This Lesser Goldfinch male was banded on the San Pedro River, a major migratory corridor through the desert Southwest. Banding studies can act as a diagnostic tool for the health of bird populations which in turn may reflect the general health of the environment. B anding is particularly useful in studying highly migratory species, which include most of the hummingbirds found in the United States and Canada. Much of what we know about hummingbird migration comes from banding. Banding studies show that Rufous Hummingbirds travel at the same time and by the same routes each year on their epic migrations.
Hummingbirds are actually easier subjects for banding than most larger birds.
They are not dangerous to handle like birds of prey, herons, cardinals and other well-armed species, and they do not have long, vulnerable legs like shorebirds and many songbirds. They are also fearless and intelligent, which minimizes stress from capture and handling. T he standard equipment for bird banders is the mist net, a fine nylon mesh suspended loosely between thicker supporting lines to form pockets. Typically, the mist net is stretched flat between two poles, and birds fly into the nearly invisible mesh and fall into a pocket where they are trapped. Hummingbirds, however, are seldom captured this way.