THE NORTH AMERICAN BANDERS' STUDY GUIDE A product of the NORTH AMERICAN BANDING COUNCIL PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE APRIL 2001 THE NORTH AMERICAN BANDERS' STUDY GUIDE Copyright© 2001 by The North American Banding Council P.O. Box 1346 Point Reyes Station, California 94956-1346 U.S.A. http://nabanding.net/nabanding/ All rights reserved. Reproduction for educational purposes permitted. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ........................................1 11.2.1. Wing length .......................30 Acknowledgments ................................1 11.2.2. Wing formula ......................30 11.2.3. Tail length ........................31 1. Introduction ..................................2 11.2.4. Body weight .......................31 2. The Bander's Code of Ethics ......................2 11.2.5. Fat and crop content .................31 3. A Brief History of Banding .......................3 11.2.6. Bill length, width, and depth ..........32 4. Purposes and Justification for Banding Birds .........4 11.2.7. Tarsus and foot length ...............32 4.1. The Banding Offices ......................4 11.2.8. Crown patch .......................32 4.2. Purposes and Justification for Banding Birds ....4 11.2.9. Rare birds ........................33 4.3. Designing a Research Project ................5 11.3. Parasites ..............................34 4.4. Cooperative Programs .....................5 11.4. Deformities ...........................34 5. Permit Issuance ...............................5 12. Record Keeping .............................34 5.1. Types of Banding Permits ..................6 12.1. Standard Codes ........................36 5.2. Special Authorizations .....................6 12.2. Banding Sheets ........................36 5.3. How to Apply for a Permit ..................6 12.3. Recapture Data .........................37 5.4. Permit Expiration and Renewal ..............6 12.4. Banding Schedules ......................37 5.5. Responsibilities of Permit Holders ............6 12.5. Computer verification and edit programs 5.6. Permit Suspensions and Revocations ..........7 (MAPSPROG) ...........................39 6. North American Banding and Recovery Data Base .....7 12.6. Note For File (Canadian) .................39 7. The North American Banding Council ..............7 12.7. Recovery Information ....................39 7.1. What Is NABC Doing? ....................8 13. Preventing Bird Injuries and Fatalities ............39 7.2. How Will Bander Certification Work? .........8 13.1. Safety Considerations for the Use of Mist Nets . 40 7.3. NABC Certification .......................8 13.1.1. Mist net selection and use ............40 8. Handling Birds ................................9 13.1.2. Setting up a net array ...............41 8.1. The Bander's Grip ........................9 13.1.3. Net maintenance and disposal .........41 8.2. The Reverse Grip ........................10 13.2. Trap and Catching-box Design .............42 8.3. The Photographer's Grip ..................10 13.3. Bird Numbers and People on Hand ..........42 8.4. Free Holds .............................11 13.4. Injuries and Their Causes .................43 8.5. Opening a Bird's Bill .....................11 13.5. Causes of Death ........................44 8.6. Carrying Devices ........................12 13.6. Treatment of Injured Birds ................45 8.6.1. Bird bags .........................12 13.7. Disposition of Dead Birds, Record Keeping, 8.6.2. Carrying boxes .....................13 and Reporting ...........................62 9. Capture Techniques and Extraction Methods ........13 14. Preventing Bander Injuries and Diseases ..........46 9.1. Setting Up and Operating Mist Nets ..........14 14.1. Physical Risks .........................46 9.1.1. Problems unique to the mist net ........15 14.2. Diseases and Disorders ...................47 9.1.2. Setting up and taking down mist nets ....15 15. Visitors and Public Relations ...................48 9.1.3. Frequency of net checking .............17 15.1. Problems .............................48 9.2. Extracting Birds from Mist Nets ............18 15.2. Some Solutions ........................48 9.2.1. Feet-first method ....................19 15.3. Banding Demonstrations for the General Public 48 9.2.2. Body-grasp method ..................19 15.4. Group Visits ...........................49 9.2.3. Tricky extraction situations ............20 10. Banding Birds ..............................21 Selected Bibliography ............................50 10.1. The Essential Basics .....................21 10.2. Band Fit and Size .......................21 Appendix A. Associations and Bird Observatories ......56 10.3. Types of Bands .........................23 Appendix B. Sources of Banding Equipment ..........57 10.4. The Band