'"'^^ ''^ "^ CONSERVATION NOTES 



BIRD BANDING 



The Hows and Whys 



Three Pintail ducks from North 

 America were shot in widely sep- 

 arated places in far distant parts of 

 the world. One duck was taken near 

 Cali, Colombia, South America; one 

 on an island in the Pacific, and the 

 third along the Dart River in England. 

 The South American hunter learned 

 that his duck had come from North 

 Dakota. The weatherman in the Pacific 

 discovered that his bird had been in 

 northern California, more than 4,600 

 nniles away, just 3 months before. The 

 English sportsman found that his 

 Pintail duck just 21 days before had 

 been in Labrador, some 2,200 miles 

 across the Atlantic. How did these 

 nnen know that their ducks had come 

 from North America? 



It really isn't such a mystery as it 

 might seem. On the leg of each duck 

 the hunter had found a small aluminum 



Banding information is recorded on punch ca'ds. The 

 large sorting machine (right background) locates a 

 record quickly. 



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band. The band carried a number and 

 a request that the finder of the band 

 report to the Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Each 

 hunter did exactly that. When their 

 letters reached the Service in Wash- 

 ington they were sent to the Bird 

 Banding Office. Records of the wild 

 birds banded in North America are 

 kept in this office. Here it is that the 

 band number, species, date of band- 

 ing, place of banding, and name of the 

 bander are recorded. When sonne one 

 sends in a band he has found, the 

 record can be located quickly. 



Coming back to the letters of the 

 three hunters - -workers soon found 

 the three numbers among the 11 

 million banding records registered 

 in the office. Then they sent each 

 hunter a letter telling him the kind of 

 bird he had taken, when and where it 

 had been banded, and who banded it. 



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This building houses the Bird Banding Office. 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Stewart L. Udall, Secretary 



FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 





