Banding Hummingbirds

Here is a link to a video of the entire hum-banding process.  Warning -- it's a very large file and may take a while to download!

Hummingbird banding is a neat process to watch.  The bander will set up in an area where several birds are present.  They use traps -- cages with feeders inside and remote-controlled doors -- to catch the birds.  Once the birds are trapped in the cage, an assistant gently removes the bird and places it into a soft cloth bag.  Depending on how much bird traffic there is, the birds may stay in the bags for a few minutes while each bird is processed.  Occasionally they will squeak and squirm in the bags, but most birds are surprisingly docile through the entire process.

The first thing the bander does is check to see if the bird is male or female.  For hummers, this is a fairly simple visual check, since males and females carry different plumage, although it can be more challenging with immature birds.  The bands are different for males and females, so it's important to get this information first.  The tiny bands are made of aluminum and are sequenced with a single letter (which stands for 4 numbers) and then 5 digits.  Each band identification is unique, and as each bird is banded that information will be entered into the Banding database in Maryland.  Each hummingbird bander must prepare their own bands--they come in a sheet and must be cut out, and the edges carefully filed.  The bands are stored on a large safety pin until needed.

The bird is removed from the bag and the bander does a quick visual inspection to notice anything unusual about the bird -- uneven gorget, sign of injury, unusual coloring -- which is recorded.  She or he immediately installs the band.  While it's rare for an experienced bander to lose a bird, it does happen and they want to make sure it at least has a band on it, even if they don't get the other information about the bird.

The bander then measures the birds wing and tail feathers and length of bill.  S/he also uses a magnifying glass to look at the bill very closely for corrugations.  A hatch year bird's bill has significant corrugation, so this helps tell the bird's age.  Once the bird becomes an adult, all they can tell is that it's an adult -- not how old it is (unless by chance it's a banded bird and then they can look in the database for this information!) 

 The bander also does a visual inspection for fat on the bird.  S/he uses a straw to blow back the feathers on its chest and belly to look for fat content under the skin in the breastbone and lower body areas. In this video, Dave Patton blows gently on the feathers to reveal the "nectar belly" of this juvenile male Ruby-throat hummingbird.  

Then, to confirm the fat content of the bird, it's weighed on a postal scale.  Normal weight of a non-migrating hummer is 2-2.5 grams -- about the weight of a penny.  When it bulks up for migration it will double or even trip that weight to 5 or 6 grams -- about the weight of a nickel!

Once the bird is weighed, it's color-marked on the head with a water-based non-toxic "paint" (actually white-out).  This is done so that if the bird makes its way back into one of the traps, they'll know to let the bird go instead of putting it through the stress of bagging and inspection again.

After the bird is color-marked it's time to let it go!  If there are observers watching the banding, the bander will choose someone to do the honors and carefully place the bird in the person's outstretched hand.  The bird may be still a few seconds before it realizes it's free, but usually zooms off pretty quickly back to the big world!