Preparing the Bands

The US Geological Survey bands made for hummingbirds are so tiny that they are sent on aluminum sheets. The banders are the people who actually cut the sheets and form the bands. Nancy Newfield uses a tiny sewing scissors to cut them out, then tweezers and a special shaping tool to form the bands.

Preparing bands

200 bands fit on a single small index-card sheet. They are carefully cut out.
After cutting out the bands, they are each formed into a leg band using this shaping tool.
Such tiny bands require careful work!
After shaping, the bands are kept on a safety pin until use.

 

Next: Setting Up the Equipment