Band-related Foot Loss Does Not Prevent Successful Return and Reproduction in the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)

In spite of recent developments in tracking technology, leg bands are still the main marking method in songbird population studies. Yet, band-related injury rates and the effects of such injuries on survival and reproductive success have rarely been documented in songbirds. Over a 9-year period, we banded 525 male Ovenbirds using a numbered aluminum band and three celluloid color bands. Of these, 322 individuals returned to our study area in at least one of the subsequent years, including four males (1.2%) missing a foot. In all cases, foot loss occurred 2-3 years after banding, suggesting indirect effects of bands rather than injuries sustained at the time of capture or banding. Among returning individuals, 91 were recaptured and only one had noticeable leg injuries that did not result in foot loss. Three of the four males missing a foot were able to fledge young, one of which produced young during two successive breeding seasons. The fact that injured males could hold territories overlapping their previous one and produce young suggests that they could forage efficiently. Although leg injuries may carry a cost over the longer term, two of the four injured males were re sighted in our study area the year following the first observation of foot loss. Our results, along with those of other studies, suggest that the benefits of bird banding greatly outweigh the costs associated with potential injuries, at least in this ground-foraging forest songbird.