Bird banding on the American continent probably began in the early 19th century when John James Audubon tied silver threads to the legs of Eastern Phoebes and learned that these birds returned each year to nest in the vicinity of their birth. Questions still lingered. Amazingly, for most species, even with the plethora of ornithologists studying birds today, the answers to many of these questions still elude us. Unraveling the mysteries of the feathered creatures that share our planet is perhaps one of the primary fascinations of bird studies today and is, ultimately, a critical task if we are to develop effective programs to conserve and protect birds and their habitats. Banding is one of the most important tools scientists have to gain insights into the lives of birds.
Some folks object to bird banding, stating that it increases the risk of injury or death to a bird.
When one considers that more than a billion songbirds are killed each year in North America by pet cats, window strikes, tower kills, road kills, habitat destruction by developers, improper use of pesticides, removal of unwanted colonies of swallows and swifts, and other human activities, the risk posed to birds from banding activities by trained researchers diminishes to insignificance. Each year worldwide, several million birds are safely captured, measured, banded with an individually and uniquely numbered metal band, and released unharmed. The vast majority of these birds is never seen again. A Gray Catbird banded in North America may be recovered by someone in South America, giving much data on its winter home, its time of travel, its health, changes in its weight, and other information. We learn that an Arctic Tern migrates from the northern hemisphere to the coasts of Antarctica and back each year and probably sees more daylight that any other creature on the planet.