Western Bird Banding Association

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Western Bird Banding Association

Throughout the Americas, we aim to encourage and promote bird banding as a useful tool in the study of the biology and migration of western birds.

Bird banding in North America has had
a long and distinguished history. It is
widely held that John James Audubon
was the first American ornithologist to employ
the technique (as early as 1803) when he
marked a brood of Eastern Phoebes with silver
wire. Thus he was able to follow these birds
through the wooded Pennsylvania countryside
of his youth. A nationwide banding program was
established in 1

909 by the American Bird
Banding Association. In 1920, the Biological
Survey (which later became part of the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service) took
over the administration of banding in the U.S. The Western Bird Banding Association was
formed in 1925 to provide guidance and
assistance to a relatively small number of
western bird banders, located then primarily in
Southern California. Now an international
organization, membership has grown to
include banders throughout the Western
Hemisphere. Through various awards, the Association
provides support for the development of new
banding techniques and incentives for aspiring
students and amateurs.

05/11/2026

This past weekend was definitely a bird one for humans and birds. We hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Mother’s Day yesterday, and on top of that, Saturday was World Migratory Bird Day! Did you band (or even just see) any migrants this weekend? Let us know what migrants you saw in the comments!

Researchers at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada encountered this beautiful After Second Year (DCA) male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) while banding for World Migratory Bird Day. This species is traditionally thought of as an eastern species, but in recent years, Indigo Buntings (INBUs) have been expanding their range into the southwestern United States. They are now regular breeders (though they breed in small numbers in many of these areas) in states such as New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. They also regularly hybridize with their western counterpart, the Lazuli Bunting.

Thanks to Jason Kitting for providing this picture, and to all of the staff at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge! This refuge is specifically designed to support migratory birds of all kinds, and banding is just one tool used in better understanding what migratory birds need and how they use these critical habitats during migration.

All banding is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

05/06/2026

The hummingbirds are back! For most of us in North America, the iconic hummingbirds are finally arriving back at our feeders and flowers (or will be back very soon if you’re in the far north).

One of the first hummingbird species back to central New Mexico (and much of the interior-west) is the Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus). Rio Grande Bird Reseach Inc. banded this After Hatch Year male (top picture) in the fall of 2023. Thanks to Jason Kitting for the pictures of this beautiful bird!

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds (BTHUs) are true high elevation specialists and spend the majority of their yearly cycles in mountains. During the breeding season, they are found in the central mountains of the western US, from southern Montana down into western Texas. In winter, they are found throughout the mountains of Mexico and parts of western Guatemala.

An interesting fact about BTHUs is that the adult males have specially shaped outer primaries (bottom picture) that produce a loud ringing when in flight. This ringing is used during displays towards other males in territory disputes and to females during courtship. The ringing is also how this species earned their nickname, the “Mountain Zinger.”

All banding is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

05/02/2026

Spring is definitely in the air! Spring migration stations across North America are seeing more and more migrants as we enter the peak of spring migration for most of the US and Canada. What species most represents spring for your area or station?

Here’s a closer look at our logo species! Thanks to and Lauren Hill for providing us with this gorgeous picture of this bird. Let us know your favorite spring migrant in the comments!

The Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) is found breeding in mixed pine forest along the west coast and the mountains of the western US, Canada, and Mexico. These birds breed further north than any other North American tanager species. After breeding in the north, they then migrate south into Central America where they spend the winter. This is one of the few iconic western species, that at some point in its yearly cycle, can be found in every country and almost every state/province that falls within WBBA’s region. The only exception is Hawaii which has its own unique set of amazing bird species.

Western Tanagers (WETAs) are also unique in their striking coloration, or more specifically, the red in the males’ heads. If you are familiar with bird coloration, you may know that red, orange, pink, and yellow are produced by pigments called carotenoids which the birds get through the food they eat. WETAs also get these red pigments through their diet, but instead of using carotenoids like most birds, they use a relatively rare pigment called rhodoxanthin.

The Western Tanager reminds us that western North America has some truly unique bird life that also connects all of us both across the WBBA region, and across the North American continent as a whole.

04/22/2026

TOMORROW!!! We are presenting the last webinar in our 2025-2026 series next week, on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 6 pm Pacific. We will hear about research funded partially by the WBBA grant program. If you can’t attend, the video will be posted on the WBBA website. Everyone is welcome to attend so please share this email with anyone that you think would be interested.

We will have two talks this session:

1) Lauren Hill, a recent Master’s graduate from UCLA, will be speaking about: Population structure of two songbird species migrating through a southern CA mountain pass (first picture).

2) Alejandro Baladrón, of the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina, will be speaking about: Responses of birds inhabiting Pampas forests (second picture) to environmental change.

WBBA Webinar: WBBA grant recipients share their research When: Thursday, April 23, 2026 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting (or in our bio on Instagram):

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GUz4XEx_Q7-tcO3XHfha6g

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the meeting.

03/27/2026

The Institute of Bird Populations is hiring! APPLY NOW! Start circa May 1. Candidates need prior birding experience & familiarity with/ songs & calls of western montane birds, a strong desire to learn more, & willingness to face the rigors of fieldwork w/ good humor. Additional training will be provided. More info here: APPLY NOW! Start circa May 1. Candidates need prior birding experience & familiarity with/ songs & calls of western montane birds, a strong desire to learn more, & willingness to face the rigors of fieldwork w/ good humor. Additional training will be provided. More info here:https://birdpop.org/docs/jobs/Back-country_Point_Counts_in_Pacific_Northwest_National_Parks.pdf (or in our bio on Instagram).

