I decided that I will band any babies that are born in my aviary so that I can easily tell them apart from their parents. I won't be using a very complicated system as I'm not expecting too many babies each year.
I found this article from My Gouldian Aviary to be unbelievably valueable, I don't think I would have been able to attempt it without reading it first - so thank you.
My first babies (Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleus) left their nest before they could fly which made catching them and banding them alot easier. But this was a very nerve wracking experience as I had never done this before and baby finches are such tiny little things.
I followed the MGA article and even though I was shaking like a leaf when I'd finished I successfully banded my first birds!!!!!
I decided that by using a 2 coloured band I would be able to record several broods of babies using the same bands.
For my first babies I used the band on their left foot with the pink colour on top. All first clutches in this season will have the same banding, second clutches will have the band on the right leg also with the pink at the top, third will be left footed but with blue on top and forth will be blue on top but on the right leg.
If I have more than five clutches in any one year...... well if that happens I figure something out then!!!!
