-BANDING A JOURNALOF ORNITHOLOGICAL]NVES•flGATION

VOL. XXII APRIL, 1951 No. 2

BANDING AND MARKING

BY L. E. Rica•)ar•;

This paper has beenprompted by enquiriesfrom overseas,particu- larly from workerswho have experiencedpengui.n marking diftlculties in the field, relativeto my methodsof ,bandingpenguins. Admittedly, the bandingof penguinsin a way that wi'll allow'results to be followed up is not easy. The ensuingtext, therefore,will be more than just a statementof .thefinally evolved end resuksof my bandingand marking technique. It will give alsosome account ,of the difiqcuhiesencountered in the periodof researchand of the severalunsuccessful banding meth- ods tried, a procedurewhich shouldbe of greatervalue to a ,worker grapplingwith penguinmarking difiqculties. Finally, in orderthat the readermay gleanfurther ideasof the resultsof the bandingand mark- ing, a list of my publishedpenguin papers is appended.

EARLY BANDING EFFORTS Shortly after I commencedmy detailed study of the Yellow-eyed , Megadyptesaatipodes (Hombron and Jacquinot), on Au- gust25, 1936, it becameapparen, t ,that the had to be marked in someway. At that time, 1 was unaware•hat wild birds were being bandedin America and in Europe. Further, enquiriesfrom authorities in New Zealandon how to band or mark wild birds led to nothing,so that I beganto realizethat no onewithin my orbit knewanything about the problem. By October,1936, w•hilstthe penguinswere incubating,I managed to purchaselocally several coloured celluloid bands. Eight matedpairs of incubatingbirds, all that were under observationthat .season,were banded. So in that way was launchedthe first systematicban.ding ,of wild birds in New Zealand. I,t may be of interestto statethat one of the foregoing16 birdsbanded is still with me at time of writing (Janu- ary, 1949) which meansthat, assuming•,e was at leastthree years old in November,1936, this male penguinis at least 15 yearsold. It was not long, however,before I began.to realizethat the celluloid bandswould probably not stayon for a year, so in the moukingperiod in March, 1937, I re-banded all 16 mated 'birds 'wi,thbands made from very thin aluminum (standardwire gauge 25). In addition, •hat season'sfledgling.s and severaljuveniles hatched in ,the1935-36 season, werebanded. One of thesejuveni,les is still with ,me,now a little .more than 13 years old, making the oldest•bird whoseexact age is kn•own. By the beginningof the 1937-38 season,it •was obviou'sthat my bandingmethods had little .scientificvalue an.dthat, if •;heidentity of the penguingalready banded was not to be lost,some alternative system of markingwould have to .bedevised. Necessity seems ever the mother 47 48] RICHDALE,Banding and Marking Penguins Bird-BandingApril of invention. Eventually,a footanarkingscheme was evolved,and on October2, 1937, the first six penguinswere footmarked.

Figure L The toolsof banding. At back, two typesof pliers; in front, three coil .bands; at each end, two aluminum bandslike those in presentuse; behind coil ban,ds, a narrow aluminum band and a celluloid band.

Figure 2. Feedingtime. The parent is wearingan almninumband on right leg and a celluloid band on left leg. 'Vol. XXlI 1951 RICHDALE,Banding and Marking Penguins [49

