Frankly, I’m a bit shocked at some of the vehemence and misinformation concerning banding being expressed here.
There are actually two different Red-tailed Hawks at that location, and both were banded with stainless steel federal bands and coded colour bands last week as part of an ongoing project on winter site use and fidelity. I have gone to see these birds since they were banded and they are just as approachable as before, hardly “traumatized,” but rather hunting and making successful kills just as they should be. I saw one of them perched up in a tree and it was not disturbed when I walked up to the trunk - it looked and went back to preening itself. Regardless, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that it’s a good thing for a wild bird of prey to allow people to take photos with their cell phones - wildlife and raptors specifically still face plenty of persecution, and an animal that doesn’t learn to be wary of people may well end up dead, so I hope for their sakes that these birds do in the long run.
I don’t know how much you know about the bird banding program, but none of your money was involved - banders supply their own equipment and are generally not paid for what they do unless they work with MNR with waterfowl or at a migration observatory, which even then is for the most part volunteer except for the bander-in-charge.
Bird banding is not just about migration, and there is just as much to be learned about local birds (which at this point we don’t even know if these birds are local, resident, or migratory - up until this point it was assumed that there was only ever one bird, when in fact there are two using the same fields). Without being able to recognize individual birds there is no way to say for certain whether the same bird overwinters or if there is turnover and they are replaced by new birds moving in, and furthermore if these same birds return to the same site next winter, or even if they return and attempt to nest as adults. Otherwise it is simply speculation. There are more birders who visit Downsview than you think - so yes, shame on me for taking the opportunity to gain insight into the habits of these urban hawks, which are surprisingly quite unstudied here.
Also, these birds are not “almost adults” - both were hatched this year and will not attain adult plumage until next summer. Red-tailed Hawks do not have feathers on their tarsi (and many species that do such as owls and Rough-legged Hawks are banded regularly with no ill effects), and the bands will have no impact on preening whatsoever. Waterfowl, gulls, and other species that spend a good part of the year in near freezing water or roosting on ice are banded and colour marked by the thousands - far harsher than any conditions a bird of prey will face in Toronto. The birds' legs were gauged and the appropriate diameter bands were used - I've banded close to ten thousands birds and have worked with many birds of prey, and all protocol and permits were in place.
I don't mean to derail John's thread, but I needed to step in here. You're welcome to contact me in private or I can get you in touch with the bander leading the project.
