A vital winter banding program based at the University of Arkansas-Monticello is guaranteed to go forward this year with help from a group of supporters.
A Ducks Unlimited article reported a recent, $10,000 contribution by Mack’s Prairie Wings, in Stuttgart, to the work conducted by Douglas Osborne at UAM. DU and privated donors fully support the winter banding program, which Osborne and his students have been conducting since 2014.
Banding is the process of attaching a small, numbered bracelet to the legs of waterfowl. By recording where the birds are banded and retrieved, scientists can track their movements and collect data on distribution and migration patterns as well as harvest and survival rates.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cancelled its summer banding because of the COVID-19. This makes the winter banding more important, Osborne said.
To read the article, with a link to the latest report on the project, click here.
