How to Report Bird Bands

Look Closely for Bird Bands    

By Mary Keith
Conservation Chair, Tampa Audubon Society

PloverThis is a reminder to take an extra look at your birds and photos. Some of us went on a birding trip to Egmont Key in late April. 

Mic McCarty, our field trip coordinator, was recently going through the photos he took that day and discovered a bird with a bit of extra bling. A Wilson’s Plover was sporting red and green color bands, plus a metal USGS band! 

Metal bands from the Federal Government have an 8- or 9-digit number and should be reported to www.reportband.gov.  The Bird Banding Laboratory is a centralized location for reporting bands from all different banding projects in the United States.  

A quick search found additional instructions: "If you ever spot a Wilson’s Plover while taking a stroll on the beach, stop and look at its legs. If you see a banded bird, record the date, location, and band combination and report it to USGS Bird Banding Laboratory at: https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/.” 

His photo is not going to be enough to read the number code, but hopefully the color bands and their codes will be legible, and understandable to the project that banded Wilson’s Plovers. 

Who knows where it came from? But hopefully a recheck of a quick photo on the beach will help tell researchers where their bird has gone.
Location: Tampa, FL, USA

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