Banded Birds
The Wildlife Care Center occasionally receives banded bird into the center. These bands can provide valuable information on migration, behavior and life spans of birds.
The Wildlife Care Center occasionally receives banded bird into the center. These bands can provide valuable information on migration, behavior and life spans of birds.
Migratory birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and only banders permitted by the Bird Banding Laboratory are able to catch and band birds. There are currently 6,500 permitted banders in the United States. When these birds are found (injured, dead, or identified in the wild) they can be reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory. This information is tracked and compiled and a report is sent back to the bander.
According the Bird Banding Laboratory the first record of bird banding in North America was by John James Audubon. In 1803 he tied silver cords to the legs of a brood of phoebes near Philadelphia and was able to identify two of the nestlings when they returned to the neighborhood the following year.
More information on the Bird Banding Laboratory can be found at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL.
Below are a few of the banded birds that have come into the Wildlife Care Center.
A banded Osprey was brought into us after it had died near Wishram, WA after being struck by a moving train. The Osprey was banded as a hatch year bird in July of 2001 near Coeur D Alene, Idaho.
In July 2003 a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Agent brought a Common Loon into the Wildlife Care Center. The loon was reported to U.S. Fish and Wildlife and they found it struggling in an open ditch on a golf course in Salem, Oregon. After being examined at the Care Center the loon was found to be underweight and had suffered minor injuries to its bill. The loon was banded and had a yellow band with a black stripe on its right leg and a federal band on its left leg. After reporting the band number to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory we found that the Biodiversity Research Institute banded the loon as a chick in the spring of 2003 on Swan Lake in Washington.
A Glaucous-Winged Gull was found on March 1, 2006 in Southwest Portland. The gull suffered severe wing injury that was not repairable. The gull was banded as a nestling on August 16th, 1990 near Oak Bay, B.C. This Glaucous-winged Gull lived to be 16 years old.
A Red-tailed Hawk was found in Vancouver, WA with a severe wing injury on January 12th, 2006. It was treated in our Wildlife Care Center for two months but the wing did not heal enough to fly. It was euthanized because it would never be able to be returned to the wild. It was banded as a hatch-year bird on September 13, 2004 near St. Helens, OR.
An adult Cooper’s Hawk was found dead in a parking lot in Northwest Portland on January 9, 2006. It was brought into the Wildlife Care Center where we reported the band. The hawk was banded as a hatch-year bird on August 23rd, 2002 near Scappoose, OR.
A Red-tailed Hawk was found on November 5th, 2005 on the side of the road near the Sauvie Island Bridge. It was most likely hit by a car and suffered a compounded fracture on its left wing. The injury was not repairable and the hawk was euthanized. Hawkwatch International banded the Red-tailed Hawk on August 31st, 2005 at Bonney Butte, near Government Camp, OR. The hawk was hatched in 2005.
What to do if you find a bird band.
If you find a dead bird with at band you can report it directly to the Bird Banding Laboratory at www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL or 1-800-327-2263. For injured birds call Audubon Wildlife Care Center at 503-292-0304.
