Regent Honeyeater - Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside NSW

["Greg & Val Clancy" <>]

I would suggest that there is probably an area banding project nearby where 
all bird species, including common ones, are banded.  The value of the 
banding occurs when the birds are retrapped some years later by the project 
bander.  It is nigh impossible to read the numbers on small bands unlike 
larger ones, like those on Pied Oystercatchers, Ospreys, Magpies, Currawongs 
etc., where some recovery data can be obtained without the bird being 
recaptured or found dead.
Over the years I have seen a number of Little Terns sitting on North Coast 
beaches wearing numbered metal bands but could not read the numbers.  The 
use of colour-bands and flags greatly increases the number of recoveries of 
banded bird by members of the public but they cannot be used on all birds 
banded.
Greg Clancy
Ecologist
Coutts Crossing
NSW