This is my third bird band from this farm.....another racing pigeon.This guy was banded in 1977,got an e-mail into their website to get some more info.The big band in the last pic was from a Redtail Hawk banded in 1981 out of Pa........something different.
I just found one this last week, it was very thin aluminum and under NJ(new jersey) was 65(I assumed the year), I called the Dept. of Fish and Game to see if I could find out how to look up the serial number but the women on the phone had no clue what I was talking about.
AU: American Racing Pigeon Union =http://www.pigeon.org/
CU: Canadian Racing Pigeon Union==http://www.execulink.com/~crpu
IF: International Federation======http://www.ifpigeon.com/
NBRC: National Pigeon Association==http://www.npausa.com/
You can get a little certificate of appreciation from the USGS for reporting the "official" bands. I've found several from ducks detecting and have bagged a few banded ducks over the years as well.