Numbering System ..............23 Appendix C. A Well-designed Research Project ........58 10.5. How to Order Bands .....................24 Appendix D. Molt Cards .........................60 10.6. Banding Pliers and Other Equipment ........24 Appendix E. The Bander's Report Card ..............62 10.7. Banding a Bird .........................25 Appendix F. Some Examples of Cooperative Banding 10.8. Releasing Birds ........................26 Projects ...................................63 10.9. When and How to Remove a Band ..........26 Appendix G. Banding Offices Information ............62 10.10. Banding Nestlings .....................28 Appendix H. Policy for Release and Use of Banding and 11. Processing Birds .............................28 Encounter Data .............................65 11.1. Ageing and Sexing ......................28 11.2. Useful Measurements ....................30 North American Banding Council Banders' Study Guide i PREFACE Dale, Mark Dugdale, John Pollock, Paul Prior, Rinchen Board- man, and George Wallace for their helpful insights and com- The purpose of this Banders' Study Guide is to provide for ments. Hilary Pittel, a professional bird rehabilitator, shared all banders in North America the basic information to safely and many of her insights. productively conduct bird banding. The original guide was prepared under contract from the This publication is an integral part of several other publica- Canadian Wildlife Service to Long Point Bird Observatory and tions, including a Trainer's Guide, and taxon-specific manuals was funded through the Environmental Citizenship Program of for landbirds, hummingbirds, shorebirds, raptors, waterfowl, the Department of the Environment. seabirds, and perhaps other groups. While some of the material This North American Banders' Study Guide has been created, in this Study Guide may apply more to certain taxa, the material adapted, and considerably augmented for use throughout North was included if it applied to two or more of the taxa mentioned America by the North American Banding Council's Publications above. For instance, mist netting is used to capture most taxa Committee. This guide is very much the product of many years (and thus is discussed in this study guide), but skull pneumatiza- of collective experience on the part of all the banders and students tion is used primarily for landbirds (and therefore is discussed at Long Point Bird Observatory, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, only in the landbird manual). Some judgments have been made; The Institute for Bird Populations, and many other stations and for instance, traps for catching landbirds are mentioned in that individuals. It is largely a compendium of material taken from manual, although similar traps are certainly used for shorebirds other sources. Some parts summarize important details presented and waterfowl. The Committee felt, however, that the special in North American Bird Banding: Volume I (Canadian Wildlife adaptations required for capture of these quite different taxa Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1991) and North merited separate treatment in the taxon-specific manuals. American Bird Banding Techniques: Volume II (Canadian We trust that this Guide will be read by all banders and Wildlife Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1977) (see trainers. While guidelines used by various individual trainers and also http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/manual/manual.htm). These stations may differ slightly from the general guidelines set down manuals, collectively, hereafter will be referred to simply as the in the manuals and guides, we and the North American Banding "Bird Banding Manual." This guide is not intended to supplant Council urge, at the least, that full consideration be given to the the Bird Banding Manual; they still are required reading. guidelines presented here, and that trainees be fully exposed to Technical sections of this guide profited enormously from the full variety of opinions that are captured in these publications. The Ringer's Manual (Spencer 1992), The Australian Bird This is a truly cooperative venture, representing many hours Bander's Manual (Lowe 1989), A Manual for Monitoring Bird of work of many individuals and their institutions. As such, it Migration (McCracken et al. 1993), Handbook of Field Methods was necessarily an inclusive document covering, as much as for Monitoring Landbirds (Ralph et al. 1993a), A Syllabus of possible, all responsible views of banding in North America. As Training Methods and Resources for Monitoring Landbirds can be imagined, this was at times an interesting effort. We trust (Ralph et al. 1993b), Identification Guide to North American that the final product is worthy of the effort that all have put into Passerines (Pyle et