Preseason Banding Locations of Banded Birds Recovered by NC Hunters

Why Band Birds?

In addition to traditional aerial surveys on breeding and wintering areas, the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP), and the Waterfowl Parts Collection Survey, data from the use of leg bands remains a critical component of waterfowl research and management. Banding data from game birds is often an essential part in the process of setting annual hunting regulations, and can be used when determining longevity, dispersal and migration, changes in populations, productivity and survival, harvest rates, social structure, and behavior.

Each year federal, state, and provincial wildlife agencies spend considerable time and manpower to band waterfowl. Banding effort is normally focused on waterfowl breeding areas during the preseason banding period which runs from July – September. Approximately 200,000 ducks, 100,000 geese, and 1,000 swans are banded during this period each year in North America. Most prairie banding crews will target mallards, but significant numbers of other dabbling ducks are also banded. The most commonly banded species are mallards, followed by Canada geese. Blue-winged teal (third) are also banded in large numbers as the result of being captured along with mallards in the prairies.

A variety of techniques are used to capture and band waterfowl. Most prairie ducks are caught in baited traps. Most Canada geese and some diving ducks are caught by herding molting, flightless birds into drive traps. Wood ducks are caught in nest boxes, in baited swim-in or walk-in traps, or using rocket nets. Wintering ducks are caught in swim-in traps or rocket nets.


Example of Wood Ducks Nest Box	Example of Swim-in Traps	Example of Rocket Nets

Many arctic-nesting geese are also fitted with color-coded neck collars in addition to a leg band. Neck collar studies have been used to delineate the wintering grounds of various subspecies and subpopulations of Canada Geese. In addition, neck collar studies can help differentiate goose populations on the wintering grounds, as well as between migrant and resident populations. This information has been used to provide protection to vulnerable populations and subspecies, like the Atlantic Population Canada goose.
In addition to the standard aluminum leg band, occasionally a bird will be double banded. The additional band is either a reward band (green) or a color-coded leg band so the bird can be identified from a distance. Reward bands are most often used to estimate band reporting rates for a particular species. Reward bands are inscribed with a reward amount which a hunter can claim by reporting the band number to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

When a hunter reports a band, they become an integral part of waterfowl management in North America. Reporting leg bands is now very easy. All that is required is the hunter contact the Bird Banding Laboratory at 1-800-327-BAND (2263) or online at www.reportband.gov with the band number and how, when and where the bird was found. YOU KEEP THE BAND! After the band has been reported, the Bird Banding Lab will send a Certificate of Appreciation indicating the bander and when and where the bird was banded. For more information on the Bird Banding Laboratory see http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/default.htm.

In addition to their utility as waterfowl management tools, leg and neck bands are cherished by waterfowl hunters as reminders of memorable hunts, or as representative of their hunting skills. Regardless, they are important to both waterfowl managers and hunters alike.

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Preseason Banding Locations of Banded Birds Recovered by NC Hunters

Each year, state, federal, and provincial wildlife agencies devote considerable manpower and funds to band waterfowl. Effort is focused on the preseason banding period (July – September) when most waterfowl are associated with breeding areas. Hunter recoveries of waterfowl banded during the preseason banding period can offer insights into the production areas that feed birds into migration and wintering regions.

The following maps show preseason banding locations of common species which winter in North Carolina or pass through the state during migration. These maps were created from data supplied by the United States Geological Survey & United States Fish & Wildlife Service for waterfowl recovered before the 2007 hunting season. All leg band recoveries used to produce these maps were shot by North Carolina hunters or found dead. While these locations can indicate production areas for ducks wintering in the Tarheel state, caution should be used when interpreting these maps. Because banding effort is not always equal across a species geographic range, some production areas may not be represented by leg band recoveries alone. For example, leg band recoveries of northern pintails might suggest that birds wintering in North Carolina originate primarily from the U.S. and Canadian prairies. However, research utilizing satellite transmitters suggest the primary area producing Atlantic Flyway pintails is Southern James Bay and eastern Hudson Bay, east across much of Quebec to Newfoundland and Labrador. Click on the links below to view leg band recovery maps for individual species.

American wigeon (pdf)	Gadwall (pdf)	Wood duck (pdf)	Ring-necked duck (pdf)
American green-winged teal (pdf)	Northern pintail (pdf)	Canvasback (pdf)	Lesser scaup (pdf)
Mallard (pdf)	American black duck (pdf)	Redhead (pdf)

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Preseason Wood Duck Banding in NC

Each year, staff waterfowl biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) coordinate statewide banding of wood ducks during the preseason banding period which runs from July – September. Because there is no range-wide index of abundance for wood ducks, banding data is a critical tool for assessing flyway wide and long-term changes in wood duck populations. The pre-season period remains the most critical period, as banding information from this time is more reliable when determining annual recovery (used as an index to harvest) and survival rates. Since 1990, WRC staff and cooperators have banded approximately 11,000 wood ducks during the annual preseason period (Figure 1). The pre-season banding goal for wood ducks in North Carolina is 1,550, which is distributed between WRC (600 total) and 6 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges (950 total).
Two techniques are generally used to capture wood ducks in North Carolina, depending on the area of the state in which the banding takes place. In eastern North Carolina, biologists primarily utilize “bait-trapping”. Wood ducks are enticed to an area with grain, usually whole- kernel corn, and captured by firing a net powered by rockets over the birds as they feed at the bait site. In the Piedmont and western regions of the state, biologists use either rocket nets or swim-in traps, depending on the location. Swim-in traps are cages constructed of welded wire. Ducks enter the trap through a funneling device to feed on bait placed inside the trap. Once inside, they cannot determine how to exit back through the funnel and are captured.
After capture, biologists determine the sex and age of the bird using body and wing plumage, molt patterns or sexual characteristics. A numbered, federal aluminum leg band is placed on the tarsus prior to release.

To see a map of leg band recoveries of wood ducks banded during the preseason period in North Carolina click here.

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