A pattern and procedure for sewing bird bags for bird banders and ringers

Abstract

Bird banding (or ringing) is an essential part of many aspects of ornithology. From the time a bird is extracted from a mist net or other capture method to the time it is banded, measured, possibly tagged, and released, it is typically held individually in a secure cloth bag. Although it is important that these bags must have no rough seams, efficient sewing instructions are hard to find, and purchasing bags can be costly. Because it is essential to wash the bags used to hold birds for banding between every use to prevent disease transmission, an active banding station needs many bags. Here, we provide an easy pattern for a bag that leaves no exposed seams. There are four sewing steps, one ironing step, and one step to thread the shoelace drawstring through the top casing. It is most efficient to work on multiple bags at once, doing all of one step before moving on to another, and each bag will end up taking ≤ 20 min from start to finish.

Keywords

• bird bags
• bird banding
• bird ringing