[va-bird] Reasoning behind banding at Kiptopeke

Howdy all,
     Mr. Kline brings up a good point and one that is often asked about banding 
stations. Are they really doing any good for bird studies? The answer is yes. 
At the Kiptopeke station, there is a variety of different scientific projects 
underway. Most people believe that the only reason for banding is to have the 
bird captured at some other location. This use to be the reason, but due to the 
lack of these recoveries (maybe one a year per station), the reason behind 
banding has changed throughout the years. Granted, these recoveries do occur 
and those are very important, but the real reason behind banding is different 
for each station. At the Kiptopeke station one of our main projects is to track 
the health (condition) of birds captured on the eastern shore. For example: 
Lets say we catch and band a bird today (right after a cold front lets say) and 
release it. We are hoping to recatch that bird in a few days to a week or even 
more, before it leaves the area (usually with the next cold front). Of the 
measurements we take on the bird, one is the weight. If we recatch that bird, 
we can compare the weight from this capture to the previous weight. Therefore 
we can see if the bird is gaining, losing, or maintaining weight while it stays 
on the eastern shore. Recapturing birds during the same season is much more 
likely. Last year for example, we banded roughly 6,200 birds. We had 350 
recaptures from the same season. That gives us 350 birds to track a weight on. 
Some of those birds were caught the next day, some up to two weeks after the 
initial banding. The 350 recaptures is much more justifiable than the 1 
possible recovery at some other location. If we find that birds are losing 
weight while they stage on the shore, then management practices are needed to 
help try to bring in profitable food resources to the area maybe by way of 
deciduous trees, or more berry producing bushes. With the loom of economic 
build up here on the eastern shore, the idea of losing native land to 
development, and the land converting to non-useful habitat for migrating birds, 
management practices are going to be a must. With the data that the banding 
station is collecting, we can help track the health of these migrants as 
management practices evolve. 
     Other data is also collected at the banding station as well. Since this 
banding station has been banding birds at the same site for over 40 years, we 
can and do track trends in specie populations. With the data we have collected 
throughout the years we have see decreases and increases in certain bird 
species populations. Most notably Bicknell's Thrush. A one time common migrant 
to the eastern shore has now become a rare capture. Also through banding, we 
have determined that most of the birds that migrate down the peninsula are 
hatching year birds (this years offspring). Some species it is as high as 98% 
are young. Why is this? There are some ideas, but that is something we are all 
still working on. 
     We are also a research facility to help other research projects. In past 
and this current season, the Kiptopeke banding station has helped on projects 
involving swabbing birds for a bacteria that is know to digest feathers and two 
different project that are using stable hydrogen isotopes to determine what 
foods are being consumed and also a point of origin (hatching place) for the 
birds that pass down the eastern shore.
     Also Mr. Kline brings up another important part of the banding station: 
education. The Kiptopeke station is open to the public and we try to bring in 
as many people as we can to the station. Here we educate the public on banding, 
the purpose of banding, habitat, concerns for the well being of birds, an 
oversight of migration, and to answer questions they might have. Every year 
hundreds of school students, elder hostiles, bird clubs, college classes, and 
the general public visit the banding station. We try to make the public become 
aware of the environment around them. I express the "fun" side of banding to 
try to bring visitors to the station so we can educate them on the reasoning 
behind banding and the usefulness of it. Who would want to visit a banding 
station if it was portrayed as dull or make you feel unwelcome? Most of the 
visitors to the station have never seen a bird close up. And you should see 
their eyes light up when you pull an bird out of a bag!  They instantly become 
fascinated and wanting to learn more about them! So the banding station has to 
main purposes: One to collect data and the other is to educate.
     As for the mortality rate in which a lot of people are concerned with, the 
rate is much lower than you might think. When dealing with banding, death of 
birds is almost impossible to avoid. The average banding station throughout 
North American losses one bird per three hundred captures. That might seem high 
to some but most of those are not avoidable. I run this station with the health 
of the bird as the number one concern. So far this season we have banded 1,148 
birds and we have had two mortalities. One was severely tangled in the net and 
the other was clawed by a hawk while in the net. Predator caused mortalities 
are unavoidable. They will happen and they happen everyday in the wild. Last 
year we lost seven birds in one day due to a fox that was in the vicinity. So 
mortalities happen. The best you can do is do your best at avoiding what can be 
avoided. The birds that do die, and if they are in good condition, are sent to 
colleges to be prepared as study skins for in-class projects. I am not trying 
to justify the deaths of these birds but people have to be aware that 70-80% of 
hatching year birds do not survive to breed! Many, many factors are involved 
that make this rate so high. Collisions with windows, radio towers, wind 
turbines, and buildings account for a large total of deaths. Predators, 
including house cats, kill millions of birds a year. And then add in migration, 
food availability, and loss of habitat, all make up a stacked deck for these 
birds. So as banders, we try our hardest not to make life any harder for these 
birds. We are trying to find ways to help them and to understand them better. 
     
    I do appreciate the concerns that Mr. Kline expresses. They are thoughts 
and concerns that a lot of people have. I hope this clears up a little bit 
about banding and the Kiptopeke station. For other questions you can email me 
at my personal address at jethro_runco@xxxxxxxxxxx . I will do my best as 
answering them for you. And once again, I also recommend visiting the banding 
station to see banding first hand. 
Thank you,

Jethro Runco
Head Songbird Bander
Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory




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