Release Date:
February 24, 2021
An overview of the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory’s successes in collection and curation of bird banding data in the last year, featuring some of the remarkable bird bandings, recaptures, and encounters from 2020.
In 2020, the Bird Banding Laboratory reached an impressive milestone celebrating its 100-year anniversary. For a century, the BBL in collaboration with the Bird Banding Office of the Environment and Climate Change Canada, has administered the North American Bird Banding Program and maintained a database of over 77 million records of banded birds and 5 million encounters of those banded birds. In 2020 alone, the NABBP received over a half a million banding records and almost 80,000 encounters of previously banded birds (see Figure 1 and 2). In comparison, in 2019 over 900,000 birds were banded. This reduction in banding data received at the lab is a consequence of reduced efforts likely due to COVID-19 restrictions that limited lar
Posted on February 20, 2021 | Views: 580
cwebb2021-02-20T07:45:07-08:00
: A rich archive of data has illuminated the secret lives of birds…
The year was 1902. Paul Bartsch, a mollusk researcher at the Smithsonian Institution, wondered whether the aquatic snails he was studying could be spread from one body of water to another by aquatic birds. To find out, he needed to track the movements of birds. Bartsch hatched a plan. He fastened lightweight aluminum rings inscribed with the year, a serial number and a Smithsonian return address around the legs of 23 nestling black-crowned night herons that he captured along the Anacostia River outside Washington, D.C. And then Bartsch waited for news of the banded birds where they were sighted, what had become of them.
What Scientists Have Learned from 100 Years of Bird Banding scientificamerican.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scientificamerican.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Plan a Wyoming waterfowl hunt this winter
Cheyenne – As big game seasons come to a close, Wyoming hunters are trading their rifles and bows for shotguns to take aim at waterfowl. The colder weather blanketing the region should send more birds south, just in time for the holiday break.
“We’ve had a more mild weather year,” said Noelle Smith, Wyoming Game and Fish Department migratory game bird and wetland habitat biologist. “But that is starting to change and that will push the birds from the north to Wyoming.”
For any waterfowl hunting trip, hunters should confirm they have the required licenses and stamps and that they are not expired. Waterfowl hunting in Wyoming has several requirements, and hunters must carry certain licenses and stamps with them when afield.