Need help decoding recently adopted bird band

Hi all,

I recently adopted a blue fronted Amazon from a family friend who passed away. I don't have any paperwork on the bird but do know that he was owned for 12 years. I was told he was DNAd as a male, however I'm going to verify through avian biotech.

The bird is very friendly and has a decent vocabulary but will not let me hold him. I'm assuming this is normal. I'd like to get his age and know as much about him as I can.

His band is an open silver colored metal like band engraved FZA 302.

I did some research and I know the open band means hes imported and that the F should mean Florida as the quarantine state, does anyone know what the ZA or 302 stand for? I can guess that 302 may be a hatch date, March 2002?

Also, is there anything else I should get done or be aware of that isn't obvious? I own three sun conures and will be getting the Amazon tested for any diseases although he appears very healthy. Any specific testing I should get done?

If it is an open ring and he is indeed an import, he'd be much much older than 12. They banned legal imports in the early 90's, I believe. Given the exceptionally long lifespan of parrots, there are still thousands if not millions of legal wild caught parrots still out there, many still banded with their open import band they had placed on them in quarantine!

Kiwibird said:

If it is an open ring and he is indeed an import, he'd be much much older than 12. They banned legal imports in the early 90's, I believe. Given the exceptionally long lifespan of parrots, there are still thousands if not millions of legal wild caught parrots still out there, many still banded with their open import band they had placed on them in quarantine!

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WOW! Now I'm really confused... this bird could possibly be 25+!! I would never guess this age, he's so active!

The only other possibility is that he was bred domestic and not banded until he was mature right? So there's no real way I can figure out this guys age.

Welcome fellow blue front owner.

Going to copy my comment from another thread on this, but this is about my Sydney.

My Amazon's import band reads FL FBR 509, and he's anywhere between 35-45 years old. FL for Florida obviously, but the FBR is the import code, also denoting Florida, followed by the quarantine station which I've been unable to track, but likely Boca Raton, FL.

He went through a privately owned import facility, so that's the formatting for that. If he went through a USDA facility, it would include USDA on the band, such as USDAM if he went though Florida.

This has some more information regarding the conservation act of 1992 and importing of wild birds.
https://www.fws.gov/international/la...ation-act.html

Aquila said:

Welcome fellow blue front owner.

Going to copy my comment from another thread on this, but this is about my Sydney.

My Amazon's import band reads FL FBR 509, and he's anywhere between 35-45 years old. FL for Florida obviously, but the FBR is the import code, also denoting Florida, followed by the quarantine station which I've been unable to track, but likely Boca Raton, FL.

He went through a privately owned import facility, so that's the formatting for that. If he went through a USDA facility, it would include USDA on the band, such as USDAM if he went though Florida.

This has some more information regarding the conservation act of 1992 and importing of wild birds.
https://www.fws.gov/international/la...ation-act.html

Click to expand...

Great info thanks!

My band does not have USDA or FL as a prefix to FZA 302. Any insight on a format like mines?

Robcan said:

Aquila said:

Welcome fellow blue front owner.

Going to copy my comment from another thread on this, but this is about my Sydney.

My Amazon's import band reads FL FBR 509, and he's anywhere between 35-45 years old. FL for Florida obviously, but the FBR is the import code, also denoting Florida, followed by the quarantine station which I've been unable to track, but likely Boca Raton, FL.

He went through a privately owned import facility, so that's the formatting for that. If he went through a USDA facility, it would include USDA on the band, such as USDAM if he went though Florida.

This has some more information regarding the conservation act of 1992 and importing of wild birds.
https://www.fws.gov/international/la...ation-act.html

Click to expand...

Great info thanks!

My band does not have USDA or FL as a prefix to FZA 302. Any insight on a format like mines?

Click to expand...

Mine may be redundant with the FL at the beginning, or yours might be nonstandard, it could also be that the facility had different procedures for banding. I would say Florida would be a safe bet for importation, as many Blue fronts imported seemed to have gone through there.

