Introduction to Banding

Jon Van Arragon

Beaverhill Bird Observatory

Introduction to Banding

• Volunteer banders are responsible for banding birds and collecting all the required data in a timely and efficient manner during station operations
• The accuracy of the data we use in our research is dependent on the knowledge and skill of the bander
• Being a bander or assistant requires excellent bird identification skills, attention to detail, and a solid understanding of bird molt cycles
• Reading, knowing, and understanding the first 40 pages of Pyle is critical to succeeding in this role
• Copies of these pages are available at the lab

Species ID

• The first step in banding is to identify the bird!
• If you cannot identify a bird with certainty, you must release it unbanded. Never guess!
• Take photos to document it in case it is something rare
• Certain species (Empidonax flycatchers, juvenile sparrows, Catharus thrushes, warblers in the fall) are very tricky to identify!
• Separating tricky species is covered in each bird’s species account in Pyle, field guides such as Sibley can be helpful as well
• There will be a separate quiz on identifying the 20 most common species at BBO

Wing Morphology

• For tricky species identifications, you may need to look at a bird’s wing morphology.
• Wing morphology refers to the relative lengths of different flight feathers in the bird’s wing, as well as the presence of emargination or notches
• Identifying difficult species often requires you to take a wing formula, which involves measuring the distance between the tips of certain feathers in the bird’s wings
• Measure wing formulae by placing the closed wing in its natural position on a wing ruler (as if you were measuring its wing chord), then looking at the mm distance between the tips of the feathers in question
• This is shown in the figure on the right

Wing Morphology

• Another important element of a bird’s wing morphology is the presence of emarginations and notches on certain flight feathers
• Emargination refers to a “dip” on the outer web of a flight feather (shown in the figure to the right)
• A notch refers to a “dip” on the inner web of a flight feather
• Emarginations are especially useful for identifying Empidonax flycatchers in the hand, but can be helpful for a variety of other species as well

Wing Morphology

• It is also important to know the number of primary feathers present in a bird’s wing!
• Birds can have the following number of primary feathers:
• 9 primaries
• 10 primaries (10^th primary vestigial)
• 10 primaries (10^th primary full size)
• Because wing morphology involves looking at specific feathers, knowing the number of feathers lets you be sure you’re looking at the right one!
• Remember: if you’re looking for a specific feather, count down from the outside of the wing, don’t start at 1!

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Band Size

• Once identified, figure out what band size you are going to use.
• There are 2 mains ways to figure out band size:
• Using the typical band sizes listed in Pyle or on the cheat sheets. Note that the first band size listed is used in most cases.
• Using a leg gauge to measure the bird’s leg
• To use the leg gauge: hold the bird’s leg by its joint, then slide different size holes in the gauge over the leg to find a good fit
• It’s important to rotate the leg gauge when doing this, since the legs are oblong shaped and bird bands needs to spin freely!
• Blackbirds have quite variable leg thicknesses, so we recommend always checking their leg size with a leg gauge before banding

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Figure taken from the NABC Bander’s Study Guide

Opening the Band

• Open the band using the posts on the banding pliers
• Make sure that the seam of the band faces the opening of the pliers so that it opens evenly
• For size 1B bands, open them using the thicker black removal pliers, as these bands are made of a thicker material and can break the posts of our usual pliers
• Only open the band as far as you need to for it to fit over the bird’s leg. Opening the band too far can cause it become misshaped
• Hold the band between your index finger and thumb using the hand that is holding the bird (your non-dominant hand)
• Hold the pliers in the opposite hand

Figure taken from the NABC Bander’s Study Guide

Applying the Band

• When the band is open, place it in the appropriately sized banding pliers
• Make sure you use the appropriate pliers and hole for that band size
• Again, holding the band in your bird holding hand
• Gently guide the band over the bird’s leg, making sure you have the leg restrained by the joint
• Rotate the ends of the pliers away from your body so that the opening of the band is facing you
• Squeeze the band shut firmly and smoothly, ensuring that the ends of the band butt together
• Once the band is on, rotate it 90 degrees and squeeze it again

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Figure taken from the NABC Bander’s Study Guide

Removing Bands

• If a band overlaps itself, is the wrong size, or may pose a threat to the bird, it must be removed
• There are 2 main methods of removing bird bands
• Using reverse pliers: these are in the drawer with the banding pliers, simply insert the tips of the pliers into the band and then squeeze the handles to open the band again
• Using a wire: loop one end of the wire through one side of the band, and the other end of the wire through the other side. Then pull gently to bend the band open.

