Pan American Shorebird Program

• How To Report A Colour Banded Shorebird Sighting
• If You Colour Band Shorebirds
• What is a Flag?
• How to Make a Flag
• Where To Obtain Flag Blanks
• More About Banding Shorebirds

---

Since few species of shorebirds are hunted in North America, the traditional method of marking birds with metal leg bands was not an efficient way for researchers to get reports on their birds from other areas and trace their migration routes. For this reason, shorebirds are usually marked with colour bands and/or colour 'flags' (colour bands with a tab of varying length that sticks out from the leg) that can be easily seen from a distance.

The Pan American Shorebird Program (PASP) was created in the mid-1980s to develop a standardized bird banding system. The PASP assigned each country in the Americas a different colour flag code to make it easier to identify the banders of marked shorebirds. (For example, Canada uses a white flag; French Guiana has a light green flag.) Within each country, colour band combinations are also organized and assigned to specific banders. Prior to the PASP, it was extremely difficult to identify who banded the shorebirds and in what country the banding occurred.

The North American Banders' Manual for Banding Shorebirds by C.L. Gratto-Trevor is available by contacting the North American Banding Council (NABC) or the Canadian Bird Banding Office.

For further information on the Pan American Shorebird Program contact:

Canadian Bird Banding Office 
National Wildlife Research Centre
Canadian Wildlife Service
1125 Colonel By Drive (Raven Road)
Ottawa ON  K1A 0H3

Telephone: 613-998-0524
Email: BBO_CWS@ec.gc.ca

Top of Page

How To Report a Colour Banded Shorebird Sighting

Describe each band: type (metal, colour band, flag), colours (as exact as possible - light green, dark blue), and location on bird (bird's left or right leg, upper or lower leg, above or below other bands). Note if you are unsure of any bands or if you did not see all parts of both legs clearly.

Note species, location of sighting, date and any other information (behaviour, other birds).

Submit your information to:

Canadian Bird Banding Office
National Wildlife Research Centre
Canadian Wildlife Service
1125 Colonel By Drive (Raven Road)
Ottawa ON  K1A 0H3

Telephone: 613-998-0524
Email: BBO_CWS@ec.gc.ca

Bands of Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) to left would be described as: orange band over light green band upper left, light green band lower left; nothing upper right, white flag over metal lower right.  

Bands of Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) to right: no flags; white colour band upper left, orange colour band lower left; nothing upper right, metal over yellow colour band lower right.

 

Not all observations can be traced to the bander, usually for one of the following reasons:

• the bird has lost colour bands or the bands have become discoloured (even small Semipalmated Sandpipers can live until 15 years of age, Marbled Godwits to 30 years - colour bands do not last that long);
• band combination was incomplete or incorrect (wrong colour, wrong leg, missed bands, did not note upper or lower leg, did not differentiate colour bands from flags);
• the combination could be from several different banders (most common for non-flagged small birds, or birds banded many years ago).

So be as complete as possible, and be patient - some of those observations you send in will be providing information useful for the conservation of shorebirds!

Top of Page

If You Colour Band Shorebirds

For PASP to identify your birds and send you sightings, we need to know your general banding scheme or pattern(s) and how to contact you. For countries other than the United States and Canada, usually we will only need to know if you are using your country flag colours.

If flags are not used, it is often difficult to identify the bander: we cannot organize all banders throughout the Americas using only colour bands.

Use UV-stable colour bands and flags for shorebirds, and preferably monel or stainless-steel metal bands. If you are using aluminum bands, place them on the bird's upper leg.

What is a Flag?

• A colour band with a tab projecting from it - tab length can vary

Country flag codes (one or two flag colours per bird):

One flag colour

Two flag colour

Two flag colour

Two flag colour

Two flag colour

Bi-Coloured flags may be used instead of two flags in 2-colour countries. Flags should be UV-stable to minimize discoloration.

Top of Page

How to Make a Flag

Obtain UV-stable (darvic) flag blanks (35 X 5 X 0.5 mm)

flag blank

completed flag

Flag blanks may be cut in half for small birds such as Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) to make short flags, left uncut for long flags, or cut to any length in between. Long flags are more visible but may impede the bird's movements. Cut one third off the flag blank to make short flags for medium-sized birds, use full blank for large species.

Find nails or other objects of the same diameter as the desired size of bands, bend flag blank (cut or full) around nail so that ends are even, and pinch flag tabs with pliers as close to the nail as possible.

While holding flag and nail with pliers, immerse flag in extremely hot water for about 15 seconds. Remove from hot water and immediately immerse in very cold water (still using pliers) for about 15 seconds. Remove from nail - flag tabs should be tightly closed - if not, try again!

Use colour band applicator to place flag on bird - open flag only as much as necessary, so flag is not stretched (otherwise, remove and reshape later). With small species it is not necessary to seal flags (assuming the tabs are tightly closed); with large species, flag tabs may be sealed shut with cyanoacrylate glue or heated pliers.

Top of Page

Where To Obtain Flag Blanks

A. C. Hughes Ltd.
1 High St., Hampton Hill,
Middlesex, United Kingdom TW12 1NA
Telephone: 0208-979-1366
Fax: 0208-979-5872

Email: ringo@cix.co.uk

• Cost (approximate):
  • 100 flag blanks:
    • £5.13
    • $9.67 (US)
    • $12.26 (CAN)
  • 1000 flag blanks:
    • £38.47
    • $72.47 (US)
    • $88.85 (CAN)

UV-stable colours available for flags or colour bands (only plain colours, no stripes available in UV-stable):

Top of Page

More About Banding Shorebirds

Shorebirds are usually marked with colour bands and/or coloured 'flags' (colour bands with a tab of varying length that sticks out from the leg). Flag(s) are not placed on every colour-marked shorebird, but when they are, flag colours normally represent the country where the bird was originally banded (for example, a bird marked in Canada would have a white flag, one marked in French Guiana would have a light green flag over a blue flag, or a single bicoloured light green and blue flag). Some birds are also given a dye pattern, but that lasts only until those feathers are moulted.

There are two types of colour banding schemes: cohort and individual.

With cohort schemes, large numbers of birds are marked with the same pattern and colours. Here the scheme is usually used to identify the location of banding, year, and perhaps age of the bird. This is often used during migration studies when large numbers of birds are banded. For example, all shorebirds banded during spring migration 1990 at Little Quill Lake, Saskatchewan, were marked with a white flag over a metal band on the upper left leg, and a white flag over a red colour band on the upper right leg. In the same area, birds captured during fall migration in 1990 were given a white flag over a metal band on the upper left leg, and a red or dark green colour band on the lower right leg. The red band was placed on adults, and the green on juveniles.

Birds are given individual combinations when it is important to be able to identify the specific bird without recapturing it. This type of scheme is common for breeding studies and behavioural studies. Each bird is given a unique combination of bands and colours for that species. This allows one to identify the individual as soon as it returns to the breeding area, identify its mate and so on, before one would have a chance to recapture the bird.