Bird Banding Manual Preparing Band Schedules

How to Prepare Banding Schedules

Permit No. Box. Enter the Federal Bird Banding Permit number in this box. SUBPERMITTEES should enter the permit number of the MASTER PERMITTEE under whom their banding is done and should NOT include the letter designation of their subpermit. Check these numbers carefully.

Bander Box. The name of the MASTER PERMITTEE should be entered in this box. If bands were issued under a MASTER-STATION PERMIT the name of the organization or institution should be entered, not the responsible individual. A MASTER-PERSONAL permittee should enter their initials and last name. Titles can follow the last name if space allows. Example: I.C. BYRDS, DR. When appropriate, names of subpermittees should be entered in the "Remarks" section.

Inclusive Band Numbers Box. Enter the complete band number (prefix and suffix) of the first band reported on this schedule and the last 5 digits (suffix only) of the last band number reported on this schedule.

Banding Locations Box. Give the name of the local area, straight line mileage and direction from nearest town, name of nearest town, county and state or province. Please do not use street names and building numbers for locations. If banding was done in towns or city limits, use mileage and direction from major highway intersections that are shown on standard road maps. If birds were transported prior to releasing them, the release site should be noted in the "Banding Locations" spaces. Please indicate all new banding locations with an asterisk (*) in the location description. More on the Banding Locations Box

Band Prefix. On the band, the band prefix is either stamped above the suffix or separated by a dash. THE PREFIX SHOULD BE ENTERED ON THE SCHEDULE TO THE LEFT OF THE ARROW POINT. The numbers pre-printed down the schedule represent the last two digits of the suffix (last 5 digits of the band number). See the sample schedule for the correct way of recording band numbers. The left margin beside each number is reserved for office use.

Alpha Code. Only the four digit alpha code should be used in this column. New schedules will identify this column as species alpha code;

Species Number. Please use ONLY the species numbers provided by the BBL. The species numbers used by the BBL are not always the same as those published in the AOU Check-List of North American Birds. The species number consists of four digits. The last digit does not need to be used if it is zero; however, leading zeroes must be used. PLEASE DO NOT BAND ROCK DOVES (PIGEONS) OR GALLINACEOUS BIRDS (QUAIL, GROUSE, PHEASANT, TURKEY) WITH SERVICE BANDS. Gallinaceous birds are banded with state bands and pigeons with private bands. DO NOT BAND VULTURES, CONDORS, OR PARROTS WITH SERVICE BANDS as this may cause injury.

"S" (Status). The numeric codes entered into the "Status" column are the type of treatment the bird received. Enter two codes in this column. The first is a single digit "Status" code describing the "Status" of the bird, i.e., "Normal," "Hand-reared," or "Rehabilitated". The second is a two-digit "Additional Information" code which provides more detail about the "Status". Please be sure to include remarks if required! Uninjured, wild birds that have been captured, banded with a standard, butt-end aluminum band and released within 24 hours or less in the same location are coded on the schedule as 300.

Age-Sex. Record age and sex but PLEASE DO NOT ENTER GUESSES. Be consistent and use either the numeric codes or the letter abbreviations. If numeric codes for age are entered, numeric sex codes should be entered and vice versa. Biological symbols should NOT be used to designate sex. Bird Banding Laboratory "year class" codes do not necessarily indicate the physiological age of the bird. They are intended to indicate the calendar year within which the bird hatched. If the bird has been held in captivity, record the age of the bird at the time of release, not capture.

Region. Enter the 3 digit numeric code for the region within which the banding occurred. IF THE BIRD HAS BEEN TRANSPORTED, RECORD THE REGION WHERE THE BIRD WAS RELEASED.

Lat-Long. The latitude and longitude should be expressed as a three digit number followed by a four digit number. For example, 39 degrees 05 minutes N and 75 degrees 17 minutes W would be coded as 390-0751 in this column. Thus, do not "round off" to the nearest 10 minutes but rather drop the last digit of minutes of both latitude and longitude. In the Western Hemisphere, north of the Equator, THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE CODE REPRESENTS THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE 10-MINUTE BLOCK WITHIN WHICH BANDING OCCURRED. Locations south of the Equator or in East Longitude are similarly coded by dropping the last digit of minutes. The alpha direction code S, E or C must be entered after the longitude for all coordinates except those of the southeast corner (Western Hemisphere). IF THE BIRD HAS BEEN TRANSPORTED, RECORD THE LAT-LONG WHERE THE BIRD WAS RELEASED.

"Loc". Enter the letter (A, B, C, D, etc.) in the "Loc." column that refers to the entry in the appropriate "Banding Locations" section box (or under "Remarks" if more than six locations are reported on one schedule). The same banding location does not need to carry the same letter on different schedules. The information in this column refers only to that schedule. As above, banding location is release location for held or transported birds.

Date. Record the date with 6 digits, in month, day and year sequence as follows: 06-05-72 for June 5, 1972. If the bird was captive for any period of time, the date entered is the date of release into the wild. If the bands are used out of chronological sequence, indicate the reason in the "Remarks" section to eliminate confusion.

Remarks. Use this section for all miscellaneous comments: replaced, lost or destroyed bands, subpermittees, species verification, remarks required by status codes, etc.