Banding the barn owl chicks

All birds that we breed have to be banded and reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the end of the calendar year. When the chicks are two weeks old, we put a numbered, seamless band that we get from USFWS on their leg. We put them on at two weeks because at that age they are still small enough that the band can be slipped on over the foot, but big enough that it doesn't slip off.

With our release birds, we replace the seamless band with a release band at the time of release. Our goal is to raise the barn owl population here in Missouri, where barn owls are rare.