# Sticky  How to research a pigeon band.



## Lovebirds

The following are some instructions on tracing pigeon bands. Some bands are easier to trace than others, so just the basic information is provided. If the band on your pigeon doesn't match any of these, please post in another thread and our members who are more familiar with tracing bands will be glad to try to help.

*AU BANDS: American Racing Pigeon Union*
*SAMPLE:* AU 08 ABC 1234
Go to this web site:
http://www.pigeon.org/index.html
On the right hand side of the page, click on "Found Bird Band Lists"
Then click on "Band Lists"
At the time of this thread, the bands for the years 2000 thru 2008 will appear.
I suggest that no matter what the year is on your band, check the _*current *_years list first. The racing clubs change race secretaries quite often, so the _*current *_secretary should be able to either tell you who the band on your bird belongs to OR should be able to find out and get that information to you. 
The clubs are listed in alphabetical order for the most part. You can either go to the first letter of the club on your band, which in the above case would be "A" and scroll through the list or you can type the club band letters in the search box and it should bring you to the club's information.
I've found that the search doesn't ALWAYS work, so if no info comes up, still scroll through the list to be sure it isn't there.
Once you find the clubs information, give the secretary listed a call and give him/her the complete band info. 

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*IF BANDS: International Federation of Homing Pigeon Fanciers*
*SAMPLE:* IF 08 ABC 1234
Go to this web site:
http://ifpigeon.com/
On the left side of the page, click on "Band Listings"
At the time of this thread, the bands for the years 2000 thru 2008 will appear.
I suggest that no matter what the year is on your band, check the _*current *_years list first. The racing clubs change race secretaries quite often, so the _*current *_secretary should be able to either tell you who the band on your bird belongs to OR should be able to find out and get that information to you.
The clubs are listed in alphabetical order. Scroll through the list until you find the first letter of the club that is on your band, which in the above case, would be "A".
Once you find the clubs information, give the secretary listed a call and give him/her the complete band info. 

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*NPA BANDS:* National Pigeon Association
*SAMPLE:* NPA 7 07 AT 1089 
http://www.npausa.com/
In the above example, the first "7" is a band size only.
The "07" is the birds hatch year.
The easiest way to find out where this band is from is to contact the NPA directly.
At the time of this post, the information below is current. Either call Steve or send him an email. He's pretty good about getting back to you with the information.
Stephen & Noelle St. Clair
NPA Co-Secretary/Treasurer
1717 SE 43rd Terrace
Topeka, KS 66609-1728
Phone: (785) 267-5732 

Email: [email protected]


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*CU BANDS:* Canadian Racing Pigeon Union
*SAMPLE: * CU 08 ABC 1234
Go to this web site. http://www.canadianracingpigeonunion.com/default.aspx
On the left side of the page, click on "Band Lists" 
At the time of this post, the years 2006 thru 2008 are listed. If you have a bird with an earlier years band, then you will need to contact :
Secretary - Treasurer
Monica Collins
Office Phone: (866) 652-5704
[email protected]
If you can't find the letters on the band on the web sites list, then still contact Monica above. She will be glad to help you. 

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NOTE: Most bands from the AU, IF or the NPA are sold through individual clubs, however, some bands are sold by the different pigeon supply companies. If that's the case with the band on your bird, which ever organization you contact, should provide you with this info on getting in touch with the different companies.

Once you've gone through the above steps, and still are getting no answers or satisfaction on finding the owner of your bird, PLEASE post to our forum so that we can help you.

When you find a lost pigeon, some web sites instruct you to feed the bird for a day or so and turn it loose and it will go home. Although it's possible that you can do that, it is NOT the case with all pigeons. The age, condition and breed of the pigeon plays a factor in determining whether it should truly be turned loose and our members can help you with that.
IF you are able to just walk up to a pigeon and pick it up, there's something going on with it and it's doubtful that it will make it home. 
IF however, you can NOT catch the bird without some difficulty, it's possible that if the bird is fed and is able to rest for a day or two, it MIGHT leave and go home. IF that doesn't happen, then it's in the birds best interest to try to catch it, confine it and then let us help determine what should be done about it.


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