Alabama Audubon holds bird banding at Ruffner Mountain

Alabama Audubon held their ninth day of bird banding yesterday at Ruffner Mountain for the MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity Survivorship) Program. This is their second year banding birds.

I was able to attend the session; keep reading to see what I learned about the program + why bird banding is important. Note that all birds were handled and banded by biologists with the proper state and federal permits.

What is Alabama Audubon + the MAPS Program?

Alabama Audubon strives to promote bird conservation and knowledge. It is committed to providing inclusive opportunities for Alabamians to learn about wild birds and their habitats.

The MAPS Program is a continent-wide collaborative effort to assist the conservation of birds through standardized bird monitoring.

Through MAPS, Alabama Audubon collects information that helps scientists understand which life-stages may be most important in driving population change.

“I’ve always been passionate about birds, and since my first banding I attended, I found out how much you can learn from being hands-on.

When you see a bird up close, you learn more about how it interacts with its environment.

It’s just beautiful. Conservation is very important.”

Ava Lyerly, founder and president, North Alabama Young Birders Club

Bird banding + why it matters

Bird banding is the practice of catching birds and placing a bracelet with a unique number on the leg before releasing them. This helps to keep track of the birds’ movement and life history.

At Ruffner Mountain yesterday, Alabama Audubon had mist nets set up in multiple areas. The handlers checked the nets regularly for captured birds and took them to the banding location at the pavilion. The birds were then banded, sexed, aged, weighed and measured then released.

The primary goal of the program is to provide an annual index of breeding success and population data.

Data from bird banding also includes:

• Trends between particular regions or habitats
• The relationship between population change and weather, climate, or habitat loss
• What can be done to reverse declines

To learn more about Alabama Audubon, visit their website.

What do you think of the bird banding at Ruffner Mountain? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know your thoughts!.