Last weekend I again visited the bird banding station at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was thrilled to see the friendly folks there process a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets (Regulus satrapa), which are among the smallest birds in our area. Bands come in all different sizes and kinglets require the absolutely smallest-sized bands.
Here are some shots of the encounter including the initial processing of the bird; the actual banding of the bird (note its tiny legs); examination of the feathers of the bird; and the moment before the release of one of the little birds by a young visitor.
I love the fact that I was able to get so much closer to the bird and see so many wonderful details about its feathers and coloration than I would ever be able to do in the wild. As the old saying goes, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wow!
What a great experience! A cute bird!
Benjamin says : “I am so woweed (worried) about the little Kinglet. Be careful! Be gentle!” I assured him that they are very gentle and careful handling the birds, that they let them fly away again. He did decide that he would like to hold a little bird and let it fly away too. He is full of questions about “why do they do that to the birds? Do they do that to the big turkey too?” He is still enchanted by the Wild Turkey photo and has me revisit that post often. Thank-you Mr. Mike!!
Regarding the banding, they do it to study the birds. Each of the bands has a unique number and they can sometimes track individual birds and generally keep track of the health of the different species.
Very Nice!
Wow – this must have been an amazing experience, Mike.