Holding Migratory Birds

Seen here is a bird being checked for age, injuries, gender and so forth. That same grip we saw in the previous post, with the wrist turned over, allows access to the front of the bird and if you look closely at the bird's right leg in the foreground, you will see the band that has already been attached at the very top of the leg. The naturalist will generally band the bird first, in order to allow the bird to be set free in case the bird becomes agitated. While this bird appeared not to be at all uncomfortable, we were able to look quite closely at things such as the wings.

It was determined that this bird is a second year bird, born in 2008, and the wing photograph is the telling detail. Just above the naturalist's thumb, the strip of darker brown wings is identified as the first year wings, clearly a different color than the second year wings. Only in a situation such as this could an amateur like me learn that and see its effect in full color right before my eyes. And now, thanks to the blog, right before your eyes as well!