Color Markers

There are a variety of types of bird bands. While federal bird bands and auxiliary markers should be reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory along with bands belonging to foreign banding schemes, there are many that should not be reported to our agency. Non-federal band types are listed here with some ways to identify them and where they can be reported.

Many researchers use other auxiliary (color leg bands, neck collars, radio transmitters, flags and tags) markers along with federal bands to allow them to identify an individual bird at a distance. To use any of these auxiliary markers researchers need to have federal banding permits and additional marking authorization. See examples of common auxiliary markers below.