If you see a banded Piping Plover...

Via Texbirds, pre-dated and modified for format and lack of photos:

Here is a repost from last year, if you see Piping Plovers with colored bands:

Here is some info on what to do if you see a banded or unbanded Piping Plover. It was sent to me in 2008 from Cheri Gratto-Trevor, a Canadian researcher. Research and researchers come and go, so I'm not sure if all of the info is still current, but it's worth trying an email or 2:

"If you see a marked Piping Plover, please write down the location, date, behaviour of bird (foraging; with mate or nest), a detailed description of the bands (see below).

* To describe a band combination: describe each band:
* Type: metal, colour band, flag (band with a tab sticking out from the leg
* Colours: as exact as possible - common colours are red, yellow, orange, light blue (very pale), dark blue, white, light green (very pale), dark green, black, grey. Some are bi-coloured (2 colours on one band). Sometimes two bands of the same colour are placed over each other on a leg (may look like a very tall band). Common flag colours are black, white, dark green, yellow, orange and light blue.

* Location on bird's leg:
bird's upper left (above the "knee"), lower left (below the "knee"), upper right, lower right; above or below other bands on the same part of the leg.
* * * Note if you are unsure of any of the bands or if you did not see all parts of the leg clearly.

* * * Example:
"Black flag upper left, dark blue band lower left, metal upper right, light green over dark blue band lower right."

* Plovers banded as adults in Saskatchewan have 5 bands: a white flag upper right OR black flag upper left or right; metal upper on opposite leg to flag (rarely on lower leg with colour bands), 2 colour bands on 1 lower leg, and one plain colour on the other lower leg. Colours used were red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, grey, black, dark blue; there may be two of the same colour on the same part of the leg).

Plovers banded as chicks are variable - some are similar to the adult schemes noted above, while others just have either a white or black flag upper and metal upper, no other colour bands. In other projects; some chicks (Lake Diefenbaker, SK) have a white band upper left (not a flag), metal on a lower leg, and 1-3 other bands; some (Chaplin Lake, SK) have a light green/dark green bi-coloured band on one leg, metal other upper leg, and 1-2 bands on the lower legs; some (Alberta) have a bicoloured black and white band, metal and 1-2 colour bands. Some plovers from the U.S. Great Lakes have been banded with an orange flag on an upper leg (metal other upper, 2 colour bands on one lower leg and one on the other), and in the Missouri River, USA with a dark green flag upper (2 colour bands on each lower leg, no metal; or just the flag and 2 colour bands in total), or yellow flag on an upper leg (metal other upper, 2 colour bands on one lower leg and one on the other) . And of course, bands can discolour, or occasionally, fall off.

However this information can provide very useful data on Piping Plover movements and survival, so please look for marked birds and send in your sightings!

Band sightings can be sent to Greg Pavelka (Gregory.A.Pavelka AT usace.army.mil), especially if no flag or a light blue flag is seen; or directly to the bander if a flag is observed:
white or black flag: Cheri Gratto-Trevor (cheri.gratto-trevor AT ec.gc.ca)
dark green flag: Dan Catlin (dcatlin AT vt.edu)
yellow or red flag: Jennifer Stucker (jstucker AT usgs.gov)
orange flag: Great Lakes (plover AT umn.edu)

Thanks for looking for our birds!