Bird banding! I have questions.

studd muffin

Jack Dempsey
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Nov 16, 2009
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I recently acquired two mallard ducklings and they are growing really fast. I want to band them before they grow too big and before they fly off to migrate. I was wondering if any of you guys know where I can buy and customize the engravings on bird bands. Is it legal for me to tag my ducks with personal information? I want to know if they did not make it if any hunters bag them. :(
 

studd muffin

Jack Dempsey
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You're going to run into issues if you band them too early as the band will hurt the duck's leg. Ideally you would wait until they're fully grown to band them; you could trim their flight feathers up until that point to prevent them from flying off.
I am planning on banding them when they grow their flight feathers. I dont want to clip their wings because I want them to be able to defend themselves from danger when they are in the backyard alone.
 

Wiggles92

Dovii
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Apr 25, 2009
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I am planning on banding them when they grow their flight feathers. I dont want to clip their wings because I want them to be able to defend themselves from danger when they are in the backyard alone.
Oh, that should work then. The main thing is to make sure that the band isn't going to constrict the duck's leg due to growth which is why I said to wait until they were fully grown.
 

ShipOfFools37

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Nov 11, 2008
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Are you banding just two ducks?

A lot of places that release farm-reared Mallards in MD band all their ducks before they're released with something like a name and a phone number. These are fairly large operations, so I'm sure they have several bands made. I'm thinking that getting just two bands made will be fairly expensive.

I can't see any problem with it being legal or illegal to band your ducks, but I would check local regulations or call the area wildlife service/dept. of natural resources.

Good luck finding bird bands!
 

deeda

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Mallard ducks are migratory waterfowl so fall under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife services. Only authorized bird banders can lawfully band birds.
 

studd muffin

Jack Dempsey
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Mallard ducks are migratory waterfowl so fall under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife services. Only authorized bird banders can lawfully band birds.
Even customized bird bands? All I want to put on the band is my phone number, city, and their name.
 

deeda

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Because banding birds requires capturing the birds and handling them before the banding takes place, bird banding in the U.S. is controlled under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and requires a federal banding permit. Some states require a state permit as well.

Only official federal bands may be legally placed on birds that are released to the wild within the U.S.

There is a real danger of hurting the birds by an improperly attached band to their leg. There are different sizes for different birds. A band that is too tight will cut off the circulation in the leg and a band that is too loose could snag on submerged branches or plants & potentially drown the duck.
 

studd muffin

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 16, 2009
3,620
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'MERICA
Because banding birds requires capturing the birds and handling them before the banding takes place, bird banding in the U.S. is controlled under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and requires a federal banding permit. Some states require a state permit as well.

Only official federal bands may be legally placed on birds that are released to the wild within the U.S.

There is a real danger of hurting the birds by an improperly attached band to their leg. There are different sizes for different birds. A band that is too tight will cut off the circulation in the leg and a band that is too loose could snag on submerged branches or plants & potentially drown the duck.
These are my ducks. They are not wild.
 

deeda

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They may be your ducks but once they are out of your possession and loose in your city/state they will again become wild.

Did you buy them as pets or did you intend to release them once they were grown? Are you sure these aren't domestically raised ducks from a breeder? You never said where you actually got them from but that doesn't really matter at this point.

I had neighbors that have had orphaned mallard ducks raised to adults that decide to leave their property at some time or other. I'm not sure if they contacted anyone to have their ducks banded before they left.
 
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