54 



BANDING WATERFOWL 



die Department of the Interior on July 1, 1939, were consolidated to 

 form the Fish and Wildlife Service.] Previous to this, Alexander Wet- 

 more while a member of the Survey staff, making investigations of the 

 cause of duck sickness in the Bear River marshes of Utah (1914 to 1916), 

 banded about 1,000 ducks and other birds, using bands that carried the 

 address of the Biological Survey (fig. 35B). 



Since 1920, the banding of all North American birds has been so 

 expanded that at this time (April 1942), the grand total thus marked is 

 more than four million. The work is done in close cooperation with the 



National Parks Bureau of Canada, 

 and copies of all records of interest 

 to Dominion naturalists are filed 

 in Ottawa. 



In the United States the band- 

 ing of ducks and geese is now con- 

 fined to refuge areas, chiefly those 

 under the supervision of the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service. In this 

 great system, which extends from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific and 

 from the Canadian border to 

 Mexico, certain refuge managers 

 are specially authorized, under the 

 provisions of the Migratory Bird 

 Treaty Act, to trap birds for band- 

 ing. In addition to the Service 

 address, each band carries a num- 

 ber and a series designation, as 

 41-672439. Both parts of the num- 

 ber are important and should be 

 always included in the report of 

 any band recovered. 



Data resulting from the band- 

 ing of ducks and geese were the 

 basis for the elucidation of the fly- 

 ways referred to in waterfowl re- 

 search and regulations. This in- 

 formation has been of great im- 



FIG. 35B. Official bands used on North 

 American ducks and geese. Many thou- 

 sands of birds are still wearing bands 

 stamped "Notify Biological Survey" (or 

 an abbreviation), but most of those 

 marked in recent years carry bands that 

 instruct the finder to "Notify F. & 

 Wildlife Service." 



portance also in the development 

 of the refuge system and it has 

 played other parts in the rehabilitation of the great waterfowl resource. 

 Sport shooting of these birds by all citizens interested in this form of 

 recreation is a typically American institution. Its perpetuation demands 

 team work of the highest order between sportsmen, naturalists, and ad- 

 ministrators. Reporting the details for every banded duck or goose that 

 may be obtained is a part of the responsibility of every hunter who de- 

 sires the continuation of this sport not only for himself but for the enjoy- 

 ment also of future Americans. 



