Well ,the main reason that we Band Hawks and Owls is for the purpose of trying to figure out where they might go and how long they live for in the wild! They have found that some birds travel Great distances each Spring and Fall. They are even using Geolocating Devices and GPS Units on some Species to track them more closely.
They have found that the Larger Birds can live for a long time(ie Red-tailed Hawk 28 yrs) in the wild.
For me , this year has really been a good year for getting Info from Birds that I have either Captured and Banded previously, or Birds I have Banded and then retrapped years later.
On the 24th I was again the recepient of some worthy Info. I retrapped a Northern Saw-whet Owl that I had previously Banded. I caught this Owl on Oct 26 2006 about 500 meters from where it was originally Banded! When I initially caught and Banded this Owl it was a Hatch Year(born in the Current Year) and sexed as a Female. Well I now know that this Owl has survived 3 years out in the Wilds, but we do not exactly where it has been!
It is our first Owl that we have recaptured at our site in 5 years of Banding there, and are thrilled about this!
We have now caught 95 New Saw-whets(4 Foreign/ 1 Control), 28 New Hawks(1 Foreign/3 Control) and 3 New Long-eared Owls and 2 (Control) Eastern Screech Owls.
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