CELLULOID BANDS The useof celluloidbands for any long term policy wasno,t a success for the best band evolvedwould not stay on longer ,thanfrom 10 to 12 months. For the sake of visibility all bands, whether celluloid or aluminum,were placed on the tarsus. If put on the leg, the bands would stay on for a much longer period, but the reading of the band was possibleonly by catchingthe penguinand searchingamong the feathers,a procedurethat is better avoided. My aim in persistingwith the colouredcelluloid bands was to devise a systemwhereby individual penguinscould be recognizedin the winter from a blind as they landedfrom the sea,and alsoso that their identity could be establishedmore quickly at the nest, especiallyat the pre-eggstage. Many kinds of bandswere tried, includingbands that were flat when unwound (flat bands) and others that were like a small knitting needlewhen unwound (coil bands). Bandsof varying diam- eters were tried; some had to be stretched to make them fit ;the tarsus, whilst othersjust hung loosely. It was next found that the bands stretched and either broke in two or else slid off the tarsus and toes. This meant that some method of fastening.the ends of a band had to be devised. Coil bandscould not be treatedin this way, so their use was abandonedearly. Eventually, after severalmethods were tried, a hole was bored through the ends of the fiat bandsand a galvanisedbolt was pushedthrough and made fast wi.th a nut. This methodof fasteningwas most successfulfor not once,to my knowledge,did this bol.t and nut ever come apart. The bands,however, lasted only three or four monthsafter whichthey broke acrossthe flat strip where there was only one thicknessof celluloid. Next, bands were made so that there were at least two thicknessesof material all ,the way around. These bands lasted from 10 to 12 monthsand were used extensivelyin 1938-39, after which, exceptfor a specialproject in 1939-40, the use of celluloid bands was aban- doned. An extremely important point in penguin bands (celluloid or aluminum) is the width of the flat material whic.h makes ,the band. The wider this material the strongeris the band and the longer i.t will stay on. Strips 14 and 12 millimetres wide were tried but the bands cut the tarsus so that these wid, ths had to be abandoned. Even- tually, a width of 10 millimetreswas foundto be the mostpractical dimension; anything narrower only weakenedthe band and hence shortened its life.

ALUMINUM BANDS While I was strugglingwi.th the problem of the celluloidbands, it occurred to me that if a suitable aluminum band could be obtained the penguinswould be' marked permanently (disillusionmentcame later). Nothing was available in New Zealand, so early in 1938 I placedan in England. In June,the bandsarrived. All were made from aluminum,number 18 standardwire gauge in thickness, and all were 25 millimetresin diameter. Somewere of strip material 12 millimetreswide and o,thersfrom material only 5 millimetreswide. 50] RICHDALE,Banding and Marking Penguins Bird-BandingApril

The bandsmade from the narrow material proveduseless as the metal wasnot strongenough •to resist the weightof ,thebird whenlying down. The 12 millimetre strip was too wide and tendedto injure .the tarsus so that the bands had to be removed. Further, the fixed diameter of 25 millimetresbrought trouble for on somebirds the bandswere far too tight and causedthe tarsusto swell. Finally, the makers refused to inscribe the legend and numberson the bands, accordingto nay specifications,stating that I was asking,too much. In the face of all these difliculties, I decided, at the end of 1938, to make my own .bandsand I have continuedto do so ever sinceeven though the cost in time is considerable(it takes me 15 minutes to make one penguinband). The new ,bandswere made of aluminum, number 18 standardgauge in thickness,and from strip material 10 mil, limetres wide. All bands had the fixed diameter of 28 millimetres. With the comparativefailure of the celluloidbands for quick iden- tification,,the idea was conceivedof reading the ,bandnumbers either with binocularsor telescope. The number had to be large and be placedon the bandseveral ,times. Accordingly, stamps with numbers9 millimetreshigh were made and single and dualnumbers were stamped on the metal in four places. It was immaterial,therefore, which way the bird was standing,for one of the numberswould alwaysface the o.bserver.Then, with the aid of a 20X telescope,the numbercould be read as far away as 40 metres. The useo/numbers in/our placeswas a/ar-reachingand most important decision. Without it muchresearch could not have been accomplishedand other work would have ,been made more diflicul,t. The legendTell Otago Museumwith one word in each of ,threerows was stampedin betweenthe numbersand, con- s•equen,tly,appeared three times on the band. The identificatiot•qualities of thi.sband proved highly efficient-- qualitieswhich have been retained ever since. Except for mostunusual cases,as for example,recognizing individual penguinsmore than 40 metresaway, this type of band has renderedsuperfluous the use of the celluloidtype. Theselatest bands, however, ,began to displayother faults. (1) The diameter was too wide for the small birds and the bands fell off. To overcomethis trouble,all bandswere made from a strip 125 mil,limetres long whichis samewhatlonger than wouldbe necessaryto make the widestring required. After a little practice,it was possibleto estimate the size of band requiredand to shortenthe band accordinglywith plierswhile .the penguin concerned was in my hands. (2) Whenthe 1939-40season arrived, although the aluminumbands were all still in place,some of themshowed signs of considerablewear and had to be replacedafter an averageperiod of 12 monthson the penguin. From .theforegoing experience emerged the final type of aluminum band. Aluminum with a thicknessof standardwire gauges16 and 14 wastried and eventuallynumber 16 gauge,which is the thicknessthat has been used ever since, was chosen. Bands carried over the most rocky landinggrounds will stay.on for at leasttwo seasonsand have to .berenewed every third season.Where the breedingareas consist only of sand,the bandsmay remainservicable for five seasons.No Vol. XXII 1951 RICHDALE,Banding an MarkingPenguins [5].

