Banding Canada Geese With The Ohio Division Of Wildlife
On June 24, 2025 I had the honor of participating in a morning of banding Canada Geese with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
Canada geese are typically banded in late June and early July when they are flightless due to molting their feathers. This period also coincides with the time when the juveniles (goslings) are large enough to carry a band but still flightless, making them easier to capture. The banding process involves herding the geese into a corral, determining their sex and age, and attaching a uniquely numbered band to one leg.
Managing a complex and mobile resource like Canada geese requires an in-depth understanding of breeding and wintering distribution, behavior, migratory routes, survival and reproduction. Since the 1950’s, biologists have gathered information by placing uniquely numbered bands on many species of birds and waterfowl. These birds may be recaptured in the future by biologists (of the approximately 200 geese we captured, four were discovered to already have had tags), or are found dead by the general public, or in the case of waterfowl or other game birds are harvested by hunters.
The value of banding data is fully realized when banded birds are recovered and band numbers reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory. Some recoveries are recaptures (including resighting of bands through spotting scopes) of live birds that are obtained from banders or other wildlife professionals. However, the predominant number of recoveries of dead birds come from the public, either by people who have found birds that have died, or by hunters who have harvested them.
Staff from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and their counterparts in the U.S. Geological Survey utilize banding and recovery data to gauge the impacts of harvest and other take, as well as develop an understanding of environmental factors that drive migratory bird populations. The data collected through banding are instrumental in setting annual waterfowl hunting regulations at both the State and Federal levels to ensure that the harvest of waterfowl is sustainable, so that bird populations remain healthy, and that our hunting tradition can be continued by future generations.
To learn more about banding migratory birds, check out this link to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Reporting Banded Birds: If you have found or harvested a banded bird, please report it at www.reportband.gov. You’ll need the band number, or numbers if the bird has more than one band. You’ll also report where, when and how you recovered the bird. Your contact information will be requested in case there are any questions. The U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Lab (BBL) will send you a certificate of appreciation that includes information about the sex, age and species of the bird, and where and when it was banded. You can keep the band. Please note: Even if the band you recover is inscribed with a 1-800 telephone number, as of July 2, 2017, you can only report it at www.reportband.gov.
If some or all of the numbers have worn off, making the band unreadable, please email the BBL at bandreports@usgs.gov or find out on how to send the band for chemical etching. Most bands can be chemically etched so that the numbers can be read. The process does not destroy the band, and it will be returned to you.
