Hugh Jennings wrote Re: Medina

"Also a Canada Goose with a severely injured left leg at the Clyde Beach dock.
Its right leg had a band which said "Bird" on first line, "Washington" on
second line and the number "828-87" on third line. The last number could
have been 828-81. Does anyone know the significance of the band? "

Hugh,

This was a standard U.S. Bird Banding Lab/Canadian Wildlife Service metal band. The band most likely read "AVISE BIRD BAND" or "BIRD BANDING LAB" on the first line,

then "WRITE WASHINGTON D.C."

The third line had 828- as a prefix, followed by 5 more digits. If you could have read the 3 (or 4, depending on the band)-digit prefix and the five following numbers, you could have emailed the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory at: bbl at nbs.gov

Or, called the sighting in at 1-800-327-BAND.

The BBL generally needs the band number, location (site, distance to nearest town; i.e., Podunk Creek Pond, 3 miles NW of Tacoma, Pierce Co., Wash); and the date you observed or recovered the band. Please let them know whether the bird was alive (in this case injured) or dead, whether it is still wearing the band, and any other pertinent information.

If the band number was complete, they will send you a "Certificate of Appreciation" telling what was the species, sex and age of the bird, when and where banded, and by whom. If you send the bander a note, most banders are pretty good about letting you know why the bird was banded (what their banding project was all about, etc.)

Hope you can get the whole number next time. Good luck and good birding.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net