Banded Waterfowl Certificates Are History

Technology and budget cuts affect all aspects of our lives, including the area of my passion – hunting. The most recent change affects acknowledgement of reported bands.

It’s always exciting, after collecting a band, to place a phone call and find out the details concerning the harvested duck. The band goes immediately on my lanyard as I anxiously await mail delivery of that green certificate complete with my name. This will no longer be the case. Due to budget cuts, hunters will no longer receive a printed certificate of appreciation from the Bird Banding Lab of the U.S. Geological Survey. Instead, an email will be sent with a printable certificate.

“The BBL regrets not being able to continue the practice of sending paper certificates of appreciation, but budget reductions necessitate an end to this practice,” said BBL chief Bruce Peterjohn.

The guys of MS Delta Ducks encourage all you waterfowlers to remain diligent in reporting the bands collected. The integrity and effectiveness of the bird banding program is important to us all. Add certificate stock paper to your hunting supplies, “remember when they used to mail green certificates of appreciation“ to your good ole day stories, and keep reporting those bands. Hunters can report bands online at www.reportbands.gov.