Every once in a while you might come across a bird with one or more bands around their legs. It’s not jewelry but it is stylish in its own way.These bands can provide researchers with valuable information about a bird’s age, where a bird has traveled, and other helpful data. The bands are placed by experts, typically when a bird is young, and they do not harm the bird.
You might notice, like in the sparrow below, that a bird sometimes wears multiple bands. The metal ones usually have unique engraved numbers allowing the specific bird to be tracked back to where it was originally banded. Color coded rings can help with observation from farther away.
