Karagi Point , The Entrance NSW Little Tern Bulletin No 2 2002-2003

[Russell Woodford <>]

Nobody has ventured any further info so I might respond to Kym's concerns.

The coloured bands on these birds are not the larger metal rings normally
associated with banding, but much smaller and lighter plastic ones.  See the
following pages for info about band sizes etc.

http://www.ea.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/bands.html
http://www.austmus.gov.au/birds/factsheets/finding_birds.htm
http://www.ea.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/recovery.html
www.birdsaustralia.com.au/infosheets/11_banding.pdf


The main advantage of using coloured plastic bands is that individual birds
can be identified easily from a reasonable distance, so retrapping and
subsequent handling is unnecessary.  Some species are banded with both metal
and plastic bands.  In Victoria the system is used for Oystercatchers, and I
occasionally report a colour combination to the program.  A few years ago I
was lucky enough to call in the details of a Pied Oystercatcher I was
observing at Rippleside in Geelong.  I rang on my mobile and was able to
enjoy watching the bird while being told it was one of the oldest banded
oystercatchers on the Victorian coast - the bird I was looking at had been
banded as an adult 17 YEARS EARLIER!

So it's unlikely these terns were banded on multiple occasions - just one
handling to fit the colour combination. Then the bird can return valuable
data about movements etc for the rest of its life.  Hope everyone who sees
these birds in the field takes the trouble to report them  - see the links
above for more info.

Those concerned about the perceived increase in threats to banded birds
should note that pigeon racers invariably band their birds.  The racing
pig's are not only out there in the big bad world, but trying to get home
asap!

Cheers

Russell Woodford
Birding-Aus Administrator

On 4/12/02 10:01 PM, "Kym Bennet" <> wrote:

> 
> Would some one be kind enough to confirm that i have
> interpreted Alan's sighting correctly please? ie. That
> some (person) has multiple banded Little Terns (an
> endangered species) on both legs, four bands in total
> on each bird?
> 
> Taking into consideration the welfare and the
> population status of the animal, would the placing of
> 4 separate bands on 1 small rare bird be regarded as
> reasonable under the guise of ethical wildlife
> research? 
> 
>

Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to