Evaluation of leg banding and attachment of radio-transmitters on ring-necked pheasant chicks

Marking birds is a vital tool for determining survival, habitat-use patterns, and movements. For galliform species, metal leg bands and radio-transmitters are widely used marking techniques. While commonly used on adult birds, leg banding and radio-marking of galliform chicks are not commonly employed. During a two-year study to evaluate survival, dispersal, and habitat-use of released four-week old ring-necked pheasants Phasianus colchicus, we sought to mark chicks in a manner that allowed us to track them post-release and recognize them if harvested as adults. Our objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of four banding techniques: 1) standard bands for adult ring-necked pheasants [no. 6 aluminum butt-end bands], 2) colored plastic spiral leg bands commonly used for banding poultry, 3) no. 6 bands and plastic spiral leg bands to prevent the aluminum bands from slipping off, and 4) cotton-filled no. 6 bands to prevent bands from slipping off and allow growth of the tarsus. We also evaluated two radio-transmitter attachment methods: gluing or suturing transmitters on the back of four-week-old chicks. The no. 6 bands did not stay attached to the birds due to the bands being too large, and plastic spiral bands commonly caused constriction of the legs, possibly crippling birds. However, using cotton filled leg-bands was a reliable method for marking pheasant chicks. Although gluing has been used successfully as a radio-transmitter attachment method in other studies, in our study it largely failed given that few radio-transmitters remained attached beyond two days. Suturing was an effective method (90% of the transmitters remained attached until death or expected life of the battery) for attaching radio-transmitters to ring-necked pheasant chicks. Our field study has revealed promising approaches and we suggest that a captive study should now evaluate the possible sub-lethal effects (e.g. growth rates, body condition, transmitter retention times) of these attachment methods.