<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2zhi3x_0uxP3zp200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2zhi3x_0uxP3zp200" width="1760" height="1084" ><figcaption>Isabel Nissley / WVXU Bird-banders-in-training check the mist nets.</figcaption></figure>The sun is still rising when Ron Canterbury gathers a dozen students around him at the University of Cincinnati Center for Field Studies in Harrison. Everyone's focused on the crinkling paper bag in his hand.He reaches in and pulls out a house wren.“He’s going to jump around, wiggle around, until you get two fingers gently around the neck,” Canterbury said.The UC ornithologist is a bird bander. He records information about individual birds to study the whole population, which has been shrinking since the 1970s.“If they could speak to us, they’d be saying, ‘Hey, it’s (in) bad shape, please help,’ ” Canterbury said. “That’s the purpose of my research, is trying to save the birds.”He’s been at it for 35 years and has documented more than 80,000 birds. The data Canterbury collects from bird banding is used for local and national conservation projects.Despite efforts to slow the decline, bird numbers continue to fall as habitats are developed for things like housing and retail faster than they can be protected.“I’m old and tired, but refuse to give up,” Canterbury said.So, Canterbury is looking to the next generation to continue this conservation work. He's teaching them how through bird banding.“I spend a lot of time training students because the main reason is they're going to inherit the Earth — the young people and their children and their grandchildren,” Canterbury said. “They’ve got to work on the environmental problems of today and how they can contribute.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1G76tL_0uxP3zp200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1G76tL_0uxP3zp200" width="840" height="1120" ><figcaption>Isabel Nissley / WVXU Ron Canterbury takes a look at one of the birds his student has banded.</figcaption></figure><h2>Learning the bird banding process</h2>On a Saturday in early August, Canterbury and a dozen bird-banders-in-training meet at a research station in western Hamilton County.The group is all volunteers. Some have taken a class with Canterbury. Others have heard about his work through coworkers and friends.Holly Erickson is studying forestry, fisheries and wildlife at Ohio State University. When her field research wrapped up this summer, Erickson anticipated missing the birds she studies. To fend off what Erickson called “bird withdrawal,” she connected with Canterbury to help with his banding before she returned to school.Before dawn, the crew sets up 10 mist nets in front of a prairie. Birds fly into the tall, volleyball-like nets, allowing the banders to safely catch and study them.Around 7:30, Erickson finds a song sparrow caught in the mist net and starts untangling it.“I generally do wing, head, wing, but it does depend on the bird,” Erickson said.She takes the sparrow to a makeshift lab set up in the back of Canterbury's truck. Erickson weighs the bird, measures its wings and looks at its feathers. Canterbury observes, recording all the data on a clipboard.Then, Erickson clasps a numbered aluminum band onto the bird's leg. It's an identifier. The data collected about the bird is connected to the number on the band and submitted to a national database. When banders catch the bird again, they'll be able to determine how long the bird has lived, if it migrated, and where it is spending time.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4c2RwP_0uxP3zp200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4c2RwP_0uxP3zp200" width="840" height="630" ><figcaption>Isabel Nissley / WVXU Ornithologist Ron Canterbury has bands for birds of all sizes in the back of his truck.</figcaption></figure><h2>National concern, local action</h2>By mid-morning, the crew has caught nine birds. Bird-bander-in-training Hannah Breedlove says that number is worrisome.“Doing this four years ago, when I first started, even on a day like this, we’d probably be catching like 20 by now,” Breedlove said.Birds are indicator species. They are sensitive to changes in climate, and depend on plants and insects for food, according to a 2022 U.S. Geological Survey article. Their shrinking population tells us that other parts of the ecosystem are struggling as well.“Once you're in that funk of like, ‘I am one person, what can I do?’, it's hard to get out of it,” Breedlove said. “Coming here helps. Seeing all these people that care, seeing all these birds — they can't speak for themselves. We’ve got to do it for them.”The data Breedlove and others collect today will be shared with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other conservation groups, like Great Parks. The agencies use the information to maintain bird habitats.“If banding one bird can teach us one thing about it, that’s good enough,” Breedlove said.Breedlove started bird banding when she took Canterbury's ornithology class in college. Canterbury appreciates that four years later, Breedlove still comes to help out on her days off.“Getting them motivated for their passion in life and the things that they can work on and contribute to science and things like that is one of my big goals,” Canterbury said.It's a goal Canterbury is successfully working toward: He's currently training 50 bird banders.</div></body>

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UC ornithologist on training the next generation of bird banders: 'They're going to inherit the Earth'

The sun is still rising when Ron Canterbury gathers a dozen students around him at the University of Cincinnati Center for Field Studies in Harrison. Everyone's focused on the crinkling paper bag in his hand. He reaches in and pulls out a house wren. “He’s going to jump around, wiggle...

UC ornithologist on training the next generation of bird banders: 'They're going to inherit the Earth'

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