The Z may indicate the facility, and then A-302 being part of his "ID" which could essentially be like a batch number. There are a few "Z" cities in Florida but I'm unfamiliar with the previous facilities located there.

I found some good information on Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - The ABC's Of Leg Bands - Identifying Birds

Imported Birds

Imported birds are open banded at the quarantine stations before release. There are two types of quarantine stations, privately owned commercial import stations and USDA-owned and operated stations. The coding on the leg bands is different for each. The following information on import bands was printed in an article from Pet Business Magazine June, 1987 and may have changed since then.

USDA-owned and operated quarantine stations use bands with letters and three or four numbers. The letters refer to the name of the station:
Honolulu, HI - HH
Key West, FL - T
Miami, FL - 58A, 58B, 58C, 58D, 58E, 58F or USDA-F
Newburgh, NY - NNY
The letters on the leg bands of USDA-regulated pet bird quarantine stations refer to location and are followed by three or four numbers:
Brownsville, TX - USDAB
Honolulu, HI - USDAH
Los Angeles, CA - USDAA
Miami, FL - USDAM
Mission, TX - USDAX ** for confiscated birds being put up for auction.
Newburgh, NY - USDANNY
San Ysidro, CA - USDAN
Privately owned commercial import stations use bands with an alphanumeric code - three letters followed by three numbers. The first letter signifies the state in which the station is located:

California - C,O
Florida - F
Hawaii - H
Illinois - I
Louisiana - L
Michigan - M
New York - N
Texas - T

The second letter denotes the quarantine station, while the third letter is part of the bird's ID number. For additional information regarding the numbers and letters on a bird's import band, call the USDA Administration Office Department of Agriculture, Fish, & Wildlife.

Robcan said:

WOW! Now I'm really confused... this bird could possibly be 25+!! I would never guess this age, he's so active!

The only other possibility is that he was bred domestic and not banded until he was mature right? So there's no real way I can figure out this guys age.

Click to expand...

My moms DYH was caught as an adult in the late 1970s and she is still very active! No signs of old age save some mild arthritis in the foot she broke years ago. Big amazons live 65+ years, so 25-ish is still a relatively young bird. Wild caught parrots in general tend to be of good genetic stock, even better than captive bred. They not only had to survive natural selection in the nest/wild but also the trauma of being captured, brought to the US (or other country) and quarantine, not to mention the much lesser degree of knowledge people in those days had regarding good parrot care. Only the strongest tended to make it into peoples homes and even less have made it to today! My 19-ish year old captive bred BFA still plays like a juvenile. It is, of course, assumed he was captive bred and the age we were given when we got him was accurate as he had no band and little history. As long as they eat a healthy diet and are encouraged to be active, they will remain active until very late in life.

It would be very uncommon for a captive bred bird to be banded with an open ring band. Their bands go on soon after they hatch and they grow into them so they (in theory) will always be on the bird to identify it as a captive-bred bird.

Thanks everyone. Great information I'll post pictures later

Robcan said:

Hi all,

I recently adopted a blue fronted Amazon from a family friend who passed away. I don't have any paperwork on the bird but do know that he was owned for 12 years. I was told he was DNAd as a male, however I'm going to verify through avian biotech.

The bird is very friendly and has a decent vocabulary but will not let me hold him. I'm assuming this is normal. I'd like to get his age and know as much about him as I can.

His band is an open silver colored metal like band engraved FZA 302.

I did some research and I know the open band means hes imported and that the F should mean Florida as the quarantine state, does anyone know what the ZA or 302 stand for? I can guess that 302 may be a hatch date, March 2002?

Also, is there anything else I should get done or be aware of that isn't obvious? I own three sun conures and will be getting the Amazon tested for any diseases although he appears very healthy. Any specific testing I should get done?

Click to expand...

Hi there…
Did you ever find out info for your birds band FZA 302?
My blue fronted Amazon just passed New Year’s Eve.
His open band was FZA 458.
Trying to find his history as well….
Thank you for shyones help!