Tracking Tiny Travelers

Small, numbered rings reveal the secrets of hummingbird migration

- BY KENN AND KIMBERLY KAUFMAN

One of the best tools for tracking where migrating birds go is through banding, which involves placing a numbered metal ring on a bird’s leg and then releasing it. When that individual is captured or found again, the unique number on the band identifies it.

A Specialized Process

All such research in the U.S. requires special permits from the federal Bird Banding Lab, but anyone who handles hummingbirds must go through extra steps. According to Ryan Jacob, banding projects director for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, “Special training is required in the methods of hummingbird handling, banding and band making.”