The third step in the scientific method is to make a list of different observations we need to make to answer our questions. Or we might think of an experiment we would like to conduct that would help us answer our questions. We can recognize different people and jays can recognize different jays, but we have a hard time telling one jay from another. So first, we must mark the jays so that we know individuals. Devising methods to capture and mark birds without putting them at risk is very important.
Scientists can capture scrub-jays alive in box traps baited with their favorite foods.
Scientists then place a numbered aluminum band and different patterns of colored plastic bands on the scrub-jays' legs before releasing them. Each jay has a different pattern of bands. Later, when we see a scrub-jay, we can observe its bands and look in our records to see where we trapped and banded that bird. Once many birds are banded, we can determine if these groups are always the same birds. If we find their nests, we can find out how many young they have and if their young stay with the family or if the group is formed by other birds that move in from other parts of the scrub.