"Banding studies have illuminated the hidden lives of most of the more than 900 avian species that spend time in North America, from raptors to waterfowl, from seabirds to songbirds. A peregrine falcon monitoring project in coastal Washington State has found that in addition to hunting on the wing, this formidable predator—the fastest species on earth—actually scavenges food fairly often. On Midway Atoll, a female Laysan albatross named Wisdom, first banded in 1956 and sighted as recently as November 2020 incubating a new egg, has helped show that seabirds live and reproduce far longer than previously thought.

In many cases, banding data have identified imperiled species and populations—and informed the development of management strategies aimed at protecting the birds. The whooping crane, a spectacular five-foot-tall bird with snow-white plumage native to North America, is one of the shining success stories to come out of banding work, according to Antonio Celis-Murillo, head of the Bird Banding Laboratory. In the 1940s the species was on the brink of extinction. Its last remaining population had dwindled to just 16 individuals as a result of unregulated hunting for their meat and showy feathers, as well as loss of the wetlands where they live. Today, after five decades of captive breeding and careful monitoring of banded cranes, there are four populations of wild whooping cranes that together comprise more than 660 birds. The species is still endangered but trending in the right direction.

In recent years, Celis-Murillo says, the scientists who work with banding data have been shifting their focus toward saving not just birds but their habitats. For instance, banding studies have identified a major previously unknown wintering ground for the Atlantic subspecies of piping plover, a small sand-colored shorebird that skitters along the water's edge feeding on worms and other invertebrates. About a third of the subspecies, which breeds along the Atlantic coast, spends the winter months on a clutch of islands in the Bahamas called the Joulter Cays. The discovery helped lead to the designation of the area as a protected national park in 2015..."