further attempthas been made to itnprovethe lasting qualitiesof the bands. For all practicalpurposes, as far as I am concerned,the point reachedis reasonablysatisfactory. To fasten the band on the tarsus, one end of the band, 10 millimetres from the end, is bent in a vice to make an inverted V. The other end, 5 millimetresfrom the end, is bent up at 45ø. The strip is then bent into a band and the two endsmay then be claspedtogether with pliers after the secondbend has been placed inside ,theV bend. A final point concernsthe numbering. Naturally, it was not long before single and dual numberswere exhausted. Triple numbersup to 999 and dual numbersprefixed by a letter (e.g. A64) werethen used, but couldbe 'placedonly three timeson the band. Thesecombinations are a li;tle more troublesome to read and are not suitable for work with the telescopeas the three componentsof .the number cannot be seenat the sametime. Quadruplenumbers I 'havenot usedand do not in,tend to. In summary,the most suitableband so far devisedby me is made from strip aluminum125 x 10 millimetresand numbered16 standard wire gaugein thickness. The band is marked in as many placesas possiblewith numbersof not more than three components.The diam- eter of the band is adjustablein the field.

FOOTMARKING Owingto the defectsin •thebanding scheme the deviceof footmarking hasproved invaluable and without it my recordswould not be as com- plete as they are. Its operationis simple. The operatorsits on the ground with his legs straigh,t out in front; the penguinis then placed on its breastbetween the legs of the operatorand with head facing away so theftthe bird's feet point toward the operator. The feet, of course,are solesup. A penguinhas four webs,two on eachfoot. By puncturingthe holesin three preciseplaces in each web with a leather punch, it is ,possibleto make 12 holes altogether; and by using com- binationsof .theseholes it is possibleto mark a large nmnberof birds. For example,a total of 1103 penguins,including adul;s and fledglings, has beenfootmarked up to the end of the 1948-49 season. The footholesare numberedfrom 1 to 12. Number 1 is just near the left claw of the left foot and near the edge of the web; number 2 is high up the web betweenthe left and middletoes; and number3 is near the middle claw and near the edgeof the web, and so on for the other webs. Number 7 is near the left claw of the right foot and near the edge of the web. Difficulties,of course,occur ,but are not nearly so troublesomeas the deficiencies,with the bands. Sometimesa bird's foot is injured and a web may be split, therebyupsetting the marking scheme.The holes high up the web sometimesgrow over and thoseon the edge of the websmay split. If ,thesechanges occur while the bird is still banded (I checkthe footholesof the breedingbirds each year) the fact is noted in the records. The lossof the identity of birds through this causeis negligibleand occursin breedingareas not visitedannually. To read the foo.tholes,the penguinhas to be caught,which is an unavoidable disadvantage. Bird-Banding 52] RICHDALE,Banding and Marking Penguins April