Removing Bands

• Any time you remove a bird band, you should have both the bird’s leg and the bird band secured between your fingers. This is usually a 2-person job!
• Make sure no force is being applied to the bird’s leg, all force applied should be on the band itself
• If you feel a band needs removing, ask a staff member for assistance with this process, don’t attempt it by yourself

Required Data

• While all the data we collect at the BBO is valuable, only a few data fields are required by the banding office
• The required data fields are Band Number, Species, Date, Age, Sex, Location, Disposition, and Bird Status
• Note that the required data fields must be filled in for every bird captured, even if they are unknown! Never leave them blank!
• During busy periods, you may need to take fewer measurements to clear backlogs of birds
• If extractors are bringing back more birds than you can process in one hour, start dropping a few measurements to speed things up
• Wing length, tail length, feather wear, and the molt limits and plumage fields should all be dropped first when this is required
• At minimum species, age, sex, WRP are needed
• Always communicate with your extractors. If they are catching lots of birds, start dropping measurements to keep up

Age and Sex

• These are the single most important data we take for analyzing population trends and structure
• The techniques and terminology for ageing and sexing are explained at length in the first 40 pages of Pyle and the Ageing and Sexing PowerPoint, both of which you must read.
• If you are not 100% certain of a bird’s age or sex, that’s ok! Just record them as unknown and explain in the comments. Like with the species of the bird, it is never acceptable to guess here.
• The age here is recorded in Humphrey-Parkes (ie. HY, AHY) format, the Wolf-Ryder-Pyle (ie. FCF, DCB) age is recorded later

How Aged and How Sexed

• This is a record of the criteria used to determine the age and sex of the bird
• These codes are located on a cheat sheet in the lab
• If you would like to see the full list now, go to the “Lookups” tab in the scribing intro sheet linked here!
• Any bird aged by “Combined Characteristics”, or CC, should have the codes for the characteristics used listed in the remarks
• The remaining codes are pretty much self-explanatory
• If you used the presence of a molt limit to age a bird, the code is “LP” (limit present)
• If you used skull pneumatization to age a bird, the code is “SK”

Wing Length

• There are 2 different ways of measuring wing length: flattened wing chord and unflattened wing chord. Here at the BBO, we use the unflattened wing chord
• The flattened wing chord is mostly used in Europe, but there is a few tough species identifications it can help with as well
• The rulers with a stop on the end are designed for measuring wing chord, these are in the drawer with the banding pliers
• Scoop the bird’s wing onto the ruler, then slide it up until the bird’s “shoulder” is pressing lightly against the stop of the ruler
• Make sure the wing is in line with the ruler and that you don’t press down on the wing here!
• Don’t measure a bird’s wing if the longest primary feathers are missing, damaged, or still growing in

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Tail Length

• Measure tail length using a flat ruler (not the wing ruler)
• Gently insert the ruler between the central tail feathers (perpendicular to them), and then ensure the end of the ruler can’t go any closer to the bird’s body
• Try to insert the ruler close to the base of the feathers, being careful not to ruffle the feathers, which can cause unnecessary abrasion
• Like wing length, we don’t measure tail length if the tail feathers are missing, damaged, or still growing

Wing and Tail Wear

• This is a score of how much abrasion is on the wing and tail feathers, on a scale from 0-5
• Not every feather will be uniformly worn, your final score should be an average of all the feathers
• The scoring guide for feather wear is straightforward and is shown on the right

