John,
There is no difference, it is just that different countries call it by different names. In the northern hemisphere it is “ringing” while most of the southern hemisphere call it “banding”. In Australia it is banding, and the size of the bird to which the band (or other forms of identification for that matter) is attached makes no difference to what it is called. Banding in Australia is controlled by Australian Bird and Bat Banding Schemes, a division of the Federal Government’s Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts here in Canberra.
Locally there are effectively two groups of banders. One is centred on the ANU through the Botany/Zoology department (BoZo) – although I may have this name incorrect – and much of their work has been done in the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Superb Fairy-wrens and White-browed Scrubwrens using students, often doing PhD’s, as the “workers”. There are several other projects also being undertaken by academics from the ANU.
The second group is a dedicated group of chiefly amateurs who have banding sites near West Wyalong, Grenfell, Braidwood and Wee Jasper. This latter group is primarily the one that trains banders locally, including in many cases banders from the ANU. Normally we do not do public displays but once every few years we invite the local bird club, COG, to campout at a site near West Wyalong to see what goes on. I have not discussed with COG’s outings officer the possibility of doing a trip this year but would consider a trip on the October long weekend provided it does not clash with anything already organised by COG. If you are a member of COG and receive the Gang-gang newsletter you may have noticed in the (?) December issue that I have advised COG members of a banding trip to Cape York in November. It is up to people to get themselves up there but the banding team will happily show people banding in operation.
I hope this answers your query; if not please get back to me.
Cheers,
Mark,
Regional Organiser, ACT,
Australian Bird and Bat Banding Schemes
From: John Layton [
Sent: Sunday, 9 January 2011 6:17 PM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Ring or band?
We’ve been reading ‘Songbird Journeys – Four Seasons in the Lives of Migratory Birds’ by Miyoko Chu and it’s reinvigorated discussions about bird migration and tracking. Anyhow, the question arose, and will not go away viz: what’s the difference between bird ringing and bird banding? I proposed the expressions mean the same thing. But this is not accepted in the realms of Bratdom – where it’s held that big birds like pelicans are ringed whereas smaller birds are banded. Also, Chu (bless her) mentions that there are some places in North America where John & Mary Public can watch banding. Or is it ringing? – so help me – can we see any demonstrations locally? Anyone?
John Layton
Holt.
