Wednesday, April 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
an email (spencerhud@aol.
com).
Ray said, “This one
seemed unique enough to
send a special alert. The
bird was seen today at Lake
Hodges, Bald Eagle #41 so
marked on its wings and car-
rying a fish. I tried to look it
up on the Internet, but there
is so much BS and misla-
beled stuff there I made no
headway; will see if Oregon
Jim knows any resources to
provide any true insight.”
Oregon Jim wrote back
instructing Ray on how to
access the information link
on the USGS Bird Banding
Lab’s website, as they are the
federal outfit that’s in charge
of managing any type of
marking and/or banding of all
native birds in the US of A.
All you have to do is go
to www.reportband.gov. Fol-
low the links to reporting a
banded or marked bird. The
person or agency conduct-
ing the marking project will
be delighted to hear from
you, and your observations
will be added to the bird’s
history.
The tags on #41 eagle are
known as “patagial tags,”
so named for the anatomi-
cal part of the bird’s wing
that on us would be the part
of our arm between shoul-
der and wrist. The colored
marker is usually attached
to both wings making the
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Eagles really
can get around
Ray Spencer, a old galloot
like me who works out of
San Diego, California, loves
to collect photos of birds. He
sent me a photo of a baldy in
one of his daily postings that
about knocked my socks off.
Not only is it a great image of
a sub-adult bald eagle flying
overhead, but the two orange
patagial wing tags (with the
number 41 printed on them)
are really visible.
Ray started his “Shot of
the Day” fandango on Janu-
ary 1, 2004, sending a daily
email with a photo (or two)
of wildlife — usually birds
— to a couple of family
members and friends. Over
the years, his email list has
grown to over 400 addresses,
and the pictures-per-email
has expanded to about 25.
If you want to get on his
mailing list, just send him
birds very visible. (The best
example being that method
is used to mark all California
condors in North America,
captive or flying free.)
It’s also a popular method
used by researchers want-
ing to keep a close eye on
the movements and where-
abouts of specific birds they
are studying. In the case of
bald eagle #41, it’s working
like gangbusters.
We know — thanks to
Ray’s images — it’s a sub-
adult; it has a dark brown
body with an almost pure
white head with a few white
feathers coming into the tail,
and bright yellow legs, feet
and beak.
From various curious
people who reported the
eagle to the Banding Lab,
we know a lot about its
movements and whereabouts
from the time it left the nest
near Seal Rock, OR, May 9,
2014. The date of the bird’s
departure from the nest also
supports its present age.
In addition to the two
orange 41 patagial tags,
we know it is a male, as it
was sexed when the official
USGS #9 band numbered,
709-03058 was placed on
its right leg (which is visible
in the photo; the same leg in
which it is carrying a fish.
It’s official number — K-41,
and name is Kilakila (pro-
nounced Key-la key-la). In
19
PHOTO BY RAY SPENCER
Bald Eagle 41, banded with a USGS riveted leg band and marked with
patagial wing tags.
Hawaiian, Kila means “high
place, strong and bold” and
repeated means “majestic,”
which fits eagles perfectly.
Also from the Banding Lab
we can trace K-41 back to
his parents: K-25 and K-34.
Where he was from 2014
is anybody’s guess, as his
first sighting after leaving
the nest was on February 23,
2015, in Sequim, Washing-
ton, then on January 1, 2016,
near Skokomish, Washing-
ton. The next time he was
reported was at Big Bear
Lake, Eagle Point, Washing-
ton, on July 2, 2016. In Janu-
ary and February of 2017 he
was seen around Klamath
Falls, and then popped up
in San Diego to be photo-
graphed by Ray Spencer.
Why band birds? Bird
banding data are used in
both research and manage-
ment projects. Individual
identification of birds makes
possible studies of disper-
sal and migration, behavior
and social structure, lifespan
and survival rate, reproduc-
tive success and population
growth.
Every bander partici-
pates in studies of disper-
sal and migration by send-
ing all their banding data
in to a central site, the Bird
Banding Laboratory. When
banded birds are captured,
released alive and reported
from somewhere else the lab
and researcher can recon-
struct the movements of the
individual bird.
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