It Was A Cooperative Venture

Nancy from the University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic (WMC) and Jane Seitz from the Illinois Raptor Center (taking the picture) recently released "Grandpa," a Canada Goose that was banded over 17 years ago!

The band report told us that "Grandpa" was a adult male banded near Mayville, Wisconsin in 1984. His "hatch year" would have been 1983 or earlier!
 
"Grandpa" was found injured near a pond in Argenta, Illinois and brought to the Illinois Raptor Center. The IRC transfered him to the WMC for medical treatment. Thanks to the cooperative efforts between the WMC and the IRC, "Grandpa" is once again back in the wild.
 
If you find a banded bird contact the USGS National Bird Banding Laboratory toll-free at 1-800-327-BAND (2263) from anywhere in Canada, the United States and most parts of the Caribbean.
The operators will need to know the band number, how, when and where the bird or band was found. You can go to the laboratory's web site at: http://www.pwrc.nbs.gov/bbl.

You will receive a report in the mail telling you where the bird was banded and when.  Banding the birds is the easiest step. People sometimes fail to report banded birds they find. Bird banding is a universal and indispensable technique for studying the movement, survival and behavior of birds.