Forest Preserves of Cook County 2022 Spring Brochure

Please Note: In the United States the banding of birds is regulated under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and requires a federal banding permit. The Forest Preserves is authorized to capture, handle and band birds through a permit from the Federal Bird Banding Laboratory. If another researcher captures the bird, or Forest Preserves staff recaptures the bird, it provides an opportunity to perform another health workup and compare it to past results. “By tracking the birds’ movements and conducting continued health assessments, we can find out what diseases the bird has been exposed to and what kind of titer it’s throwing. [Titer is the concentration of antibodies in the blood.] It can tell us whether the animal has active disease, what it’s been exposed to and sometimes when it was exposed.” Chris Anchor Forest Preserves senior wildlife biologist The Forest Preserves contributes its bird banding data to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory’s worldwide scientific database, which is used to monitor resident and migratory bird populations. The health workups Forest Preserves biologists perform during banding operations help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention track zoonotic disease. Additionally, birds serve as important bioindicators of environmental issues locally, helping us discover sources of pollution or track the success of our restoration efforts. Check out our Bird Banding Interactive Story Map and see where birds banded in Cook County have been relocated—their journeys may surprise you! fpdcc.com/research 15