New Discovery Center Bird Banding Station Takes Off

Citizen Science Intern, Neva Bentley,
releases a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco that was
rehabilitated
at the Northwoods Wildlife center 

There’s nothing quite like the experience of releasing a bird back into the wild!  The North Lakeland Discovery Center’s new bird banding station makes experiences like these possible while conducting important avian research through bird banding. Bird banding is a research tool that provides a wealth of information about birds.  It is one of the best tools for studying bird dispersal and migration, behavior and social structure, life span, survival, and productivity. Birds are captured in fine, nearly invisible nets called mist nets or in traps.  Next, they are fitted with a lightweight, aluminum leg band inscribed with a unique, nine-digit number.  They are identified to species, age, and sex, and then released unharmed.

Research and Monitoring Coordinator, Heather Lumpkin, 

bands an adult female Purple Finch that 

was rehabilitated after striking a window.   

Bird banding in the United States requires a federal banding permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey.  In July 2015, North Lakeland Discovery Center’s Research and Monitoring Coordinator, Heather Lumpkin, received a Subpermit for banding birds.  This Subpermit, sponsored by Master Bird Bander Thomas Nicholls of Fifield, WI, allowed the North Lakeland Discovery Center to launch a new bird banding station August 2015 that will contribute to long-term avian research and provide opportunities for students and the public to connect with birds and learn more about bird conservation. 

A document camera projects bird banding to a television screen

 making public demonstrations easy.  This and other bird banding equipment 

was purchased with funds raised during the 

2015 Fund-a-Wish Campaign at the Big Event in May.      

The North Lakeland Discovery Center is partnering with the Northwoods Wildlife Center, an animal rehabilitation center in Minocqua, WI that admits an average of 130 passerine and near-passerine birds annually.  Little is known about the survival of passerine and near-passerine birds after their release from a rehabilitation program, and by banding birds that are released from the Northwoods Wildlife Center’s rehabilitation program, the North Lakeland Discovery Center hopes to learn more about the survival of post rehabilitation birds.
The North Lakeland Discovery Center also plans to contribute to long-term avian research through the MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) Program.  This continent-wide program, operated by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP), seeks to identify key demographic parameters that drive avian population trends.  Operating a MAPS banding station requires the assistance of a team of trained volunteers.  The Discovery Center is working with volunteers and Discovery Center Bird Club members to develop a team of trained, dedicated individuals who can assist with this project in the future. 

Discovery Center volunteer and board member, 

Barb McFarland, releases one of four 

rehabilitated juvenile Dark-eyed Juncos.        

Public outreach and bird conservation education is also an important goal for the new banding station.  New equipment was purchased for the banding station with funds from the 2015 Fund-a-Wish Campaign.  One of these purchases was a document camera that projects and magnifies real time video of bird banding to a large screen TV that can be viewed by the public.  Kids and adults alike can stop by during any of the banding station’s public demonstration hours.  Demonstration hours are posted on the Discovery Center’s Calendar of Events website.  At the banding station there are activities for kids including a banding station scavenger hunt, band-a-kid activity, migration game, and more.  Visitors can support the banding station through donations and the “adopt–a-bird” program.  For $10 individuals can adopt a bird and help release their adopted bird once it is banded.  They will also receive a special adoption certificate in the mail. 

Bird banding station visitor Allie Lumpkin holds a bird 

in bander’s grip just before releasing it.        

Most of the birds in the rehabilitation program at the Northwoods Wildlife Center are diagnosed with problems related to human-induced hazards such as pet attacks, removal of young birds from their nesting environment, and window strikes.  Many of these hazards can be reduced through public education. Bird Banding offers an opportunity to educate about the hazards that birds face in a meaningful way.  We naturally protect what we know and love.  Bird banding lets us study birds while also providing individuals with opportunities to discover a new love for them. 

Northwoods Wildlife Center Educator Courtney Wright 

releases one of the banded juvenile Dark-eyed Juncos.