The leg banding video I did is on 3 Blue Head Pionus chicks approximately 25 days old.

Banding a baby bird has a small time frame window of when it can be done. If baby is too young or small then the band falls off the leg. If baby is a bit too big then you will not get the band over the toes. You surely do not want to force a band on if the baby's toes are just too big or too fat! You have to check the period of time to when the baby bird is just the right size for the leg band.

To put a leg band on a chick you must point the two front toes and the one long back toe forward and slip the band over the three toes while leaving the shortest back toe in normal position. Then after band has passed over toes and knuckle then slip short back toe as well through band... if it is hard to slip  back toe through to the proper side of band then you must use a toothpick to help pull toe through band. All 4 toes should be on the same side of the band. Be sure letters and numbers on band face the right direction before inserting band on for easy reading when band is placed on chick.

Four Blue Headed Pionus Banded, age along 3 weeks old.

Leg Band Colors - What are the reasons breeders use different colored leg bands? I used about 6 different colors, I used it to identify the color of the band in relation to its parents. Say like I had 3 pairs of Blue Headed Pionus breeders, so a color was asigned to a particular pair. There are a few ways you can set up to identify which babies belong to which breeder pair!

What importance is it to band birds? For me or for a breeder/person it is important, it heled me to know who the parents were of the banded bird. Leg bands can help trace back to a breeder, so if they kept good records then that breeder can tell you the hatch date of the bird and which parents raised the bird as long as you give them the color of the band. Some breeders use only one color for all oftheir baby birds in which they would need to keep very good records.

Some people don't like a band on their bird and want to have it cut off. Once that happens, then all information is lost as far as a visual aspect. However, there is Microchipping, as long as the owners information is registered all is good! In order to know anything on the bird you would have to go to a vet where they have a chip reader to know anything. I have kept all my birds with bands on and still microchip so in the event of the bird gets lost orstolen then a vets office can read the chip and if a band is present, you can also show proof of ownership. Not all vets have chip readers.

Leg Band Codes: Band Codes vary widely in the way they are imprinted. One typical way the code is on a band here in the U.S. is usually 2 or 3 letters, this would represent the aviary or the breeders initials. The letters typically run horizontally on the band. Then you usually see 2 other letters that are sideways on the band and represent the state the bird was raised in. The numbers on the band generally identify the bird in the clutch of babies. Also, some breeders put the year on the band representing the year the bird was hatched. As for myself, I always banded in sequence by age to the number. First hatched is assigned to say band #2, second chick hatched would be band #3 and so on.

Should you remove the leg band? This is a personal preference. Some pet owners do it for safety issues such as the band getting caught on something posing a threat. Some birds out grow their band especially after the bird becomes an adult and the leg/foot area is too large or is just too fat and poses constriction to the leg or foot, in this case it is a good idea. If you do want your bird's leg band removed then you should have a vets office do it for sure! Do not attempt it yourself because if you do not have the proper cutters it could lead to hurting your bird. If you do have the band removed then please consider micro chipping with the registered bird/owner info.

Ordering Leg Bands

Back in my day of breeding, I had Pionus and Amazons and ordered two sizes of leg bands. I believe I ordered size 11 or 12 for the Pionus and size 14 for the Amazons. I purchased my leg bands from the well known L&M Leg Bands. They have a band size chart on their site to go by. I was a small breeder so I could get by for a couple of years before having to order again being that I did not have the year on the band. Pictured is how the bands are bundled at 10 pieces each.