A bird in the hand: Piloting a photographic bird banding manual

Tracking bird populations and migration patterns can help provide clues to the overall health of the environment. Correctly doing so, however, requires highly specialized knowledge to accurately age and sex these species. This involves an in-depth understanding of each species’ molting strategies, including being able to distinguish between minute differences in plumage color. This presentation will report on a collaboration between a federally license bird bander trainer and a science librarian to create a photographic training manual to supplement the current text-based reference material and aid in the education of new bird banders. Currently in the pilot phase, the project will involve the creation of a database of images of bird species at different life stages to better illustrate the molting strategies, the color variations, and the other diagnostic criteria for accurately ageing and sexing the species encountered at the presenter’s local banding station.