Kèköldi Bird Conservation and Monitoring Program

The Kèköldi Bird Conservation and Monitoring Program is looking for volunteers and a coordinator (requires experience) to join their study site from 1 August to 1 December 2011. The site is at Kèköldi Indigenous Reserve on the Talamanca region of Costa Rica, between Puerto Viejo and Cahuita National Park, Limon Province. The reserve consists of [...]

Raising a Chick at the Age of Sixty

Wisdom’s first band was placed on her while incubating an egg in the year 1956, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been keeping an eye on her ever since. To be able to breed, a Laysan Albatross needs to be five years old, which now puts her age at an estimated sixty years. Wisdom is a celebrity of the North American Bird Banding Program, as she is the oldest bird on their records since the project was initiated ninety years ago. Now she is raising another chick, which brings her total number of chicks raised during her lifetime to approximately thirty to thirty-five. What is even more amazing, is the fact that these birds mate for life, meaning that her partner is either still accompanying her on her journey or she has outlived him.

2011 Spring Banding Session

Taking place at Fort Mogan State Historical Park, along the Alabama Gulf Coast, banding will begin before dowan and end mid-afternoon. This area is an important stopover for migratory birds returning from South and Central America. Banding is free, with admission to the fort costing $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children of 6 to 12, [...]

Bird Banding

Bird banding (also called bird ringing) is an important tool for bird research and studies. Scientists put numbered metal bands around a bird’s leg, and keep track of where the birds are recaptured.