Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge Bird Banding Station

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge Bird Banding Station. . , This bird banding station was established in March 2001. It is one of hundreds around the nation that monitor the migration of our songbirds. The station is sanctioned under a permit from the U.S. Geological Survey and operated under the supervision of the Biologist for the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Volunteers who have received extensive and highly technical training primarily operate the station., The Banding Process , A series of 40-foot-long, finely woven "mist" nets are positioned in the forest or field around the banding station. A bird moving through the area within 8 feet of the ground flies into the virtually invisible net and becomes entangled., Trained volunteers carefully remove the bird from the net and place it in a holding bag for processing at the station. There the bird is weighed and measured. Using technical manuals, the bird is carefully identified by species, and its overall health is noted., After all the information has been recorded, a lightweight, uniquely numbered band is placed on one leg and the bird is released. Information on the bird is later entered into a national database., Any banding station in the world that "recaptures" the bird can access data by using the specific band number. New information on the recaptured bird is entered into the database. The compiled data enables researchers to obtain information on the health of migratory birds, dates of migration, and migration routes.