Leg bands...how to "decode"

[JacksMom]

I am trying to find where our newly adopted conure origanally came from...his leg band says nothing about year or anything and i would like to know how old he is. All it says are (i think) MHD(or NHD its hard to tell haha) FL(sideways) 37...i assume FL means he was from Florida (we are in PA)...is there a website i can type this info in and find out who the breeder was?

Thank you

[bmsweb]

MHD would be the breeder's initials, the FL sounds right and the number 37 identifies that bird. You would need to find out who MHD is and then contact the breeder to find out more info about the bird. . . unless the US has a national register.

[Natacha]

Try the following Yahoo! group.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/LegBandNumbers/

[pchela]

The first three letters can be the initials of the breeder or the initials of the aviary. My senegals band says OWH which stands for Old World Aviaries. My Grey has the breeders initials.

[lzver]

I just figured out that Lucy was born to an Aviary in Ottawa (the same city I was born in) and confirmed she was born in 2005, so that confirms she will be 5 years old this year.

For Jessie, his band was purchased through the AACC and I put in a request to locate his breeder. But the band confirms he was born in 06 and will be 4 years old this year.

[lzver]

Just received an email from the woman who ran the aviary where Lucy was born. She was born in Arnprior, ON and hatched on July 1, 2005. She confirmed she was hand raised. I guess we have another reason to celebrate on Canada Day! She'll be happy that day because she'll get to spend it on the deck at our trailer and I'll be sure to make her favorite mix of sprouted beans, corn, carrots and slightly cooked vegetable pasta. Plus she'll get a few extra scritches and kisses that day. Maybe I'll get her a new shredder toy for that day too.

Still working on finding this out for Jessie. I have the breeder's email address, who is registred with the Durham Aviculture Society, but haven't heard back yet.

[Natacha]

Just received an email from the woman who ran the aviary where Lucy was born. She was born in Arnprior, ON and hatched on July 1, 2005. She confirmed she was hand raised. I guess we have another reason to celebrate on Canada Day! She'll be happy that day because she'll get to spend it on the deck at our trailer and I'll be sure to make her favorite mix of sprouted beans, corn, carrots and slightly cooked vegetable pasta. Plus she'll get a few extra scritches and kisses that day. Maybe I'll get her a new shredder toy for that day too.

Does she have a CHC band? I'm pretty sure I know you the breeder is...

If so, both Joey and Zuri came from some of her pairs. Joey was sold by her to his former owner but Zuri was sold to a pet store.

Eh...maybe Joey and Lucy are siblings?! (From the same pair, not the same clutch as Joey was hatched in March.)

[lzver]

Hi Natacha,

Yes, she has a CHC band!

You know, when I set out to find out where Lucy and Jessie are from (still haven't found out for Jessie), I never expected to find one of their siblings. That kind of blows my mind. Was Joey hatched in March 2005?

It also gave me a good feeling when I received an email back from her. It was comforting to know that she was hand raised by people that care about their birds.

Give Joey some head scritches from Lucy and me

[Natacha]

Yes he was hatched in March 2005.
I'm not sure how many pairs of breeding Red-bellied parrots she had; Lucy and Joey might be siblings, might not. But they definitively come from the same place

[lzver]

She never said how many breeding Red-Belly pairs she had - she just said she ran a small aviary. Its still very interesting to find someone who's birds are from the same aviary Its a small world