What does it mean when a pigeon is banded?
Their leg bands are alphanumeric. The letters represent the owner’s national organization and local club, and the numbers represent the year the bird was hatched and its unique ID code. The first letters on a band might be AU for American Racing Pigeon Union or CU for Canadian Racing Pigeon Union.
What does it mean if a pigeon is tagged?
Racing pigeon breeders place these bands on their pigeons when the birds are young. The small metal or plastic strips remains around the birds’ legs throughout their lives. These ID tags can settle disputes about who owns a bird and can help lost or injured pigeons get back home.
How do I find out who owns a banded pigeon?
If the bird has a plastic or metal band or ring on its leg, the owner can be traced through one of the national pigeon organizations. If the bird you have saved is a fancy show pigeon, the owner is probably very near where you originally found the bird.
How do I report a tagged pigeon?
Online: Go to https://www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/bird-banding/reporting-banded-birds.php. By phone: 1-800-327-BAND (2263) from anywhere in Canada, the United States and most parts of the Caribbean. By mail: Return it with the following information: Your name and address (plainly printed)
What do you do with a banded bird?
You can report bird bands to either agency. To report a bird band to the USGS, please contact the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory by following the instructions on the mobile-friendly USGS Bird Band Reporting website. If the bird is already dead, you can remove and keep the band after reporting it.
Why do birds get banded?
Why is it important? Bird banding is the practice of safely applying a band or tag to part of the bird, usually the leg, for data collection and individual identification. Banding birds allows researchers to learn the migration patterns, life span, breeding territory, and feeding areas of different bird species.
What to do if you find a bird with a tag?
What do you do if you find a live banded bird? Do not remove the band (this might injure the bird), but record the number on it and release the bird. Send all the information you can about finding the banded bird to the Banding Laboratory.
How do I report a pigeon band?
If the bird has no band at all, It is a wild pigeon….. Contact your Local Humane Society. Thank you for taking the time to care for found pigeons.
Do homing pigeons get lost?
Homing pigeons are remarkable navigators. Although they are able to find their loft from almost any location, they do get lost occasionally.
What do I do if I find a tagged bird?
Are all banded pigeons owned?
Not all banded pigeons are owned. There are at least half a dozen native wild pigeon and dove species in North America, and they may be banded with a government band. This band is silver-colored aluminum (for light weight), contains one long number, and, in fine print, has some sort of message to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Normally, there are just the initials of a club or pigeon fancier’s organization to which the bird’s original owner belongs. Fancy pigeons are usually banded when they’re just nestlings (or “squabs”) with a “closed ring” that is a complete circle and slips onto the foot but won’t fall off once the foot grows to adult size.
Do you have to rescue a banded pigeon?
If a banded pigeon is hanging around or catchable, they need to be rescued. The information on most banded pigeons is coded and only intended to record “winners,” not to recover “losers” which are what the lost, starving, injured leg-band-wearing pigeons are considered to be.
How do you find the owner of a banded pigeon?
But, it is now relatively easy to track down ownership of a banded lost bird by using the internet. Find the initials of the club and type them into your search engine along with the word “pigeon,” or “pigeon found,” or “banded pigeon,” and so on. Such searches will usually work to get you started finding the owner.