#ellianorus

[theraptorcage]

Trick or treat?

Brahminy Kite

[falseredstart]

So birds you catch as a by-catch you can't band? Is that all birds, or was it just for the pileated woodpecker as you didn't have the right size band? Here in the UK, we can ring anything we catch, but can only set out to target species on our licence, so if we put a net up, anything that goes in gets to be ringed.

On my current permit, yes. When you apply for federal banding permits in the US, you specify which species you’ll be targeting (or check the “ALL BIRDS” box if you’re running a general monitoring station, etc). You can only order rings/bands from the government that are sized for the species on your permit, and those numbers are tightly monitored. If somebody recovers a banded bird and reports the number to USGS, you can have your permit revoked if it’s not a species you were supposed to be marking!

As a sidenote, there’s also a completely separate permitting process for color banding, blood sampling, etc. While USGS handles Master Bander permits and issuing the actual federal bands, you also need to get USFWS permits for all actions you take handling migratory birds. It’s complicated.

I’m in the process of applying for my own master bander permit though-- so hopefully soon I’ll be able to band all bycatch. It’s definitely a shame to get a bird in the hand and not mark or sample it (seriously, it hurts my soul.....), since the simple act of banding is so important for monitoring populations!

[fakeahjeremy]

Hey loser...

:))))

[fakeahjeremy]

ellianorus replied to your post :As somebody who lives in England I feel obligated...

I feel your pain… It’s pretty unbearable

Ikr we weren’t built for this suffering

[fakeahjeremy]

ellianorus replied to your post:Do you ever just ever just cry b/c you’ll probably...

As another jobless English girl I can sympathise entirely :/

We can dream