A songbird being banded by a certified bander. The bander has to know the best way to hold a bird so as not to injure it. With satellite telemetry and imaging, more accurate data is being collected about bird migration movements. Bird banding by hand may become a thing of the past or be done on a limited basis.
The mist net is hung across a corridor where birds feed. The net is checked like clock work and very regularly to put as little stress on the birds as possible. They are caught and taken into the banding station. The nets made by only one manufacturer in world, a Japanese company.
These paper bags hold an assortment of songbirds caught in the mist net. They are awaiting banding. They jump around quite a bit. It looks pretty spooky as paper bags move and jump around on the shelves.
The pasta-looking things on strings are bands to be placed around one of the birds legs. Only certified-trained banders are allowed to band birds. Banding larger birds is a very different approach. The bands are ordered from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Each one has an unique number and information on each bird is enter into a database.
A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird held for banding. Hummingbirds leg bands are so small they have to be handmade.
The bird is weighed and measured on a special scale. Breast fat is checked. How much breast fat tells how healthy the bird is for migration. The bander blows on the the bird's belly to see if their is a bare "brood patch". This is where a bird's feathers are missing, so the warm heated bare skin presses against the eggs. This keeps the eggs warm so they will hatch. The band number and health information is recorded and the bird is let go.
