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Banding Bluebirds
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 Here's account of a day in July when I met Andy
Brown, Senior Naturalist and bird-bander at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, at the Randle
Cliffs bluebird trail to band baby bluebirds.A Banding Expedition in July On a hot, sultry Sunday in July, I accompanied Andy Brown on a bluebird banding expedition. I might mention that I made this agreement before I knew what ungodly weather was in store for us--a heat index in the low 100s! There were five boxes with nestlings the right age for banding on the Randle Cliffs trail. Despite the heat it was a terrific experience! Andy removed the birds from the box and placed them in a cloth bag. We then took them out one by one and checked the primary feathers for color intensity (to determine the sex). As Andy banded the bird and recorded the band number, I took photographs. He is very careful to see that the band does not pinch the skin of the leg and the tool that he uses ensures that just the right amount of pressure is used to tighten the band. I then carefully took the birds back to the box and placed them inside. We noticed that some of the nestlings were being fed blackberries as they had them stuck to their feet! It was interesting to find that they are not fed insects exclusively. All but one of the boxes was attached to a cyclone fence with no shade whatsoever. I was apprehensive to look in the first one after the heat of the previous day. All of the birds seemed fine, so they must have a heat tolerance far greater than we. Altogether we banded 18 birds. In the 8 years Andy has been banding, he has banded 700 bluebirds, and of these 700 over 200 have been banded just this year. It is a bumper crop year for the bluebirds of Calvert County! What if you find a banded bird? The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Bird Banding Laboratory is interested in information on any species of banded bird that you might come across. Visit their website to enter your band information on-line at: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/ or send the band or band number, a description of the bird, date found and location to: Bird Banding Laboratory
©1996-2006
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