Tweeters,

I sent an email to the Bird Banding Lab asking about reporting this
sighting. The details of the observation, as I understand them, don't fit
too well with the Bird Banding Lab's internet forms for reporting such
things. In other words, we don't have the number on the aluminum leg band.
We know the shape and color of the nasal tags but the Bird Banding Labs form
focuses more on numeric or alphanumeric coding on color markers.

The nasal marking systems I'm familiar with depend upon resightings of color
and shape on each side of the duck and recording color and shape by right
side and left side which links the duck back to the data that's been
collected on it.

I did a brief internet search for goldeneye nasal marking and didn't find
any current projects that seem likely as the source for this goldeneye. If I
get a useful response from the Bird Banding Lab, I'll share it with
Tweeters.

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, Washington
Reply to: mcallisters4 at comcast.net


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ruth Taylor" <rutht at seanet.com>
To: <garybletsch at yahoo.com>; <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 8:30 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Tagged Goldeneye


> Hi Gary & Tweets:
>
> I've forwarded an old (2003) post from Kelly McAllister about nasal disks
> on
> scoters. This sounds like it might be the same type of tag as what you saw
> on the goldeneye.
> Does anyone know if these birds are being tagged or who is doing it?
>
> Ruth Taylor
> Seattle/Ballard
> rutht at seanet.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelly Mcallister <mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov>
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 9:39 AM
> Subject: Nasal disks on Scoters
>
>
>>Hi Tweets,
>>
>>In the past month, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, largely because of
> the
>>hard work of Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program staff, have implanted
>>5 male and 5 female White-winged Scoters with satellite transmitters. We
> hope
>>that tracking their movements to breeding areas, molting areas, and
> elsewhere
>>will help us to better understand why scoters are in decline.
>>
>>In addition to the birds with satellite transmitters, there are 10
> White-winged
>>Scoters and 23 Surf Scoters (none of which have the satellite
>>transmitters)
>>which were opportunistically fitted with nasal tags. The tags are plastic
> and
>>there is one plastic piece on each side of the bill, fastened through the
> nares.
>>We are hoping that these birds will be resighted. Ideally, observers will
> be
>>able to report the characteristics of the marker on each side of the bill.
> Most
>>of the birds have a different color and shape on right and left sides. The
> colors
>>used were blue, green, orange, purple, red, white, and yellow. The shapes
> were
>>round, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, and y-shaped.
>>
>>These birds were captured and subsequently released in the south Puget
> Sound
>>area, Peale's passage (between Squaxin and Hartstene Islands) and
>>Henderson
>>Inlet.
>>
>>I'm hoping we can generate some interest in scrutiny of scoter flocks
> looking
>>for these markers so that a better understanding of movements can be
> achieved
>>which will, in the end, help to conserve the species.
>>
>>Having now seen scoters up close and personal, they are beautiful birds.
>>
>>Kelly McAllister
>>Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
>>Olympia, Washington
>>Reply to: mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov
>>
>>
>>
>
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