[Greatblue]

Music lovers from the 60's may remember the "We Five". This bird belongs to the U5. Can someone please explain this type of marking (if that is the correct term). Also has a band on its right leg. Hoping R-Gasman posts his pics as well. Spotted in Richmond.


Red-tailed Hawk with wing-tag by Greatblue1, on Flickr


Red-tailed Hawk by Greatblue1, on Flickr

[merlinator]

I would say it's U5 not US. They wing tag birds that are captured at the airport and relocate them.

[Birder2000]

Wing-tagged raptors in southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington are part of a program for airport safety and raptor conservation. Many species and high numbers have been caught, but the species seen with tags the most often is the Red-tailed Hawk.

If you see any wing-tagged raptors in southwestern BC or northwestern Washingon, you can report the sighting to Bud Anderson (falconresearch@gmail.com) and Gary Searing (gfs@airportwildlife.ca), who likely tagged the bird that you saw. Include the tag number, date, location (coordinates help), and photos if you have any. They will get back to you and tell you also sorts of cool facts about the bird that you saw including where and when it was caught, where and when it was released, where it has been recently seen, and more.

Near Iona Island about a month ago I saw a Red-tailed Hawk tagged "N7". I reported this tagged bird and got lots of info back about her. She was banded as a third year bird at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on 17 November 2013 and was released the next day in Chilliwack, BC, as part of a program to prevent raptors from being struck by aircrafts. This hawk returned almost immediately back to YVR. She had been seen 6 times since on the airport in a relatively small area south of the north runway and west of the new post office. My sighting of her along the Iona Island Causeway was surprise because she hadn't been seen at that location before.

The data we get from things like this is very cool! It's also great that it is a win-win situation for the birds and aircraft safety.

[gean]

FYi - My sighting of a bird from the Sea-Tac study Yellow or Blue Tag. A red-tailed hawk - Blue Tag 1C, sighted at the Sacramento NAtional Wildlifee Refuge-near Willows California

Hi Sonny,
Thank you for sharing a photo of a wing-tagged Red-tailed Hawk!

There are multiple layers of interest and responsibility in this and any banding project. The wildlife teams at SEA, PDX and YVR airports use these tags to easily i.d. birds around airports. Wingtaggedhawks@portseattle.org, and PDXraptors.com were set up so the public could report their sightings directly to the biologists banding and tagging hawks and learn more about raptor management at airports.

Reportband.gov, meanwhile, accesses the Bird Banding Laboratory - the nationwide federal repository for all bird banding information - and ensures the information will be available to researchers and managers at PDX, SEA, YVR and other airports, and anyone else interested. It’s important that citizen scientists like yourself report tags and bands to BOTH the airport managers and the Bird Banding Lab. It is greatly appreciated and the reason we band birds!

Bud at Falcon Research is retired and asked to be removed from notification lists.

SEA uses blue and yellow tags, or light blue leg bands on Red-tailed Hawks. SEA releases the majority of Red-tailed Hawks near Anacortes or Bow, WA. PDX uses orange leg bands and sometimes orange wing tags on only Red-tailed Hawks. YVR uses white wing tags on several species of raptors including Bald Eagles.

Blue 1C was born in 2023, location unknown. He was trapped at SEA in the summer of 2023 and released near Anacortes, WA. Based on measurements at time of trapping we believe he’s a male.

Thank you again for reporting this sighting and sharing your photo!