Help Re-sighting Seabirds Banded at HRBT

Piping Plovers, Dick Rowe

During the 2018 and 2019 nesting seasons, VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Virginia Tech banded over 5,000 of the nesting birds on the South Island of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in order to evaluate dispersion of these populations of seabirds in years subsequent to the colony's displacement from the HRBT South Island  

The Virginia Society of Ornithology has committed to assisting re-sighting efforts for the banded species: Royal Terns, Gull-Billed Terns, Common Terns, Laughing Gulls, Sandwich Terns, and Black Skimmers. 

We are asking birders to be on the lookout for banded birds, and, if seen, we are asking that the information on the attached excel spreadsheet be recorded. As you will see on the spreadsheet, information needed includes: 

• location (coordinates)

• date / time of sighting

• species of banded bird and species in flock

• capture code (i.e. as seen through binoculars / scope vs. bird found dead etc.)

•  band type and letter combinations

• observer name

• comments

Here is a more detailed description of the re-sighting project (with interesting re-sighting location maps!).

The bands can have any number 0-9 and any of the following letters: A C E H J K L M N P T U V X Y. Also, it's sometimes easier to read the code if a picture is taken.

PLEASE RETURN SPREADSHEETS TO: vt.plover@gmail.com