Lots of good info in this thread. If you asked me what I thought my first band would have been I would have said Brant. It ended up being a 10 year old black duck. I have however, had banded Brant shot by friends sitting next to me. My buddy shot a transmitter bird with double color bands (which seems to be the standard). Couple buddies shot regular bands.
@Tom Bidrowski and
@Anthony Babich said more than I ever could really.
I know that the biologists do band them on certain fields in NJ. There is a field near the water in NJ, where they just band as many as they can. It's funny because every year, more and more of the birds end up with bands, because they never leave. Hunters post pics on social media occasionally, astonished how many are banded. They literally go from the field, to the water on the other side of the bulkhead, back to the field. Repeat, until they leave. A few break off I suppose. But it's just one group, same pattern, every year.
It is concerning what is happening with them, and other ducks/geese, as well. First off, Brant seems like it is headed for a shutdown. They tend to be an easily decoyed bird, and as such, not hard to get on them. The bands help AND hurt the situation. If they didn't band them? I don't know if we would have the same problems we do with hunters "band killing." I have heard of some horrible behavior of hunters shooting them and letting them float if they don't have a band. There was a story a while back online, of a spot in NJ, where they tend to loaf. Another hunter came upon dozens floating, all shot. This is unacceptable. They don't exactly count as fantastic table fare. I throw them in my snack sticks when I do shoot them. If not for the bands, I don't know if they would be as much a target.
On the other hand, they wouldn't know their behavior if they didn't band them. So that is a good reason for it as well.
As
@tod osier said, there are lots of pics going around of dead Brant, geese, ducks, and other birds. They seem to be dying on the ice which is now starting to break up. Lots of speculation. Bird flu, birds not used to the massive freeze this far south, etc. No one knows, I suppose. I choose to believe its a combo of things. My theory is they got caught here in a way longer freeze than they are accustomed to. Small open water, combined with birds crowding, lack of food, all combined with avian influenza.
