Have you ever seen a bird with a band around its leg and wondered why it was there? Join our banding lab team on Tuesday, May 11 (rain date May 13) for a behind-the-scenes look into Manomet’s banding lab! You’ll meet this season’s banding staff and learn how banders ‘process’ a captured bird, from basic measurements to assessing molts and aging.

Bird banding is a type of long-term population monitoring that helps answer questions like: Where do birds go during migration? How long do birds live? How does climate change affect the timing of migration? It can also provide insight into genetics and diet; numerous studies using Manomet data show food preferences and plumage variation among individuals of the same species. The information collected from banding birds contributes to understanding bird biology and making informed conservation decisions to reverse declining population trends.

Manomet has been banding birds during spring and fall migration for over 50 years, maintaining one of the longest-running datasets on migration in North America. Enjoy your morning coffee with Manomet’s staff and have all your bird banding questions answered.