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<\/p>\nAnd about the meaning of the different colored bands used by HawkWatch International when they\u2019re banding kestrels.<\/p>\n
Two days ago I told readers about a banded male American Kestrel I photographed on Antelope Island recently and I mentioned that I\u2019d sent a couple of photos of that bird to my friends at HawkWatch International because I figured that it was likely that HWI had banded him. Both of his legs were banded and I could actually read the letters on the larger green band so I was hoping to learn more about the history of this bird.<\/p>\n
Last night I heard back from Jesse Watson, Research Biologist and Banding Coordinator for HWI, and Jesse came through with flying colors. He told me more than I thought I\u2019d ever know about that bird.<\/p>\n
First, a recap of what happened in the field.<\/p>\n
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I found the male kestrel on a road sign early in the morning when it was still cold so he was pretty \u201csticky\u201d, meaning he was reluctant to leave the sign. I could see that he had a green band on his left leg but I couldn\u2019t read all of the lettering on it.<\/p>\n
When another vehicle came along he spooked, but he\u2026<\/p>\n
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didn\u2019t leave the sign. He just\u2026<\/p>\n
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jumped to\u2026<\/p>\n
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a different part of the sign. This is the only photo I got, out of many photos of him while he was on this sign and later on another sign, where I could\u2026<\/p>\n
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read all of the letters on the green band. And it wasn\u2019t until this photo that I could clearly see that he was also banded on his right leg, with a smaller metal USGS band.<\/p>\n
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He landed behind the sign, on the top of the post supporting the sign, so now his legs and bands were completely hidden again. And they stayed hidden for the rest of the time I was with him. I just got lucky with that one shot out of many dozens.<\/p>\n
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Following is Jesse\u2019s email to me last night. I\u2019ve quoted him with permission.<\/p>\n
“Hi Ron, thanks for sharing your kestrel photos. You are indeed correct that this bird was banded by HWI! For the past few years (and foreseeable future) we have been deploying these green colorbands with white lettering. The codes all contain 3 stacked letters, rotated on their side. To date, we have deployed bands starting with A or B (i.e., the top letter), though we may dip into the C\u2019s later this year. We also deploy another color, yellow, with black lettering. Though their numbers are dwindling, there are some old colorbands (pre-2021) still being worn by kestrels in the Salt Lake Valley and those are either red, blue, or purple.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m sure you\u2019re interested in some details on this kestrel. His colorband is Green AOM and his USGS band number is 1893-50584. He actually has a little bit of history, and your report allows us to continue broadening our understanding of how long he has survived and where he has moved. Jessica Taylor, a biologist on our Long-term Monitoring and Community Scientist team banded him at a nestbox on the northwest part of the island on 6.24.21 as a nestling. He was about 22 days old when banded (so he should be just about exactly 973 days old, today :)). He fledged along with 3 siblings, one female, and two males. He was the smallest at 99 grams (his siblings were all 110+ grams). Since then, he has been resighted and reported 5 times, not including your report. All on Antelope Island between February 16, 2022 and January 2024!<\/em><\/p>\n So, thanks to your report, we have the first record of him in 2024! We\u2019re still hoping to figure out where he breeds\u2026maybe this will be the year. I\u2019m going to go ahead and submit your record to our \u2018Report a banded American Kestrel<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u2019 form to add it to our growing list of records for this guy. Please consider submitting future resightings there or reaching out to us directly at kestrels@hawkwatch.org and we\u2019ll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. One last question, would you be alright with us using your photo in future presentations? We\u2019ll be sure to credit\/include your watermark, of course.<\/em><\/p>\n Thanks again!<\/em><\/p>\n Jesse”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thanks, Jesse. You made yesterday, a day that was otherwise stressful for me, end on a high note.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n