leg bands

[JoT]

I was wondering who or what determines the numbers and letters on the birds leg bands? Can you trace where the bird came from by the band? Is there some registry of numbers?

[birdsnreps]

the AFA has registered leg bands that you can trace. last year i got my leg bands from L&M, i dont think they actually register the bands, but i think yours has to have a unique "code" on them, different from anyone elses. i might go with the AFA leg bands this year, im not sure yet.

[Lori~D]

L&M will make traceable band with your specific initials. Bird clubs will register bands such as American Lovebird Association whatever. Size and your ordering options determine lettering or registration associations like AFA ect. which my lovebirds have I believe is Avain Federation of America or something to that effect. Numbers usually show Hatch year but given the breeder sometimes uses up old bands this may not be accurate. And then usually the state hatched. The last part of the number usually indicates the numbering within that seasons hatch. For instance I order a string of twenty bands one the last numbers might be 005 on your birds band meaning he was the fifth bird born of that species (leg band size) for that season. breeders use them differently.

[Lori~D]

L_M_Bird Leg Bands Products Catalogue

[JoT]

Thanks for the info
My bird's band has 2 letters than FL which I am guessing is for Florida. Then there are 4 numbers none of which could be the the year. I was wondering if I could find out where my bird came from by the band. It seems like a registry of sorts would be a good idea too. A way to identify lost or stolen birds since they have them on anyway.

[Lori~D]

the year is often two tiny numbers sideways. There are registries but only if the breeder belongs to them

[spensergirl]

I need your help again guys.
I found the leg band that the vet cut off Chilli's leg. It says FL then number 467. Do you think the 467 means she was born in 4/67? If so, then she was much older then 14. We never knew how old she was when we found her. When I took her to the vet for a checkup a month or so after I found her that vet (different vet) estimated her age to be about 4 or 5 years old, but not sure how they tell.
If this leg band is indicating her age then she would have been over 40 when she got sick and died, not 14.
Does anyone know. The date is not sideways, all of it is in a line the FL (space) then 467.
Thanks for anyone who might know.

[Savery]

Originally Posted by spensergirl

I need your help again guys.
I found the leg band that the vet cut off Chilli's leg. It says FL then number 467. Do you think the 467 means she was born in 4/67? If so, then she was much older then 14. We never knew how old she was when we found her. When I took her to the vet for a checkup a month or so after I found her that vet (different vet) estimated her age to be about 4 or 5 years old, but not sure how they tell.
If this leg band is indicating her age then she would have been over 40 when she got sick and died, not 14.
Does anyone know. The date is not sideways, all of it is in a line the FL (space) then 467.
Thanks for anyone who might know.

A leg band can say any number of things. It's likely that "FL" means florida and 467 is just that - 467.

There's no convention on what the leg bands say.

Another consideration - if the bird was born in the 1960s it's highly unlikely that it was captive bred. If it's band is a seamless band, then the bird was probably captive bred and is not likely to be more than 20 years old or so. If it is a split band, even then it doesn't follow the USDA convention of three letters and three numbers. See here : http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_exp...leg_band.shtml

In other words, it's not very likely the bird was born in 67.

Sorry for the rough wording - have a nice headache right now.

[spensergirl]

Thank you for the info. It was acutally very helpful. I looked at the band again with a magnifying glass and it acutally says FLL 467..Not FL467.
I found this on the site you linked and that makes me think that if this info is correct, which is appears to be, that she was imported prior to 1992, which would make her much older then we thought. That might explain a few things. It was a silver metal closed band, however. Here is what the site said about 3 letters followed by 3 numbers.

If your bird has a leg band with three letters (the first one being F, C, O, M, I, L, or N), followed by three numbers, it was undoubtedly imported into one of the above listed States prior to 1992.

[amanda143]

Wow, I did not know that. Thanks for sharing!