Hi Tweets,

Brant throughout Arctic breeding areas have been banded with colored leg bands with alphanumeric
3-character codes. The alphanumeric code identifies each individual bird. The research would benefit
tremendously from a broad volunteer effort to read bands in saltwater areas of Washington and
report them to the coordinators in Washington and British Columbia. Band color, characters on the band,
location, and date are all needed. The two contacts are:

Don Kraege
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way N
Olympia WA 98501-1091
(360) 902-2515
wildthing at dfw.wa.gov

Sean Boyd
Canadian Wildlife Service
RR 1 5421 Robertson Rd.
Delta B.C. V4K 3N2
(604) 940-4682
sean.boyd at ec.gc.ca

Of course, I will be doing my best to pick up sightings reported to Tweeters and elsewhere so I
can forward them along.

It's going to take a good spotting scope and, most likely, visits to Brant wintering areas during
low tides when the birds are most likely to get out of the water on shorelines, shoals, and spits.

I believe this study involves genetic profiling of populations of Brant with known breeding and wintering
habits.

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, Washington