I'll weigh in as well, as both a bander, a birder, and an owler.

Between Dawn Garcia and myself, we have banded over 50 Barred Owls on
Bainbridge Island in the past six years, though many of them were
nestlings. I have one adult who is 8 years old, another female that will
be 6 in a month. I wouldn't know this if they weren't banded. I wouldn't
know that the adult female that lives at Islandwood came from a nest near
Agate Pass on the north end of the Island. Or that another hatch year bird
has taken up residence on a new terrotory at the south end of the Island.
Or that one of my banded nestlings was hit by a vehicle over in Bremerton,
three years later.

There is a lot to be learned that can only be accomplished through banding
or trapping these birds and doing transmitter installations. Though
temporarily stressful, I often will have an owl that I trapped return
within minutes of release to the trap setup and take the bait mouse.

And yes, I think banders generally are sensitive to those "special" birds.

-Jamie




Jamie Acker
Bainbridge Island, WA
Owler at sounddsl.com