# Pigeon Bands



## pie-boy (Oct 10, 2006)

I just had my first egg hatched for this year, and it's my first year breeding/raising pigeons, and I was wondering if it matters where I get my pigeon bands from. I went to a site to order bands and it gave me two options: the NPA bands and the AU bands. If I'm not even in their clubs, do I go a head and still order and get those kinds of bands? 
Also, I'm just raising pigeons for now and not sure if I'm going to race them in the future so do I still need to actually join a club to get a certain number or code for my loft? If I don't, what kind of bands would I get so when my pigeons get lost people would know if they are my pigeons if I do lose them?


----------



## thebirdhi (Oct 8, 2006)

I have the same question as you and iam wondering do i even need to be in their club to have my pigeons where one of those kind of bands.


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

You do need to belong to the club to purchase them directly from them, however, I you might be able to get some from another member who buys for the local flyers in your area. Perhaps the person who sold you your birds are members and can sell a few to you. Do you know any of your local racer members?

You can also purchase the permanent type bands with your name and address on them from Globals. 

It is best to get the bands before the bird hatches because you can usually get them on within the 5th to 7th day of hatching, as they get to big after the 7th day, depending on the type pigeons you have.


----------



## roxtar (Aug 21, 2006)

The place that you buy the bands from will have a record of which band numbers they send to you and if someone finds a bird with one of your bands on it the AU would direct them to the place that you got the bands from. They would in turn direct the person to you.

Edit: I stand corrected, I guess


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

I'm pretty sure you can buy AU or NPA bands from the pigeon supply houses without needing to be a member of either organization. You would need to be a member of a local club in order to purchase bands with that club code on them or have gotten them from someone who is a member of the club.

Terry


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

TAWhatley said:


> I'm pretty sure you can buy AU or NPA bands from the pigeon supply houses without needing to be a member of either organization. You would need to be a member of a local club in order to purchase bands with that club code on them or have gotten them from someone who is a member of the club.
> 
> Terry


Hi Terry,

I have purchased them from our local club in the past, as I only needed very few. I'm not a member, but I have since gotten my own bands made.

It is really not worth getting them from the pigeon supply houses if you only have a couple of birds to band, only when you buy quantites of 20 or more. Time may be of the essence also, as one baby has already hatched. It might be quicker to get them from locally, it all depends.


----------



## pigeonsrock (Dec 10, 2006)

I ordered 10 from IPB and it was only $5 or $6 including shipping.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pie-boy said:


> I just had my first egg hatched for this year, and it's my first year breeding/raising pigeons, and I was wondering if it matters where I get my pigeon bands from. I went to a site to order bands and it gave me two options: the NPA bands and the AU bands. If I'm not even in their clubs, do I go a head and still order and get those kinds of bands?
> Also, I'm just raising pigeons for now and not sure if I'm going to race them in the future so do I still need to actually join a club to get a certain number or code for my loft? If I don't, what kind of bands would I get so when my pigeons get lost people would know if they are my pigeons if I do lose them?


Unless you get bands from a local club or pay an outrageous amount to have the shipped quickly, you won't be able to get this baby banded.
You DO NOT need to be a member of a club to buy bands from any of the pigeon supply houses. Your best bet (in my opinion) is to buy your band from Globals or Seigels. They seem to keep pretty good records on who buys what bands. The minimum order is 10 bands. They are about $.35 each and it's about $3 to ship them. A little expensive, but unless a local club has an abundance of bands, the only ones you MIGHT be able to get would be old bands. (last year or older) and I wouldn't hold my breath hoping they keep up with the numbers you get. 
My opinion for what it's worth is, if you're going to raise pigeons and spend the money to feed, house and keep them healthy, then what's another $.60 or so to see that they are returned to you IF they become lost???  
OH, one other thing....go with the AU or the IF bands.......stay away from the NPA if you can. AGAIN.......just MY opinion......


----------



## Guest (Feb 21, 2007)

here is where you can buy some au bands for .40 a band with a 10 band minimum and the shipping is only $2.00 cant beat that with a stick if you ask me lol New England Pigeon Supplies is where its at and if you order them today you should be able to get them withing the 7 days time span  good luck and happy banding heres the link..click here>>

http://www.nepigeonsupplies.com/cat...g.php?page=1&category=Seamless%20Year%20Bands


----------



## Happy (Dec 19, 2004)

Pie-Boy
Buy AU or IF bands. Our combine & American Racing Pigeon Union in So. Cal. won't let you Race NPA, IPB etc. bands for very good reason, as some of the other non-Racing orginations sell bands well before the 1st of the new yr. by sometimes a month or better & some are not the exact size.... If you even think of Racing these, band AU, IF, CU. There are others over seas Racing Bands that a person can use, but these are the only ones I know that are in No. America & stand by our Racing rules..... Good Luck, Hap


----------



## pie-boy (Oct 10, 2006)

So you guys are saying I can just order bands online from a site that sells AU bands, and they will keep a record of where they sent the bands, so when my birds get lost, AU will just notify the house that they sent the bands to?
And I don't need to join a club to be able to order bands? If so, are they race legal? Was that what I was getting from everyone? 

Like this site: I was just gonna order from here but I wasn't sure. If this isn't a good site, can someone point me to a good site to order such bands... (But please answer my questions first.)

http://www.nepigeonsupplies.com/catalog.php?category=Seamless Year Bands


----------



## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

pie-boy said:


> So you guys are saying I can just order bands online from a site that sells AU bands, and they will keep a record of where they sent the bands, so when my birds get lost, AU will just notify the house that they sent the bands to?
> And I don't need to join a club to be able to order bands? If so, are they race legal? Was that what I was getting from everyone?
> 
> Like this site: I was just gonna order from here but I wasn't sure. If this isn't a good site, can someone point me to a good site to order such bands... (But please answer my questions first.)
> ...