Fat Score

• Birds accumulate fat in visible deposits, we score these to judge their body condition
• To evaluate fat, blow on the bird’s throat to push the feathers out of the way
• Lots of people struggle with this at first, it can help if you blow on the bird’s chest first and then move your air stream upwards
• Don’t blow so hard you get lightheaded or pass out!!
• Based on how “full” the throat area is with fat, we score it from 0-7
• This can feel a little subjective and tricky at first, but it gets easier as you see more birds with varying fat scores

Photo Credit: George McBride

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0

1

2

3

4

Keel Score

• The keel score is a visual measure of how much muscle the bird has attached to its keel bone and is also used to judge body condition
• Based on the shape of the bird’s chest, we score the keel muscle from 1-3
• Similarly to fat, you just need to blow the feathers on the chest out of the way to see this

Body Molt

• If a bird is actively molting body feathers, we record this as well
• For birds with body molt, we score the amount of pin feathers (which look like little straws among the plumage) on the bird from 0-4
• Checking body molt requires you to blow all over the bird: on the chest, under the wings, on the back, and on the head
• We score body molt as the number of quarters of the bird’s body that is covered in pin feathers. So, if ¼ of the bird has pins, the body molt score would be a 1. If the entire body of the bird has pin feathers on it, it gets a 4!

Unsurprisingly, this scruffy Yellow Warbler had a body molt score of 4!

Flight Feather Molt

• For flight feather molt, it is a simple “yes” or “no” whether any flight feathers are being replaced
• Ignore any adventitious feather replacement, where feathers are being replaced on one side of the wing or tail but not the other
• This occurs when a bird loses feathers randomly, either due to breaking or being pulled by a predator

Molt Limits and Plumage

• We denote the age of each feather tract individually for the Primary Coverts, Secondary Coverts, Tertials, Primaries, Secondaries, Rectrices, and Body Feathers
• If you are short on time, you only need to record the ages of the feather tracts you looked at to age the bird
• Refer to the molt section in a bird’s species account if you need a reminder of which feathers are likely to be replaced or retained
• Refer to the ageing and sexing guide for info on distinguishing feather age

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Disposition

• This is a record of what we did with each individual bird band, it is a single number from the list below
• 1: This band was placed on a bird which was then released
• 4: This band was destroyed
• 5: This band replaced another band on a bird’s leg
• 8: This band was lost
• 9: The data associated with this band was lost
• Anytime you band a bird, it is disposition code 1. Just remember, if you lost the band or did something else with it, a different code applies

Bird Status

• This is a required field that indicates two things: the health of the bird, and what we did with it
• For almost all cases a bird’s status will either be “300” or “500”
• Status code 300 indicates a healthy bird that was given a federal metal band
• Status code 500 indicates a sick, stressed, or injured bird that was given a federal metal band (this includes old healed injuries)
• There are additional bird status codes for the use of auxilliary markers (such as colour bands or Motus tags), but you really don’t need to worry about these

Releasing Birds

• Most birds are released either from the BBO release hatch or an open palm
• Put the bird on its feet from banders grip for the release hatch. When releasing from the hatch you must ensure the bird flew away and didn’t drop to the ground.
• Make sure any bird being released from the hand is not far from the ground, birds can be placed on their feet or on their back when on a hand
• Hawks and other larger raptors should never be released out the hatch. They are released by gently tossing them into the air and letting them fly away
• If a bird is ever unable to fly, catch the bird and call a staff member right away
• This is usually just wing strain, which can be remedied by giving the bird some rest in a bird bag
• Stressed birds may also not fly away initially, these should be given rest in a bird bag as well

Final Notes

• Make sure you always communicate with your extractors. Bird rushes can come out of nowhere, you need to be prepared to handle them when they happen!
• Never be afraid to fill in data as “unknown” or ask for a second opinion while you’re banding
• Some of these measurements can be tricky at first, but you’ll get better at them with experience
• And as always, remember that bird safety always comes first!

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Dax

• I don’t have any more cute ambassador bird pics for you
• I am very sorry
• Here’s a picture of my dog on her birthday instead

That’s All!

• Contact information if you have questions:
• Jana Teefy, Head Biologist: biologist@beaverhillbirds.com
• Jon Van Arragon, Assistant Biologist: assistant.biologist@beaverhillbirds.com

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