Banding finches

[Sally]

Someone recently asked me to post about banding, where to get them, why to use them. The main reason to band your birds is so you can keep track of parentage, and on birds that look exactly alike, so you can keep track of parents and their babies. I want to breed unrelated birds, and the only way I can make sure of that is to mark the birds in some way--split plastic bands work wonderfully for this. My old system was to assign a color to a breeding pair, put a band of that color on the left leg of each parent, then the babies got that color band on their right leg. This way, you don't pair up brother to sister, or father to daughter, etc.

I used to only use split plastic bands, as I read on another website about a well-known breeder who will not closed band, due to the fact that when she first tried, she broke toes, etc., and did not want to go thru that again. I figured that if someone who was a breeder didn't want to do it, I for sure was not going to closed band! Well, I am now solidly in favor of using closed bands as much as possible. With closed bands, you know the year of birth. You know you are not being sold someone's old birds. If it is a pair, the numbers shouldn't be too close together--if they are say 502 and 503, chances are pretty good you have a brother/sister pair! It really helps you when you are buying birds. When selling birds, it shows the buyer that you are a serious, reliable breeder.

I get my bands from www.nfss.org, the National Finch and Softbill Society. You have to be a member in order to purchase closed bands. The bands have the year, a number, and the size (the size should be the correct size for that species, or one size up if the birds were banded at fledging, as I do), and each year has a color assigned to it.

You can also order split plastic bands from NFSS without being a member. I like to order plastic bands from them, because they have the smaller size that I need for waxbills. You can use those soft plastic bands that are made from beads, and I love those, but they will slip right off a waxbill leg.

Redbird Products has split leg bands that are numbered, also two-color leg bands. Their website is www.redbirdproducts.com. I believe TammyS at www.justbirdstuff.com also carries leg bands now.

Just as an example, I recently bought a pair of Red-headed Parrot finches. They have NFSS bands on them, so I know the year they were born. They also had split color bands on them, so I know this breeder has a system in place to keep track of his breeding efforts. Since these birds cannot be visually sexed, he also has a DNA test done on them, and he provided their hatch date. What more could you ask? Wouldn't you feel very comfortable purchasing birds from this person?

On the other hand, I purchased two other pairs of birds from someone else. These birds are not closed banded. They have no color bands on them at all. Hello--the alarm bells should have been deafening! I let my heart carry me away, and after the fact, I have to wonder what kind of record keeping that person has. I'm not saying you should never buy a bird that doesn't have any leg bands, as there are certainly lots of them out there, but the leg bands sure take a lot of the guesswork out.

[atarasi]

Great topic Sally,

Another reason to close-band...
If people are interested in showing their birds, there is a classification called old and new. For example, if a bird that was born this year, it's eligible in showing in the "new" class for the rest of 2008. Any bird that has a leg band for any previous years, would be in the "old" catagory. Without a closed-band with the year, it's automatically in the "old" catagory because they can't insure the bird's age. (probably not a lot of people who exhibit on here, but it's another perk to close band)

If a bird ever gets lost and recovered, the band number would be an excellent way of proving ownership.

Personally, I like the idea of using both closed-bands and split bands. I've seen people use pink and blue on Owls to mark their sex, or other colors to mark the genetics or mutuations.

Consequetive numbers don't always mean they are related. I purchased 10 bands from NFSS, and used only 2 bands on one clutch and then used another band on a different chick that's not related....only 3 bands total. The chances of purchasing 2 birds from someone who says they aren't related that have one number off is probably slim to none, but it would be a red flag and I would definitely question it.

I also feel that when breeders go through the trouble of close banding their birds, it also shows that they are detail minded and have a good grasp of what's happening in their breeding program and most likely have records on who the parents are and their genetics. Another reason to not by from pet store chains!

[L in Ontario]

For those in Canada, who want to band their birds (from finches to parrots), both closed and split bands may be ordered from the AACC (The Avicultural Advancement Council of Canada) at http://www.islandnet.com/~aacc/

I also close band my birds (finches) when they are seven days old. My finch banding procedure photos can be seen on my website under the "Lady Gouldians" section.

[poohbear]

I don't close ring (That's what we call it here... A band is the Rolling Stones )
I dislike disturbing birds with chicks...And if you are unlucky enough to have arthritis in your hands as you get older ...it just aint possible.Using split rings is hard enough.
Paul.

[L in Ontario]

That's quite understandable Paul, using split rings or bands.

Can you post where abouts in the UK you get your bands in case others would like to know?

[James]

I don't close ring (That's what we call it here... A band is the Rolling Stones )
I dislike disturbing birds with chicks...And if you are unlucky enough to have arthritis in your hands as you get older ...it just aint possible.Using split rings is hard enough.
Paul.

Tell me!!!!!!!!!!! My sociatys fledged Yesterday and Today. so I got out my banding (Ringing) Kit and started trying to catch the little fellows. I was moving the sociatys to a new and bigger cage so I took all the branches out and cleaned them and put them in the new cage then the nest next three of the fledgelings went into one of the nest so I just put my hand over the opening and took the nest out of the cage. my thought was i would shake them out into my net an then I could get one at atime out and band them then release them into the cage.
You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. You got it, one got a way! I caught all the rest and banded them and moved the adults. I took the two Shaft Tails and put them in the side with the 2 Zebras, and 3 Orange Cheeks For now.
I found out that three of my adults were not banded

[jamezyboo21]

I use split bands on my adult finches to tell them apart from the babies as they grow up.

[James]

These came from a store without bands. I also fond out that when the doc took Ahab's leg he did not reband him on the other leg.
James

[williep]

These came from a store without bands. I also fond out that when the doc took Ahab's leg he did not reband him on the other leg.
James

Love the name Ahab BTW, very fitting. How is he adjusting with one leg. Just a final observation, is Ahab the only one with one leg, if that is the case: Why band him, you know who he is!

[James]

he lives up to his name. When I first got him he spent most of the time on the floor of the cage, now you hardly ever see him on the floor. He is also a chapion of the weak. If the other birds a picking on a bird he stops it. I had aother injured bird and he sat beside her and kept the others away till she was able to take care of herself.
James