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In the 1950s bird migration information was sketchy without a good format. Most banding research was done with metal tags as leg bands on waterfowl. Not much information was useful. The leg bands counted birds killed in the field by hunters. Passerine research was provided by field birders who knew the flight songs of Swainsons’s thrush and other more common night migrants. On full moon nights spotting scopes were used to count birds passing through more reflective light arcs.

Mist nets and aluminum bands were used on smaller birds. The problem then is to mist net and equip these birds wi...