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Increasing & Spreading Our Knowledge 
THE BIRD BANDERS IN ILLINOIS: 
THEIR 1971 REPORT 
by VERNON M. KLEEN 
Have you ever asked anyone: 
@How long do birds live? How 
far do they fly? ®*How much area 
does each pair need to raise a fam- 
ily? ¢Do they have the same mate 
each year? 
In order to answer these ques- 
tions, researchers must study birds 
that can be individually recognized 
in their natural environments, but 
without disturbing their normal 
life functions. 
Bird bands make this possible. 
Bird bands are serially numbered 
aluminum “bracelets” which can 
be placed on a bird’s leg; no two 
bands have identical numbers. On- 
ly licensed cooperators of the Fed- 
eral and State governments are 
authorized to band birds. 
Permits are usually issued only 
to qualified people (or institutions) 
who have met rigid requirements. 
At present, there are approximate- 
ly 2,000 bird banding permits in 
North America; in 1971, there were 
67 in Illinois. 
Basically, there are three dis- 
tinct groups of banders. One con- 
sists of professional men who con- 
duct research on gamebirds, es- 
pecially waterfowl (6 Illinois per- 
mits); another consists of profes- 
sional men who do special research 
on the rare and/or endangered 
species (no Illinois permits); the 
third group consists entirely of 
volunteers whose research can ke 
on any species other than water- 
fowl species or those which are 
rare and/or endangered (61 Illinois 
permits). 
In order to keep a banding per- 
mit, the bander must be doing 
some type of research. Then he’s 
