# Any way to find out about "tracked" birds?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-find-out-about-tracked-birds/196211>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 19, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-find-out-about-tracked-birds/196211 "2003-08-19T14:29:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-find-out-about-tracked-birds/196211/1 "2003-08-19T14:29:13Z")

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My dog caught a bird today and I was able to get it away from her before she killed it.

When I was taking it to the woods I noticed it had a teal tag around its ankle. It said:

AU 2003  
DCH  
5038

I think 5038 were the 4 numbers.

It was a pigeon I believe. At least it had pigeon coloring and size.

I googled to try to find some info but I got nil. Any way to find out who’s tracking this bird and why? Or might it be a matter of it being one of a thousand birds being tracked and it’s no big deal?

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-find-out-about-tracked-birds/196211/2 "2003-08-19T14:53:32Z")

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Bird banding in the U.S. is coordinated by the [Bird Banding Laboratory](http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/) of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Check out their website for info on bands and how to report a band recovery.

However, if the bird you found is a domestic pigeon, the bands may be just those of its owner, and not ones put on by a scientific researcher. In this case, you might have to contact a local pigeon fancier/racer to trace the band. Check out the [American Racing Pigeon Union](http://www.pigeon.org/) for more info.

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-find-out-about-tracked-birds/196211/3 "2003-08-19T16:10:38Z")

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Thanks Colibri. Turns out he’s a Racing Pigeon and the band was from the American Racing Pigeon Union.

I wasn’t able to find the racing club he belongs to on their website, but I contacted the executive director of the union and hopefully she can help.

If nothing else, we’ll get to nurse the bird back to health. neat 🙂