Age of banded duck/goose

R

rfberan

Active member
Curious as to the oldest banded birds you have shot? On Friday afternoon I shot a 4 year old Canada from James Bay area. Then Saturday morning shot a 16 yo (possibly older) Canada from same area. Figured that bird had probably flown about 20,000 mi. Bitter sweet.
 
My only banded bird was a drake lesser scaup that was at least 11 years old. Banded as an adult in 1987 in Indiana and I shot it in January 1998 on Mobile Bay.
Band was so worn I had to send it in so they could etch it and read enough numbers to figure it out.
 
Hey Carl,

Where in Indiana was the Scaup banded? I live in Elkhart Indiana right on the Michigan border. Just curious.

RVZ
 
12 year old mallard on the Willamette River in Oregon. We got it jump shooting as we drifted down the river to the take out after decoying birds in the morning. the anticipation to see what was around the corner was always fun!
 
One year old Canada a mile from where it was banded and a 15 year old Mallard Banded in Vt. I read the banding numbers while back on the task force the oldest Canada was 36 , black 32 ,Mallard 28 if my memory serves me correctly. Breeding success is all about habitat .
 
Around 1970 I shot my first duck in Virginia Beach. I was 15 and had never hunted ducks before and decided to try it. I did not know anyone to go with, so I went to a small lake and used an innertube "belly boat" to sneak around the shoreline. I had a leaky set of chest waders and an old Model B side by side. A group of black ducks flushed out of a cove, and I took a shot at one. It fell and I retrieved it. I noticed the band and thought I was in some kind of trouble for killing this duck. I knew nothing about bands and thought I had killed someone's duck at first. I told a kid who rode on my school bus about it. His father was a duck hunter and the boy told me about sending the information on the band to the USFWS and I would get information about the bird..

I got a nice typed written reply, and they told me the number I sent this was too short and was missing a digit. I double checked and the info I had provided was correct. I wrote then back and told them there was only 8 digits. They asked me to ship them the band as one of the numbers was obviously worn down and they could etch the band and "raise" the missing number. They were successful and told me my duck had been banded 17 years earlier in N.Y. I never would have suspected that a duck made it that long. That was my oldest banded bird and definitely my most memorable and life altering one!
 

Mr. Cross

That is one heck of good true story. Thank you for sharing it.

Hope they sent you the band back.


I keep one duck band on my car & house key ring. It's amazing when folks ask what it is, they don't have a clue.


Best regards
Vince
 
Oldest I've shot is a 5 y.o. Black Duck drake I shot at E.A. Vaughn wildlife management area walking marsh mosquito ditches probably 25 years ago. Huge old bird full of rice breast. At the time first i,d encountered in a bird. It had been banded there by head of Maryland's Bird Banding program at the time. Pretty sure it was a resident Blk. Duck as we have quite a few.
 
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