A couple of Old Birds

We were going to have a session at Jan's place this morning but the weather is rubbish. So I am doing a Blog Post instead.

I have recently received some photos of banded birds from the Banding Office. These were taken by a woman near several of the banding sites that have been used for up to 20 years in Wellington.

The photo above is of of a male Starling which looks to be in full song. Unfortunately this is the only photo and only part of the band number can be read. It can only be identified as being one of about 10 possibilities all banded in 2009. This would make it one of the oldest Starlings we have recorded.

The other photos are of a banded Silvereye taken at the same property. The photos clearly shows most of the band number except for the third digit A-17?384. If this bird is one of ours which seems most likely it would have been banded in 2008 making it one of the oldest Silvereyes recorded in New Zealand. If it is not one of ours it has most likely crossed Cook Strait making it one of the longest travelers.