Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 10:13:02 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Carolyn Sturtevant Subject: Banded Song sparrow MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In reply to Gail Mackiernan's report of a banded bird: "We also had a Song Sparrow in Military Field which was BANDED -- right leg, red band over white (or silver). Couldn't see if left leg was banded. Any idea?" This could be a bird banded by researchers for the Smithsonian's Neighborhood Nestwatch program. You can find details about the program at: http://sio.si.edu/nestwatch/ They operate out of the Annapolis area and their research is hosted in neighborhoods within a 50 mile radius. The Song Sparrow is one of their target backyard species. Other species include: Robin Carolina chickadee Carolina wren House wren Gray catbird Cardinal Since 2001, they have banded a few dozen birds in my neighborhood with unique combinations of the traditional aluminum band and colored plastic bands. Typically, the combination involves one aluminum band and two colored bands. This summer they monitored nests of their target species. All nestlings received the same bicolor band that is yellow on one end and red on the other end. Their expectation is that nestlings' survival rate is lower, so they wish to reserve unique color combinations for adult birds. In my morning walks throughout my neighborhood this summer, I frequently saw banded birds in their breeding territories. In the winter, they appear at my feeder. I report resightings to the Neighborhood Nestwatch folks. It's great fun to see these birds and recognize my favorite chickadee, with red over purple on one leg and aluminum on the other. She was banded in the summer of 2001 in the company of 3 fledglings. I've seen her each winter since then, and this summer, she brought a new batch of fledglings to my backyard after raising them in a wooded lot about a block away. Nestwatch@si.edu, 443-482-2344 is the contact information. I'm certain that they'd welcome any information on sightings. Carolyn Sturtevant Greenbelt, MD cast@loc.gov ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================