic breeding grounds. I can tell you it takes a great deal of time to watch a flock of snow geese and pick out one collar out of thousands of birds, but over time, this information is tallied, allowing movements to be evaluated.
Today, waterfowl are being equipped with micro-satellite transmitters. These new lightweight transmitters provide up-to-the-minute locations allowing biologists to pinpoint exact habitat choices, time spent at each site, not to mention variations in speed and altitude as well as time in the air during migration. If you happen to harvest a bird with a transmitter, researchers obviously need these so they will trade a “substitute transmitter” for your trophy case.
Charges are placed in rockets to propel the net over the ducks. Powder in the rocket is ignited with an electric charge. Holes at the rear of the rocket allow gas to escape providing propulsion. Most nets use three to four rockets. Here we see the author’s son, Josh Hines, with a duck under net.(Richard Hines)
Banded waterfowl provides tremendous amounts of information. One mentioned earlier are the shifts in wintering areas and the “non-traditional east-west routes” of redheads, but band recoveries also provide ages and longevity patterns, and changes in wintering and nesting locations. This information helps managers adjust seasons and regulations. Band data goes just a little further than a wild guess among a bunch of hunters sitting around the hunt camp after supper. Banded waterfowl are continuing to provide managers with important information that will help direct management efforts to keep waterfowl populations healthy continuing to provide us with good quality hunts well into the future.
One final request from an old waterfowl hunter and biologist, report any band you have. It is believed only 50% of bands recovered are ever reported. Although you assume “it’s only one band, what could it matter” that is not the case. Yes, thousands of ducks are banded each year and yes, thousands are reported but out of the thousands of bands, there is the likely chance that the band in your hand may be the only record from that location. Additionally, some species such as diving ducks are particularly difficult to capture and band, making those bands even more important, so take time to click on a website and report your band?
Join our weekly newsletter or subscribe to Gamekeepers Magazine.
Your source for information, equipment, know-how, deals and discounts to help you get the most from every hard-earned moment in the field.
