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ORIGINAL: metaldonnieg
Is a band kind of like a deer tag? I'm lost.
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Yes Metal it is similar.
Its kind of like killing a big buck for waterfowl hunters. On the left or right leg of a bird, you will occasionally (and some people have hunted for 50 years and never killed one) find a metal band. On it will be a number, and phone number to call, and an agency, often the US Fish and Wildlife Service, or the USGS. The number for the Nat'l Labratory in laurel, MD is 800-327-BAND. Pretty easy to remember (I've been lucky enough to call it a few times over the years).
When you call it in, you give the folks your information, name, address, and date and place you harvested the bird. They will then send you a certificate telling you when the bird was banded, where it was banded, who banded it, and how old it was (approx).
Its really cool finding out where the birds you are hunting came from. I have killed two geese out of the same bunch before, both with bands. One being from about 20 miles upriver, and the other being from Ontario! Sometimes, they will be shiny new, and sometimes they will be worn thin. I have one that had been on a duck for 10 years. Bird was almost 12 and he too, had been banded in Ontario. I wonder how many miles he had logged over the years....
Some birds will have two bands, being captured twice. Some have monetary rewards attached (lots of black ducks have these, since they are the hot study duck lately).
As to selling them on ebay, I don't get it. Perhaps if someone wanted one for a mount or something, sure, whatever does it for you. As to calling it in yourself if you bought it, you are doing a disservice to the very folks who are trying to study waterfowl to ensure their continued success. Not that a few dozen will be enough to throw the data off too much, but still, you are not part of the solution....
I don't understand people who wear their bands on their lanyards anyhow. They rattle, they shine, and THEY SINK! Mine are all very special to me, and I save all of the certificates from over the years.
I can replace duck calls, but those are special to me, they stay at home on a lanyard with some old vintage calls I collect.