More Albatross Banding

We banded Albatross chicks today for most of the day. It works like this. One person catches the chicks and smothers them against their chest. The birds wings must be carefully folded to the sides of the chick, with the birds feet pointed out. The bander then says the band number, the catcher repeats the number for accuracy and the bander places the metal band right side up on the birds right leg. The bander then spreads a bright plastic band with the same number and says the number again while placing the plastic band on the left foot. The plastic band can be read from some distance with binoculars but will only last a season or 2. The metal one should last the lifetime of the bird, which is 30 plus years. With care the bird usually doesn't regurgitate. They do defecate regularly so the bander and the catcher wear old clothes and reserve those clothes for banding. We have now banded more than 600 chicks. In round figures we have about 2900 to go!