Calgary Bird Banding Society - Dedicated to the Research and Conservation of Birds

CBBS Bird Banding

Bird banding is an integral aid to the study and protection of wild birds. It is typically facilitated by using a fine net (known as a mist net). Birds that fly into the mist net are gently removed and a permanent aluminum or alternate light-weight band is placed around the lower leg. Often the birds are measured, weighed, sexed and aged before release back into the wild.


When a banded bird is recovered, the number and information on the band is used to trace migratory patterns and other vital data. This information is collated and made available to the banding and scientific communities. The data is invaluable to many scientific studies, including Global Warming and Pollution research. The Calgary Bird Banding Society (CBBS) makes much of this research available in the form of the ATR (Annual Technical Report).



The primary project of the CBBS is monitoring of migratory birds at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (IBS), a federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary. IBS has long been known as an important migration site for Neotropical migrants. Located within 80-km of the Rocky Mountains, the site is an integral component of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network.

IBS is also the location of a MAPS site operated by CBBS since 1992. A pilot MAPS project was undertaken at Dinosaur Provincial Park in 2006. Fall migration monitoring of Northern Saw-whet Owls has been conducted since 2004 at a location in the foothills southwest of Calgary. Beginning in 2004, the CBBS initiated spring migration monitoring of Neotropical migratory birds from a site on the Osa Peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Most recently, we conducted an initiative based on the Monitereo de Sobrevivercia Invernal (MoSI) program of the Institute for Bird Populations at that same site.

NEW! 2007 Annual Technical Report (ATR)

The 2007 ATR (right click to download) details regional and international research conducted by CBBS. The ATR presents results from all CBBS projects active during the current year and includes research and trend analysis.

Yousif Attia returns to BSC

BSC would like to welcome back Yousif Attia. Yousif has joined us as the Assistant Landbird Programs Coordinator of the Long Point Bird Observatory. Yousif was a part of BSC’s Boreal Project in 2003, returned as a species at risk biologist in 2006, and is a seasoned LPBO veteran from 2006-07. A native of Calgary, Alberta, he grew up with the birds of the prairies, foothills, and mountains. His dedication to bird conservation, and his birding and banding expertise from around the world, make Yousif an excellent addition to our team.
(from Bird Studies Canada Newsletter March 14, 2008)