How to read bird bands

birdbrain · Post by **birdbrain** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:10 pm

How do you read bird bands? What do the different colors mean? What kind of band would I put on my fledgling that was hatched in June?

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:22 pm

Generally, the different colors specify the year the bird was born.
For NFSS band, 2006 is orange, 2007 is blue, and 2008 is red.

What kind of band for a chick that was born in June? Probably a split band.

Post by **Sally** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:07 am

Closed bands are applied either when the chicks are 7-10 days old, still in the nest, or you can use the next size up and apply them the day they fledge. After that, they grow so fast that you won't be able to get a closed band on them. Split bands are your only choice at this point.

birdbrain · Post by **birdbrain** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:45 pm

Definately a split band since the only thing left in growing is his cheek patches.
I did find a thread on more details about bands.
Thanks.