 AU would show the bands sent to the dealer ther supply store would be the one who keeps record to who the certion band numbers was sold. If you join the A U or IF then you would get bands record there. and itr is not that much for a yearly membership. Worth the money But if not yes the supply store should keep record. NOW many birds lost are never found just some That is when a band number helps locate the owner.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pie-boy said:


> So you guys are saying I can just order bands online from a site that sells AU bands,


yes


pie-boy said:


> and they will keep a record of where they sent the bands, so when my birds get lost, AU will just notify the house that they sent the bands to?


yes, they will get your address and phone number. That is the ONLY record they will have and that's who they will notify. If your contact information changes, it's up to you to make sure the company you bought the bands from is aware of the change. 



pie-boy said:


> And I don't need to join a club to be able to order bands?


no



pie-boy said:


> If so, are they race legal?


yes





pie-boy said:


> Like this site: I was just gonna order from here but I wasn't sure. If this isn't a good site, can someone point me to a good site to order such bands... (But please answer my questions first.)
> 
> http://www.nepigeonsupplies.com/catalog.php?category=Seamless Year Bands


I'm going by what I've run into dealing with the lost birds from 911 Pigeon Alert. I actually haven't dealt with NEP very much. Foy's seem to have "lost" a lot of their records. Seigels keeps good records as far as I can tell. Globals keeps good records as far as I can tell. Jedds keeps good records for the most part. The NPA doesn't do so well.  
I personally, would order from Seigles or Globals. JMO.


----------



## ZigZagMarquis (Aug 31, 2004)

pie-boy said:


> I just had my first egg hatched for this year, and it's my first year breeding/raising pigeons, and I was wondering if it matters where I get my pigeon bands from. I went to a site to order bands and it gave me two options: the NPA bands and the AU bands. If I'm not even in their clubs, do I go a head and still order and get those kinds of bands?
> Also, I'm just raising pigeons for now and not sure if I'm going to race them in the future so do I still need to actually join a club to get a certain number or code for my loft? If I don't, what kind of bands would I get so when my pigeons get lost people would know if they are my pigeons if I do lose them?


Pie-boy,

Lots of folks have given lots of good advise up thread, to which I'll add... I'm a member of the ARPU (a.k.a. AU) and for the past few years and purchased a hand-full of bands each year to band any birds I raise (if any). Membership and a few bands, say 10 to 20 runs me under $30 a year. You can join the ARPU and get bands without being a member of a specific club. You'll get "ARPU" bands and like folks have said, the ###'s you get can be traced back to you... in case you don't know, what I mean by an ARPU band is, you'll get bands with an I.D. that goes like:


*EXAMPLE= the band may read-->AU 2007 ARPU 1234*

(1) - AU - is the national organization that has registered the bird, in this case the American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc. The band can also have IF, CU, ATB, NBRC, or IPB in this position.

(2) - 2007 - is the year the bird was hatched and banded/registered.

(3) - ARPU - American Racing Pigeon Union

(4) - 1234 - A one-up number unique to each pigeon based on the club letters. Now that you understand how to read the band, you can go back to our band list to find the club that the bird you found belongs to.


If however you come across a band from a specific club, (3) will be a little different.



*EXAMPLE= the band may read-->AU 2007 XYX 1234*


(3) - XYZ - are the letters representing the pigeon club the band is registered to (no two clubs have the same registration letters - and they have one, two or three letters).


Either way, if you find a bird with a band starting with *AU*, you can contact the ARPU and they'll help you find the birds owner... or if someone finds your bird banded with an AU band, they can contact the ARPU and help your bird find its way back to you.

American Racing Pigeon Union
PO Box 18465 Oklahoma City, OK 73154-0465
Tel: 405-848-5801


http://www.pigeon.org/index.html

http://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm


Also, there's a bit to the band colors too. The ARPU goes on a 5 year rotation of band colors. For instnace... for ARPU bands...

2006 - RED
2007 - WHITE
2008 - GREEN
2009 - YELLOW 
2010 - BLUE

thus... one would expect...

2011 - RED
2012 - WHITE
2013 - GREEN
2014 - YELLOW 
2015 - BLUE
... and so on, into the future.

Or... backwards...

2001 - RED
2002 - WHITE
2003 - GREEN
2004 - YELLOW 
2005 - BLUE


----------



## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

I am writing from Sri Lanka, does anyone have any old bands for sale which they cannot use because the year have expired


----------



## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

i am writing from sri lanka. does anybody have any bands that they cant use because the year have expired


----------



## pie-boy (Oct 10, 2006)

Thanks guys.. you guys have been very helpful. Well, I guess I'm gonna order some bands!


----------



## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Wow, you should have started a new thread instead of bringing this one back from the dead. 

I don't think 2011 bands are available yet. You'll have to wait until the new year or I think late december to get them.


----------



## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

Makes a person wonder why he wants 2011 bands now?


----------



## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

Maybe he wants to get a jump on the competition.


----------



## Guest (Sep 23, 2010)

personally I think he just wants to know if he can order them now so they can send them for him to arrive next year cuz everybody knows they wont be coming any sooner then that


----------



## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

That was just a joke, not really serious.


----------



## Guest (Sep 23, 2010)

bbcdon said:


> That was just a joke, not really serious.


lol well it could have been true ,I just like to see the better in people when I can and I do hope for the most part


----------

