The Opportunity of Bird Banding 
By MARGARET MorRSE NICE 
We now have the means of studying wild birds undreamed of a 
few years ago. In the first place we can actually handle our subjects. 
In the second place by means of both colored and aluminum bands we 
can follow the activity of known individuals in freedom throughout a 
season or perhaps for years. 
Yet too many bird banders have not progressed beyond the earliest 
stage—before the invention of traps or colored bands—apparently be- 
lieving that banding is merely a means of studying migration. So 
they capture as many birds as they possibly can, simply attaching 
the numbered band and that is the last they see or hear of the vast ma- 
jority of their subjects. Many people would add more to our knowl- 
edge of bird life if they would study a score of birds carefully than 
merely tag a thousand. 
Two things are necessary if we are going to make adequate use of 
our opportunities: first, a clear idea of problems to be studied; second, 
a knowledge of what others are doing. 
The Bird in the Hand 
Every bird captured should be carefully examined and its sex and 
age determined if possible. Wing and tail measurements often serve 
as indices of sex (Nice, ’32). In the nesting season the incubation 
patch should be looked for; its presence or absence may tell the bird’s 
sex, or perhaps give us new information as to the habits of the species, 
since the share of the sexes in incubation is not certainly known with 
many even of our common birds. The gradual appearance of these 
bare spots should be studied in relation to the laying of the eggs. 
Some times young birds have pointed tail feathers in contrast to 
rounded feathers in adults. In the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia 
beata) this has proved true with the males, but in the females the 
feathers are more or less pointed regardless of age. 
Every bird should be weighed at every capture, the time of day 
being noted, and temperature also, as it has been found that some birds 
weigh more during a cold spell than a warm one. Some species gain 
in fall, some in winter and some in spring, while others remain prac- 
tically stationary throughout the year. In some species females aver- 
age higher than males during the nesting season; is this merely a mat- 
ter of the developing eggs, or do the birds put on fat in anticipation 
of the incubation period? When one finds a female Song Sparrow 
weighing 24 grams instead of the usual 20, or a female Cowbird (Molo- 
thrus ater ater) 45 instead of 38 grams, then one knows that this par- 
ticular bird is in the midst of laying a clutch of eggs. 
There are many interesting questions in regard to molt: the weight 
of the bird during this time; the duration of the process; its relation 
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*Reprinted, with permission, from BIRD-BANDING, vol. 5, 19384, p. 64-69. 
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