03/19/2026

How many vireos can you get at one site?! Well turns out a lot of you’re in Colorado!

With the recent split of Warbling Vireo, banders will have a new in-hand identification challenge as we learn more about what characteristics can reliably separate Eastern from Western Warbling Vireos and which individuals might best be left unspecified. This is especially true along the Front Range of Colorado, where their breeding ranges can overlap and both species are expected during migration. At Chico Basin Ranch, a migration-monitoring banding station managed by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, we were reviewing Warbling Vireo captures over the years and noticed that we’ve had a lot of vireos in general; 11 species to be exact! Over the last decade, we’ve banded Blue-headed, Plumbeous, Cassin’s, Warbling (both Eastern and Western), Philadelphia, Red-eyed, White-eyed, Yellow-throated, Bell’s and even a single Gray Vireo. Anyone know of sites out there with a higher vireo diversity? Here’s a sampling of some of the rarer vireos from Chico Basin Ranch:

First pic: Gray Vireo (photo credit Julie Shieldcastle)
Second pic: Blue-headed Vireo (photo credit Colin Woolley)
Third pic: Yellow-throated Vireo (photo credit Nancy Ransom)
Fourth pic: White-eyed Vireo (photo credit Colin Woolley)
Fifth pic: Philadelphia Vireo (photo credit Colin Woolley)

How many vireos do you get in your area?

All banding is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

02/10/2026

This Wednesday, February 11th at 6:00 PM Pacific Time is our next webinar!

Danielle Kaschube of the Institute for Bird Populations is giving A Wolfe-Ryder-Pyle (WRP) workshop: practical applications for your banding data.
The Wolfe-Ryder-Pyle (WRP) ageing system was introduced as an alternative to the calendar-based ageing system widely used by banders. Rather than being based on an anthropomorphic, temperate zone ideology, it is based on the biology and plumage sequences. The system is based on the modified HP terminology. As with most new systems full of “terminology”, it can be daunting to adopt. However, with some basic knowledge of the terminology and plumages of the birds of interest, the system can be applied confidently. This workshop will outline basic terminology and provide a step-by-step method for examining plumage and creating appropriate WRP code. It will also provide helpful hints for assigning WRP codes to data imported into MAPSNet, IBP’s system for data submission and verification.

We ask that all participants donate $5 to WBBA to go towards the WBBA grant program using the link directly below (or in link in bio on Instagram), then register via Zoom

https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/86DBM9YWDPXBQ

WBBA Webinar: A Wolfe-Ryder-Pyle (WRP) workshop: practical applications for your banding data.
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting (see link in bio on Instagram):

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/A1PjUBHZRb6O5wm74W3FXg

01/20/2026

Our second webinar of the season will be held this Wednesday (tomorrow!), January 21st, and will feature:

Victoria Langham speaking on Color Conundrum: Deciphering Delayed Plumage Maturation in Painted Buntings. She will be talking about how many long hours of banding sparked her Master’s thesis question: “What is the Evolutionary driver of Delayed Plumage Maturation in Painted Buntings?” and her findings from that work.

- and -

Mike Stewart speaking about A Raptor Study: Start to Outcomes. This talk will introduce a raptor movement ecology study from its original objectives through data collection, analysis, and evolving outcomes. Capture techniques, handling, banding, and transmitter attachment will be covered. The project’s original goals will be discussed, along with how they were refined as movement data became available. Using GPS telemetry data, this presentation will demonstrate how raptor movement data can be applied to questions of home range estimation, juvenile dispersal and exploratory movements, behavioral state classification using hidden Markov models, and resource selection. Together, these examples illustrate how modern tracking technologies can deepen our understanding of avian ecology.

Register at the link below (or in our bio on Instagram):

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/P5P1TE1OTxS0HQEuOO67Uw

12/10/2025

It’s webinar season again! Our first webinar of the season will be held on Thursday, December 11th, and will feature Peter Pyle speaking about Digital Imagery and Its Uses in Studying Birds.

Describing digital imagery in the past, Peter has said:
The value of digital image catalogues to study birds these days really cannot be overstated, especially when it comes to molt patterns and age determination, historically neglected topics in ornithology. For example, I examined over 25,000 images at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library to overhaul molt, age, and s*x determination criteria for the eight species of hummingbirds that occur along the Mexico-U.S. border (here). Now, in my capacity as editor for the Plumages and Molts sections of Cornell’s Birds of the World, I get to do this for species around the world.
WBBA Webinar: Digital Imagery and Its Uses in Studying Birds
When: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register for this meeting at the below link (or in our bio on Instagram):

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/n90FT8WTSrKRCxM5yFH5iA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Upcoming webinars will be held once a month through April 2026, and the proposed topics will include:
Presentations by WBBA grant award recipients Lauren Hill and Alex Baladron on their research
A WRP workshop presented by The Institute for Bird Populations’ MAPS Coordinator Danielle Kaschube
CJ Ralph’s work in New Zealand
Mike Stewart’s work with GPS transmitters and Gray Hawks
and more....

12/01/2025

Powdermill Avian Research Center is putting on their two annual virtual workshops at the beginning of 2026! This is an excellent opportunity for new banders to get introduced to molt and banding ethics, as well as for more experienced banders wanting to brush up on advanced molt/aging techniques and updated methods. See flier for more details and pricing.

It is worth noting that all photo examples will be on eastern species, but these aging techniques and methodologies are still applicable to western species.

If you are interested in either of these workshops, please fill out the following google form (or find link in bio on Instagram).

http://goo.gl/forms/kaQiLhs1aZ

Address

Richland, WA
99352, 99353, 99354

Website

http://www.westernbirdbanding.org/

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