Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme

The next time you see a bird, ask yourself these questions:

How many of that type of bird are there?
Where does it live?
Does it mate for life?
How old is it and how long might it live?
How many eggs will it lay during its life? (if it is female!)
Does it fly far away from here?
Where will it go?
Where does it feed?

The answers to these questions are important to conserving our native birds, and the places where they live. Researchers who look for those answers often need to be able to recognise individual birds or groups of birds. One way is to attach bands or tags to the birds.

Researchers who use bands to study birds are called 'banders' . The Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS) helps this research by supplying numbered metal bands to banders. These bands are usually fitted around the bird's lower leg (or tarsus).

Each band is stamped with a different number and the ABBBS address. Since the banding scheme was started, over 2.6 million birds and bats have been banded and about 140,000 of these have been recaptured.

The role of the ABBBS is to:

help with training banders to use bands properly
advise on how best to collect and use banding information
store information about what birds have been banded
let banders know where and when their bands are found
arrange the design and manufacture of bands
supply bands and other equipment to banders.