[va-bird] Canada Geese with Gray Neckbands - Sighting Info Request


VA-birders....

Please be on the lookout for Canada Geese with gray neckbands and black
lettering. They are from a new migration project by Environmental Studies
at Airlie.  Any birds found should be reported tollfree to:  1-888 2
MIGRAT

Here are the details from Amy Harney, project manager:   

Our latest migration project, BBC,or "Ballooning with Branta canadensis".
In this experiment we took 10 Canada geese on a "passive migration"
flying them 75 miles from Sperryville Va to Bowling Green, VA (east of
Fredericksburg) in cages suspended beneath the basket of
a gas balloon. The experiment tests whether the birds can passively learn
to migrate if they are shown a route from the air without having them
actively fly the route. The birds were released in December and were
monitored by our staff and volunteers until they disappeared from the
area in January. Now with arrival of spring, we are anticipating the
birds to return to the Sperryville/Warrenton area.

It seems likely that at least two of our birds were spotted in the
Fairfax Va area last weekend. Most of the calls received were from local
people who are not necessarily birders, and don't have binoculars or
scopes to properly identify the band numbers. 

The experiment was covered by ABC's 20/20 and they are planning to air
the completed segment in the next several weeks. 

BAND DESCRIPTION and contact information:  

Each of the BBC geese is identified by a gray neckband engraved with a
black code beginning with ?K? or ?C? followed by three numbers. The bands
have a vertical strip of yellow tape between the codes. The birds also
have bands on each tarsus. We are asking that people contact us when they
see the birds on our toll free hotline at 1888 2 MIGRAT. It would be most
helpful to know what the band numbers on the birds collars are and where
and when they were sighted.

Amy Harney
BBC Project Manager
Sky Calypso Society and Environmental Studies at Airlie
540 253-7007 540 349-1300 ext 252 540 349-4236 (f)
aharney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Let's see if we can provide them with some useful information.

                Larry


Larry Lynch
Chesterfield County, VA
birder6@xxxxxxxx
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