Bird Cams Around the World

Thanks Bev--that is wonderful news about Weber's yellow-banded male!

Thanks for the info on the little Weber chick. They were the sweetest little ones. I don't know what 'trapped by a falcon bander' means. Do they just have a trap set that catches random birds and then they band the ones that aren't banded or do they see a falcon and go after it to trap it and band it, or what? At any rate, I am grateful that they fattened him up some. Winter is coming.

Welcome back, Bev and Peter.
Thank you, Iowa!

I can also ask Gord about the bander. They may trap individual ones to see how far they have come. Ours was banded, of course, or they would not have known where it came from

I think I can figure out what a falcon bander is, it's the word "trap" I don't like......

OK but what kind of trap? I am envisioning bears and raccoons being "trapped".....

Was in New York City yesterday, so am just catching up. Yes, I go to Cape May, NJ every fall, where they conduct an extensive hawk banding program. The public is not allowed in the banding stations, but I can give an explanation of what I know about how the raptors are trapped, then released. A pigeon, starling, or house sparrow is tethered to kind of like a wash line. The raptor flies in and is caught either in a mist net or a net that is fired over the bird from a remote device. It is then banded and released. An interesting story about a Peregrine was shared at the banding demo at the state park one year. This one guy had banded juvie Peregrines in Greenland one spring, and in the fall of that same year they caught and the same guy handled the juvie he had banded earlier in the spring. How cool is that?

Gee, that must be pretty stressful for the bait bird; it can't be much fun seeing a predator come at you and you have no escape. Other than that, helping our raptors survive is good.

Elaine and others,

The bait bird wears a leather protective leather harness, and generally is not killed. Furthermore, none of those bait birds are protected by US law. Not sure what's true in Canada. I don't know of too many bird lovers that actually like pigeons, starlings, and house sparrows.

Thanks so much for that explanation, Jane...you know me...I had to go look for a video...Of course, I have no idea if this is how Yellow was trapped, but ya never know...My guess is it was just a fluke that Yellow was caught...which turned out to be a good thing...

No, very few birds are protected in Canada, but whether I like them or not is beside the point; I just do not like to see any bird or animal suffer undue stress, or to suffer at all, for that matter.

Thanks Jane for the information. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like the answer.

I nearly had heart failure watching that video. I don't know which was worse, watching that poor little bait bird struggle or seeing him cram that hawk into that pipe thing.


Thanks for digging up the video SGB.

I have to agree with some of the others, it's not nice to see any kind of other animal being used as bait. I've also seen videos of smaller birds being trapped in nets and hang there for awhile before they are let loose. Their stress levels are also very high.

I have mixed feelings about these kinds of things. I think banding is a great thing but sometimes have to question methods used to capture birds so they can be banded.

I am a bird lover and love all kinds of birds whether it's the fabulous flamingo or the common sparrow that visits my backyard.

I have been with our biologists when they have trapped a falcon and it was not like this. I found this method very upsetting to say the least. Ours use nets and are there watching. They use dead bait.

I also do not like to see anything in nature struggle. Peter and I have rescued a few pigeons , even though we know the falcons hunt them.. I have watched the pigeons at our sites fly with such grace and agility that they fascinate me.

But thanks for going to the trouble of finding that video SGB.
I am a bleeding heart so to speak.