Leg band research

Trying to research my amazons leg band ID number not sure where to start just wanting to get an accurate age... Was told hes 17 and wanting something to show his sex just to be sure .. NMA 166.. Thanks

CRADUNN said:

Trying to research my amazons leg band ID number not sure where to start just wanting to get an accurate age... Was told hes 17 and wanting something to show his sex just to be sure .. NMA 166.. Thanks

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Not sure where in this huge World you are. Different parts of the World activity use Leg Bands, others are left to whether a specific Breeder wishes to keep track of their Parrots.

Leg Bands had meaning in North America once upon a time! At present, its mainly left to individual Breeders as to whether they use them or not!

Birds have histories and if your Parrot has nothing more than maybe 17 years old and the sex is unknown, well that is likely all you are going to get.

Make an appointment with your Certified Avian Vet for a 'complete' Well Parrot / New Parrot examination that will include complete blood screen testing! As part of those tests, include a DNA sex test.

Be side it being maybe 17 years old, do you know what kind of Amazon you have?

I just noticed neither of our birds have leg bands. Is that unusual?

Amlamb said:

I just noticed neither of our birds have leg bands. Is that unusual?

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I never banded my babies. I kept notes on who bought them and sometimes did DNA tests, but I always thought bands were just one more way for them to have an accident. *shrug*

I didn't put one on my new bird and had no desire to do so.

The one time when it actually would have come in handy, it did not. Years ago, a small parrot being chased by scrub jays flew to an old man doing yard work and lit on his shoulder. He took the little bird inside to get it away from the irate jays. I went to the old man's house and identified the bird as a Senegal parrot. It had a closed band, but there was no real way to decipher what the letters and numbers meant.

Several weeks earlier, a couple had lost their Senegal parrot. I suspected this was not their bird because it had been so long, but sometimes birds will surprise you. I called them and first asked if their bird was banded. They said they couldn't remember. I knew that asking the number on the band would get me nowhere. When they showed up, however, the little Senegal got very excited, convincing me they were, indeed, his "people." If they weren't...well, no one else in our area had advertised a lost Senegal. He seemed more than happy to go with them.

Just my two cents.

My DYH''s leg band also starts with NMA ... did you have any luck?

Overhere legbands (or microchipping and sometimes both) is mandatory for Cites-1 parrots (actually ALL protected bird-species from all over the world).
So everyone will know they are captive bred (and traceable) and not poached from the wild.

Most professional breeders will use legbands- because it identifies the year of birth and the breeder - it like putting licenseplates on a car -> you will always know who is who.
(and birds without a band are suspicious because of the illegal trade - so just for identification loads of birds will have bands here)
The unbanded birds are usually from people who have only one couple of non-threatened species and breed them in their livingroom.


If your bird is very old...
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...mport-live-animals/sa_avian/ct_bird_leg_bands
->
Prior to 1992, most imported psitticine birds (parrots) were imported into private quarantine facilities under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
All of these imported birds were provided leg bands with identification that contained three letters followed by three numbers.
->
If your bird has a leg band with three letters (the first one being F, C, O, M, I, L, or N), followed by three numbers, it was undoubtedly imported into one of the above listed States prior to 1992.