Bird rings

I am in the process of purchasing a Barraband parakeet chick and the breeder is telling me the bird is not ringged as it is still in the nest box.

I have looked on the internet and I cannot see any legal reason why I cannot own a bird with out a ring and i wondered why we ring birds in the first place, is it just a breeder tracking thing or does it mean the breeder is registered somewhere.

Just to put my mind at rest once and for all is it ok to own and purchase a bird in the uk with out a ring on it's leg

Hi Shourn

There is no problem having an unrung barraband in the UK. My B&G macaw is from a local breeder and is unrung. In the UK, UK native birds (eg goldfinches) must be close rung to prove they are captive bred and not wild caught and CITES registered birds must be either close rung or microchipped but there is no legal requirement for a barraband to be rung.

Breeders use rings to identify birds. If they are registered with the Parrot Society (UK) they can get rings which are colour coded for the year and have their PSUK membership number on them so the bird can be traced back to that breeder. A close ring is a sealed ring which can only be fitted over the foot when the bird is a few days old so you know the ring was added as a baby, so if the bird has a close ring with a year on it you know how old the bird is. Non-PSUK close rung birds usually have the year on them and a code used by the breeder but it is a personal code and almost impossible to trace what it means other than the hatch year.

Sometimes you will see birds with a ring which has a small split or gap in it. These 'split rings' can be added at any age and do not tell you much. They are used by breeders to identify sexed birds or identify individual birds in a flock. They are sometimes used by unscrupulous sellers to try and dupe buyers into thinking an older bird is a juvenile by adding a split ring with a false hatch year on it.

Many breeders choose not to ring their birds, just check the bird you're buying to make sure it is indeed a baby and not an older aviary bird.

It's a tracking thing used by bird named breeders. Nothing more. I've seen birds literally damage their shin trying to get the ring off. My parrots don't have rings and they are going to stay that way.

my concern is that using an open band, the kind with a split, is more risky, and most breeders who use bands (rings) use closed bands, the kind which is one solid piece. I use closed bands and by 12 days old my babies cannot be banded. It concerns me that a breeder would use "They are still in the nest" as the reason they are not banded, as we call it here in the USA. This makes me suspect the breeder of potentially not knowing all the things I want my breeder to know when they are raising my babies. While I would have no problem buying a bird with no band, I always try to look as hard as I can at the breeder since a bad breeder and hand feeder can do horrible damage to a young bird during the feeding, weaning, and fledging process through pure ignorance. I suggest you take a harder look at your breeder. They might be perfectly legit, but this is a red flag to me.

Dear Shourn, Hi I'm Bonita from the US. Neither of my birds have bands. My parrotlet was trying to chew off her band so I cut it off before she hurt herself. My GCC was left at a rescue as a baby and never banded. I really think the bands bother some birds making them a possible injury. I can't say about your laws. Best Wishes Bonita

Just a p.s. Emmy had a closed band she came from a very good breeder. Bonita