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title: "Colour-banding male giant petrels: how to avoid excessive band wear?"
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# Colour-banding male giant petrels: how to avoid excessive band wear?

Male giant petrels *Macronectes* spp. are hard on their bands, as they scratch and rub then against rocks on boulder beaches while interacting with each other at food sources such as seal carcasses.  In contrast female giant petrels feed mainly at sea and their bands (both metal and colour) continue to look pristine after several years. The demographic study colony of Southern Giant Petrels *M. giganteus* on Gough Island has just entered its second year with 170 occupied nests in the Low Hump colony being staked out in the last two days.  Nearly all the incubating birds identified by culmen measurements as males had badly worn colour bands after only a year.  The level of wear made it difficult to read their codes and it looks likely their bands will start falling off before the third year of the study commences in 2012.

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Petrels/S/Southern_Giant/southern_giant_petrel_a70_john_cooper.jpg)

 Female Southern Giant Petel: no discernable band wear after one year

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Petrels/S/Southern_Giant/southern_giant_petrel_worn_band_john_cooper.jpg)

 Male Southern Giant Petrel: heavy band wear after one year  
Photographs by John Cooper

 So, does anyone have any suggestions how to mark male giant petrels so that a long-term study will not require them to be handled every year to read their bands, with many requiring regular rebanding?

 Suggestions sent to me at [john.cooper61@gmail.com](mailto:john.cooper61@gmail.com) will be collated and posted to this web site.

 [Click here](https://acap.aq/latest-news/sexual-dimorphism-and-band-wear-in-the-northernmost-population-of-southern-giant-petrels) to read an earlier news item on Gough's giant petrels.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 September 2011*