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Seven of the 15 different size bands used by bird 

 banders. 



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This little band, less than 1/12 inch in diameter, 

 is used to band Hummingbirds, the world's tiniest 

 bird. The penny looks big even against the uncut, 

 unrolled bands. 



Since banders are interested in know- 

 ing what happens to the birds they 

 band, a letter was sent to the bander 

 of each Pintail duck to tell him who 

 had recovered the banded bird and 

 when and where it was found. 



History of Bird Banding 



As far as we know the first bird 

 band ever to be recovered was found 

 on a Gray Heron in Germany in 1710. 

 The heron had been banded in Turkey 

 several years before. Modern bird 

 banding really had its beginning with 

 Hans Christian Mortensen, a school- 

 teacher of Viborg, Denmark. In 1899 

 he began putting metal bands on the 

 legs of teals, pintails, storks, star- 

 lings, and 2 or 3 kinds of hawks. The 

 bands had his name and address 

 inscribed on them. As his banded 

 birds began to appear in many places 



in Europe other bird students became 

 interested in bird "ringing," as they 

 say in Europe. In a short time bird 

 banding was "catching on" in 

 America. As more and more bird 

 students began to band birds in the 

 United States they decided they could 

 accomplish more if they worked as a 

 group. Thus, in 1909, the American 

 Bird Banding Association was formed. 

 During World War I, however, banding 

 lagged. Biologists in the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey (now the Bureau of 

 Sport Fisheries and Wildlife) were 

 convinced that banding birds was 

 most worthwhile. They felt it had 

 much to tell us about the habits of 

 birds, especially their migrations. 

 So to further the banding of birds in 

 America the Bureau and its Canadian 

 counterpart, the Canadian Wildlife 

 Service, offered to take over the work 

 of the American Bird Banding Asso- 

 ciation. The offer was soon accepted 

 and since 1920 banding of migratory 

 birds in the United States and Canada 

 has been under the joint direction of 

 the Federal Governments of the two 

 countries. 



What Does Banding Tell Us? 



Banding birds has shown us many 

 things about the individual bird as 

 well as the species or group to which 

 It belongs. We know that many birds 

 live as long as 10 years. Some live 

 even longer; for example, the Red- 

 winged Blackbird that was banded 

 In New York and shot 14 years later 

 in North Carolina; or the Black Duck 

 banded on Cape Cod and taken by a 

 hunter 17 years later in Newfoundland. 

 The longest a North American bird 

 has been known to live in the wild is 

 26 years. The holder of this record 

 was a Caspian Tern. It was banded 

 In Michigan in 1925 while still in the 

 nest, and shot in Ohio In 1951. 



When banded birds are recaptured 

 at various places and released unhurt 

 the banding Infornnatlon tells us the 

 routes they were following. Thus, 

 when large numbers of birds of a 