TECHNIQUE IN USING BANDS AND MARKS Numbersfrom 1 to 99 havebeen used for •he mostimportant breed- ing birds encoun,teredin the early seasonsparticularly when quick recognitionof an individual was essentialin studyingbehaviour. Triple numbersfrom 200 to 299, and from 850 to 999 have been reservedfor fledglingsthat have been recoveredafter havingleft the breedingareas. Finally,dual numbers, prefixed by a letter,are placed on any remainingbirds accordingto the breedingarea in which they are first found. For example,one bird caugh,t in B breeding.area has been banded 'B23' and so on for M, S, W, X, and Z breeding areas. This methodhas proved of considerablevalue in the field. Up untilthe 1942-43season, all chickswere footmarked and banded as fledglingsjust beforethey enteredthe sea. A recordwas made, showingthe fooanark,parents, and bandof eachchick, in sucha way that it could be carried wi.th me in the field. When a fledglingwas metsubsequently, after it hadentered •the water, the fact was noted, with pertinentremarks, in this record. From 1943-44,however, the chicks werenot bandedas fledglings,but werefootmarked only at the peak of the downstage (third weekin December).When such a chickwas met later after havingentered the sea,it wasbanded on recovery;the bandnumber and appropriateremarks were then placed in the field record. This methodhas many advantageswhich there is no needto mentionhere. Juvenilesfound without footmarksand ,hencestrangers to me havebeen footmarked on recoveryand, in later years,banded with dual numbersprefixed by the letter "T" (e.g. T70). The footmarks are listed in consecutiveorder in a file with the band numberof thepenguin alongside, so that oncea footmarkis readit is easy.to find the bandnumber. The list of the footmarksis not taken into the field. When a bird is found with a band missing,as indicatedby its foot- marks,or one is found with a worn band that appearsas if it might comeoff beforethe next breedingseason, the procedureis not to give the penguinanother permanent band with a differentnumber. This wouldlead to hopelessconfusion in the records.If the penguinrequir- ing attentionis a breedingbird I usuallyleave it, makea newband at homewith the propernumber, and carrythe banduntil the bird is met again. If the bird is unemployed,there is no certaintythat it will be seenagain that season,so the bird hasto be rebandedwhilst the opportunityoffers. For thispurpose, I alwayscarry a numberof what are known .as "H" or "K" bandsl which are bands with dual numbersprefixed by theletters "H" or "K" (e.g.K26). On meetinga bird with sucha band, it is known at oncethat the bird is wearing a temporaryband. A list of the "H" and"K" bands,with the permanent bandnumber of the penguinalongside, is carriedin my fieldbook. Whenany reference is madein therecords to an "H" or "K" bird its originalnumber is alsowritten alongside in parentheses. Finally,all penguinshave a personalfile on a sheetof paper7 x 10 inches.The band number is placedat the topright hand corner and thefootmark record at the top left. In betweenare placedthe bird's sexand its year of hatching,if known. Then,for eachseason, is re- ¾ol.1951 XXII RICHDALE,Banding and Marking Penguins [53 cordedthe bird's matrimonialstatus, its mate if any, where it was seen, and the eggshatched if any. More detailedparticulars are foundin the field records,which are on loose sheetswith the various breeding areaskept distinct.

CONCLUSION The foregoingmethods of bandingand markingpenguins sui,t •ny particularstyle of researchand also the speciesof penguinstudied. Thesemethods, however, may not suit otherworkers and otherspecies of birds. It maybe possible to evolvea moredurable band than I have succeededin doing,but the bandmust be of a practical.type, both as regardscost and facility of usein thefield under the conditions involved. I havealso ,banded other of penguins.Considerable time was spentone seasonin bandingLittle Blue Penguins, minor (Forster), with bandsmade of strip aluminumfive millimetreswide. The bandssoon became worn throughas the strip wasfar too narrow, and,owing to thesmallness of thepenguin's tarsus, a widerstrip could not be used. Further attemptswere ,therefore abandoned. Another speciesbanded ,was the Erect-crested Penguin, Eudyptes sclateri Buller. Three individualswere bandedwith bandsas usedfor the Yellow-eyed Penguin. Two of the birdssoon disappeared, but the ,thirdbird re- mainedlong enough ,to satisfy me that a bandwould remain in place for six years. This experiencewith the CrestedPenguin raises an interestingdis- cussion.The Yellow-eyedPenguin is a sedentary,species and, as far as I can ascertain,its normal mode of locomotionis .to walk, except whencompelled by the terrain to hop. Placingthe band on the tarsus exposesthe band to considerablewear as it is draggedover the rocks. The Erect-crestedPenguin, on the other hand, is migratory and spends nearlysix monthsof the year in the water. When ashoreit progresses by hoppingto a mu.chgreater extent than the first species.The dif- ferencein the form of locomotionand the len.gthyperiod entirely in the searesult in much lesswear on the band, so .thatif my methodsof bandingare used for migratorypenguins greater successshould be achievedthan with the Yellow-eyedPenguin. Finally, I ,havealso bandedin considerablenumbers seven species of petrelsfrom the Royal Albatross,Diomedea epomophora sanfordi Murphy, to the tiny WhitedacedStorm Petrel, Pelagodromamarina Latham. The di•culties experiencedwith the bands were somewhat differentalthough the major onec•f how to keepthe bandon for a long time is commonto both ordersof birds. A paper on bandingpetrels may be written later.

