Bird Banding

Yesterday I went out bird Banding with Peter Reese. He has been doing this for 30 years so he really knows what he is doing.
The first thing he does is put some nets up in an area of bush near a food or water source. Here there is a small stream and the native trees were flowering. Can you see the net?
You can now the sun is shining on it and so can the birds, but when it is in the shade it is very hard to see. They fly into the nets and drop into 'pockets' on either side of the net.

Here we have caught a Silvereye. You hold the birds gently but firmly between your fingers taking care not to hold it tightly around the chest. Then we put a band around the bird's right leg.

Then we measured its wing length.

Then we put it into a container to weigh it - it's not very dignified for the bird
 but they stay still and the are not hurt at all.

Here is a picture of me banding my first Silvereye. I also banded some other Silvereyes, Sparrows and a Chaffinch.

All the information we collect is passed on to the Department of Conservation.