Aluminum Bird Band or Something Else?

FreeBirdTim

FreeBirdTim

Silver Member
Sep 24, 2013
3,846
6,918
Scituate, RI
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Found this aluminum ring today about 3 inches down. Looks like a bird band, but it has a pretty large diameter (7/8"). It's stamped "RI13273". The RI might stand for Rhode Island, but I'm not positive. I'd just like to know what it is and how old it may be. Any help on this one would be appreciated.

DSC07124.JPGDSC07125.JPGDSC07126.JPG
 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!
Sort by date Sort by votes
Bird band sounds right, but it would have to be a pretty big bird. The one on my bird is pretty small, maybe a quarter the size of that. My bird is a cockatiel.
 

Upvote 0
It is definitely an old, import bird band. They are called open bands because they would be clamped on young or adult parrots' legs as identification and that they were legally imported at that time. It was probably on a parrot the size of a macaw or a cockatoo that was directly imported into Rhode Island into a quarantine station before being sold on the market. All importation of parrots ceased and became restricted except for breeding programs for parrots that are endangered in the wild in 1992. At one time I had a license and bred Greater Jardine Parrots from Africa as they were on the verge of becoming extinct in the wild. They were kept wild, parent fed only and could never be sold as pets and could only go to other licensed breeders into breeding programs and kept wild to increase their numbers with many being reintroduced back into their natural habitats.

You will rarely ever see that kind of a bird band on a parrot anymore unless it is an older adult and depending on the type they can live anywhere from 40 to 100 years so a few might still have them on for some time although many were taken off by unscrupulous pet stores in order to sell them as tamer, domestic bred parrots for more money. Parrot breeders use closed bands, solid thicker bands that are slipped onto a parrot's foot when it is a baby. Once they are grown, it would be impossible to put a closed band on one because their feet would be too big to fit a closed band over it. When parrots used to be imported, the closed bands were proof that parrots were domestically bred and tamer instead of having been caught in the wild. After the banning of imported parrots, the closed bands were proof that they were domestically raised and not smuggled in. Many people will still have the solid bands cut off of the parrots' leg by veterinarians for safety purposes so they don't get the band tangled up in a parrot toy and hurt themselves. I don't breed parrots anymore but towards the end of my parrot breeding, I would give the buyers the option of banding the parrots out of the nests, or just giving them the bands with my info on it. I have had the bands removed from all of my pet parrots that I raised and kept and a few that I took in as rescues that I didn't breed and handfeed. Parrots have been seriously injured and even have died from getting their leg bands caught in toys.

If you are really interested in finding out about the age of that band, you can trace its age by the serial number on the band. With the identification number being 'RI132773" I would guess that it is from 1973. Research the old, parrot quarantine import facilities for Rhode Island and you should be able to find the exact information there. Every state that imported parrots directly used their own state's methods of identification on the bands. Hope this helps.
 

Last edited:
Upvote 0
Wow, Piratess, thanks for the help! I was thinking maybe it was for an owl or a hawk. Never considered that it could be for a parrot. I'll try to research it and post my results, if any. Thanks again!
 

Upvote 0
FreeBirdTim said:
Wow, Piratess, thanks for the help! I was thinking maybe it was for an owl or a hawk. Never considered that it could be for a parrot. I'll try to research it and post my results, if any. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Your welcome! :icon_thumright: It actually could have also been used for that too so you might also want to research Rhode Island's, Wild Game Reserves too. Although I have seen some like that used on imported parrots many times they are open, more rounded bands that are just clamped together around the leg. All the coastal states that imported parrots used their own types and identification methods. I have also seen that type used in Wild Game Reserves too.
 

Upvote 0
Really now, who would know more about Parrot's than a "Pirate"?
 

Upvote 0
No its not for parrots, its a band for chickens to prove they had been checked for a certian disease or something like that(the name illudes me right now). I find them all the time around here from an old chicken farm I hunt. i think its early 1900's
 

Upvote 0
No its not for parrots, its a band for chickens to prove they had been checked for a certian disease or something like that(the name illudes me right now). I find them all the time around here from an old chicken farm I hunt. i think its early 1900's
Click to expand...

That would be cool if it was that old! Guess I'm going to have to work on this one!
 

Upvote 0
Tpmetal said:
No its not for parrots, its a band for chickens to prove they had been checked for a certian disease or something like that(the name illudes me right now). I find them all the time around here from an old chicken farm I hunt. i think its early 1900's
Click to expand...

If it is a band for chickens and is that old then it would have only been used for identification purposes. I highly doubt that they were checking for chicken diseases back then.
 

Upvote 0
FreeBirdTim said:
Found this aluminum ring today about 3 inches down. Looks like a bird band, but it has a pretty large diameter (7/8"). It's stamped "RI13273". The RI might stand for Rhode Island, but I'm not positive. I'd just like to know what it is and how old it may be. Any help on this one would be appreciated.

View attachment 1481251View attachment 1481252View attachment 1481253
Click to expand...
Researching poultry operations history in the area recovered in might help.

A laying hen only produces so many eggs in her life. Replacing aged birds keeps production up.
A leg tag/ band or a wing band can tell the birds age and more. ( I'm very wild guessing here , something like.. bird # 132 from year class of 73.)

Neat recovery ,congrats.

http:// https://nationalband.com/adjustable-leg-bands/
 

Last edited:
Upvote 0
i was way off on my dates mid 1900's not early. around here these bands were associated with pullorum-typhoid control program or something like that
 

Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.

Coin help

⬅️ Previous Thread

Colonial Era Door Strap Hinge?

Next Thread ➡️

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Metal Detecting Stuff

Latest Discussions

Back
Top