SUMMARY From14 years'experience, the bandin• and marking of theYellow- eyed Penguin, antipodes (Hombron and Jacquinoi),is discussed. Exceptfor specialprojects, the use of celluloidbands is not prac- ticable becausethey come off too easily. The mostserviceable metal band so far employedby me is madeof Bird-Banding 54] SouthlVindsor Bank Swallow Colony April strip aluminum,number 16 standardwire gaugein thickness,and 125 x 10 millimetresin measurements.Dual numbersare stampedon four times and triple numbers,three times; the legendis stampedin be•weeenthese numbers. The diameter of the band is adjustablein the field. The bandsremain serviceablefrom two to five years, accordingto the wearingpropensities of the terrain,and thenhave to be replaced. A.11penguins are footmarkedby puncturingthe websaccording to a pre-arrangedplan. Footmarkingensures ,that, in mostcases, the identi•ty of any given penguinis not lost and, in this way, is more efficient than bands. Bands,however, make for more speedyrecognition of the bird in the field.

LITERAT URE

R•CHDAn•;,L. E. 1940 Raredomnotes on the genusEudyptula on the Otago Peninsula,New Zealand. Emu, 40: 180-217. 1941a A .brief summary,of the historyof t.heYellow-eyed Penguin. Emu, 40: 265-287. 1941b The Erect-crestedPenguin (Eudyptessclateri) Buller. Emu, 41: 25-53. 1945 Courtshipand allied behaviourin penguins.. Emu, 4•: 305-319, and 45: 37-54. 1946 Pair-formationin penguins. Emu, 46: 133-156,215-229. 1947a The pair bond in penguinsan, d petrels: A banding study. Bird- Banding, 18: 107-117. 1947b Seasonal fluctuations in weight of penguins and petrels. Wilson Bull., 59: 160-171. 1947c Notes on penguins: Emu, 47: 72. 1948 Functionsof love-habitsamong penguinsand petrels. Emu, 48: 95-103. 1949a A studyof a groupof penguinsof knownage. BiologicalMonographs, no. 1: i-viii, 1-88. 1949b The effect of age on laying dates,size of eggs,,and size of clutch in the Yellow-eyedPenguin. Wilson Bull., 61: 91-98. 1949c Inbreeding among birds in the wild state. Emu, 48: 282-290. 1950 Further notes on the Erect-crested Penguin. Emu, 49: 153-166. 23 Skibo St.. Kew, Dunedin, New Zealand.

led. note: by way of comparison,bands furnished by the Fish an.dWildlife Service in sizes5 and 6 are of number 18 gauge, while sizes7A an,d7B are of number 16 and sizes 8 and 9 are of number 14. Widths are 6/16 in•ches for sizes 5 and 6, 7/16 for sizes7A and 7B, and 8/16 for sizes8 and 9. These are in terms of the American StandardWire Gaugewhile Mr. Richdale'sare in the Imperial Standard Wire Gauge. Number14 AmericanGauge is aboutequal to number16 Imperial Gauge,number 16 to number 18, and number 18 to number 19.)

THE SOUTH WINDSOR BANK SWALLOW COLONY By E. ALEXANDERBERGSTROM Thispaper represents the preliminary results of thebanding of Bank Swallows(Riparia r. riparia Linnaeus)at a singlecolony in South Windsor, Conn:,in the seasonsof 1945 through 1950. The site is a long-es.tablishedone, on the eastside of the ConnecticutRiver where the river keepseroding the meadow,and at leasthalf a mile from any house.