Atlantic Flyway Bald Eagle Band Contacts by Band Color
Welcome eagle enthusiasts! If you’ve spotted a Bald Eagle banded with a colored leg band, this is the website for you! Note these band colors only apply to eagles seen in the Eastern part of North America (east of the Appalachian Mountains).
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- Bald eagle chicks in nest – The chicks have been banded, and the eagle on the left has been fitted with a light-weight satellite transmitter. Photo by Bryan Watts.
You can check the table of color bands below to find the contact information for the corresponding eagle bander (some states have more than one bander so please contact both). This list is only for eagles banded east of the Appalachian Mountains and in Eastern Canada. These eagle banders rely on YOU, the bird-watching public, to spot and report sightings of banded eagles. These sightings are used in eagle research to track eagle movements, monitor survival rates, and causes of mortality.
In your email to the bander(s), provide your contact information, exact location of the eagle, band color, band code, and if possible, include a photo of the eagle. If a code was visible on the band, please report the code and color of the band to the USGS Bird Banding Lab at reportband.gov.
| Band Color | State/Province | Bander/e-mail | Band Info |
| BLACK | NH | Christian Martin (NH Audubon) | |
| BLACK | ON | Jody Allair (Bird Studies Canada) | 2-3 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| BLUE | NY | Katherine Yard (NYSDEC) | 2-3 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| BLUE | FL | Brian Millsap (USFWS-NM) | 3 characters, beginning with C or H followed by a 2 digit number |
| GOLD | MA | Andrew Vitz & Jennifer Longsdorf (MassWildlife) | Used from1987-2006 – The first character was always “W” followed by a letter and number, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| GREEN | NJ | Kathy Clark (NJDEP) | 2 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| GREEN/BLACK | FL | Brian Mealey, (Institute of Wildlife Sciences) | Green over Black, 2 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| ORANGE | QU | Jérôme Lemaître, (Québec MFFP) | |
| ORANGE | MA | Andrew Vitz & Jennifer Longsdorf (MassWildlife) | Used 2007-present. 2 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| PURPLE | VA | Bryan Watts (CCB) | 2 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| PURPLE | MD | Bryan Watts (CCB) | 2 characters, #s & letters, vertical, repeated 3x around band |
| RED | ME | Erynn Call (MDIFW); Chris DeSorbo (BRI) |
Horizontal and vertical characters repeated 3x around band |
| RED/BLACK | NY | Katherine Yard (NYSDEC) | Red “A” over black 2 digit number |
Note: purple bands seen in mid-western states should contact: Michele McNulty (USFWS-KY), (785) 539-3474 X106.