Virginia Bluebird Society

It is one challenge to color-band a bird. The second challenge is to sight one, and for this binoculars are helpful. The third challenge is properly reading them. The fourth challenge is reporting them so the research can be helpful to the birds.
In 2005, David Mitchell of Loudoun County, banded his hatch-year birds with one silver and one red band. Those might be the easiest to report. He gave the adults three colors plus the metal band, and the top right band was always green.
What is the top right? In David’s research, the top right is from the bird’s point-of view. How does an observer “read” the bands? Pretending he is the bird, the observer reads in the following order: Top Left, Bottom Left, Top Right, Bottom Right.

David used the following colors: red, blue, green, black, purple, yellow, white, orange, pink, and light blue. The yellow and light blue might fade toward a white.
Please report any sightings of these birds to David at 540-822-4553. Try to be specific as to when and exactly where you saw one. If a red-banded bird is spotted, David is willing to travel to the site.

For an excellent guide to reading color bands, visit Cornell’s House Finch Disease webpage at: www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/resightcolor.html.

Sarah McDade