The system is flawed in many aspects. But this is the problem that occurs when we are dealing with many different government agencies working together but not fully understanding that collaboration and communication are essential to spending money wisely and gathering accurate data.
Case in point:
While walking out to my public hunting spot earlier this year, I stumbled across a small piece of faded red plastic. Bending down to pick it up, I quickly recognized it as something familiar. A bit of searching allowed me to find two other pieces (in total... about 75% of the whole). They were located below the high water line, which leads me to believe that they hadn't been there too terribly long. The three parts were all laying about 15 yards apart (one face up, two face down).
From these parts, I was able to easily put together the entire code... 1AA.
Like any other hunter and birder, I wondered how old the bird was?? I knew the species of goose that would be packing this collar was a Dusky Canada Goose, a bird which has raised many questions in the minds of biologists and is the target species of many studies.
I reported it online and
This was my response:
USGS response...
As you probably know, these markers are used by researchers to address many questions regarding bird movements and other aspects of their life history. They enable researchers to track movements of individual banded birds without the need to recapture them. The banding and color marking of birds is conducted by a variety of researchers, some with State, Federal, NGO, or university affiliations. Our office authorizes these projects, but is not directly involved in them.
We receive thousands of these reports each year and attempt to respond to the sighters with information on each. However, due to various reasons, we are often not able to. Each bird with a color marker is also wearing a metal Federal leg band, which bears the 9-digit number that is the code by which we ultimately store our data.
There are two possible responses to these reports:
1) We will be able to match the marker to an individual bird (by leg band number), and enter your sighting information into our database, producing a certificate that will give you all the banding information along with your sighting information.
2) We will be able to match the marker to a bander, but not an individual bird, in which case we will contact the bander asking him/her to explain the nature of the project and what they have learned from the marking.
We cannot predict or control the nature of the response you will get from the bander, although we do make them aware that color marking authorizations carry with them an obligation to respond to the public. Many color marking projects are designed to study only local movements, and the bander may not be interested in reports from afar.
Because there can be several steps involved in resolving these reports, the process may take a long while. Please do not report the marker a second time! If we are unable to match the marker you reported, we will notify you by e-mail. This is, unfortunately, a common outcome, due to the fact that colors fade, markers fall off, codes are misread, etc.
Your interest, cooperation and patience are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Bird Banding Laboratory
Several Days Later:
I recieved an email back from the BBL (Bird Banding Lab) that explained to me that the collar I reported could not be connected to their records. I was informed that I would not be receiving a certificate with the information about the bird, and that they apologized. They had NO information about the bird whatsoever.
Meanwhile
I made a couple phone calls to the Alaska USGS office, spoke with the bio who put the actual collar on this bird, and within 15 minutes, received this info.
1AA is a Female Dusky Canada Goose that was banded as an adult on 7/23 of the year 2000. She was originally captured and marked along the Alaganik slough which is on the Western part of the Copper River Delta. Link to map below:
http://www.zeemaps.com/pub?group=490...=60.447966&z=8
She was spotted one time in 2003 on her nesting grounds with her mate, but she has not been reported since. I now have the band number which is currently unreported.
Then:
I made a phone call to the gentleman at the banding lab whose name appeared at the bottom of the e-mail I had received earlier. He answered. I gave him the reference number to my report. I informed him that I had called the USGS biologist who had put the exact collar on the bird. I let him know I had a band number for him to use to help get my certificate.
He stuttered...then questioned me about who I had contacted. He sounded like he didn't believe me. I gave him the biologist's name. I gave him the band number. I then proceeded to give him the details of the bird and asked him if it sounded like a match. Indeed it was.
He told me that he would work up a certificate, but I needed to send him back the data from my original report. Hmmm... this seemed interesting. He already had a reference number. So I copied and pasted the email he had just sent to me...right back to him. It had all of the information on it. I was told my certificate would be on the way.
My certificate arrived shortly after, and I was finished with the experience.
My Conclusion:
There seems to be a flaw with the system... it shouldn't be that hard for the USGS to get their information in order. If an individual such as myself could locate the original bander of the collared Dusky in 15 minutes over the phone, why can't they? Is our money being spent on studies that are conducted properly, yielding results that are viable. I understand that mistakes will be made, but this is a species of goose that is in dire need of management. It just makes me wonder about what drives this management, and if it indeed is providing us with accurate data??
This is not the only instance where this has occurred. Last year during the winter, my Science students (with my guidance) reported 8 neck collars that appeared on geese that landed on the school grounds. We never heard back from USGS on 7 of these reports. We did receive 1 certificate back. We sent several emails with our reference numbers and never received responses. The students were disappointed and to be honest... so was I.
I have reported quite a few marked birds with a great deal of success, but the above instances leave me in question..... anyway, just my thoughts.
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