Naturally, it is troubling to hear that the bird is in distress, with the leg band as the possible culprit. However, I'm very intrigued by the details of the band. Does anyone have photos that show it? Do the letters read up (or down) the leg or around it?
Barnacle Geese are seen annually in our region but the origins of these birds remains a topic of healthy debate. The discovery of banded birds provides a rare opportunity to supplement speculation with fact. With this in mind, it's important to establish the type of band that has been used on the Orchard Beach bird. Is it a type used by waterfowl collections/breeders or an engraved plastic 'darvic' band of the type used by several banding (ringing) projects studying the wild and feral populations in Europe? A good number of the Greenland and Svalbard nesting populations have been marked with darvic rings/bands allowing researchers to map out the migration routes and determine other statistics relevant to their population biology (e.g. lifespan). Systematic marking of the Svalbard population began back in 1970. What I don't know yet is whether these 'color-banded' birds carry a conventional metal band as well. A description of the Svalbard color scheme can be found here: http://www.ssf.npolar.no/documents/Observations/Barnacle_goose_leg_rings.pdf -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
