BANDIT (Public)

Bandit User Manual

Kevin Laurent
Margarita Malorodova
Jorawar Singh
Jerry McFaul

Bandit User Manual
by Kevin Laurent, Margarita Malorodova, Jorawar Singh, and Jerry McFaul
Version 3.0, 2011-01-21

Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Bandit ...................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Welcome ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1.1. Features of Bandit ...................................................................................... 1
1.1.2. Using Bandit—An Overview ....................................................................... 1
2. Installing Bandit ............................................................................................................. 3
2.1. System Requirements ............................................................................................ 3
2.1.1. Windows .................................................................................................. 3
2.1.2. Macintosh ................................................................................................. 3
2.2. Obtaining Bandit Software ..................................................................................... 3
2.3. Installation .......................................................................................................... 4
2.3.1. Installing on Windows ................................................................................ 4
2.3.2. Installing on Macintosh OS X ...................................................................... 5
2.3.3. Upgrading from an Earlier Version of Bandit .................................................. 5
2.4. Running Bandit .................................................................................................... 6
2.4.1. Bandit Opening Screen ............................................................................... 6
2.4.2. Getting Around .......................................................................................... 8
3. Bandit Settings ............................................................................................................. 10
3.1. Bander Info ....................................................................................................... 11
3.2. Data Entry Preferences ........................................................................................ 12
3.3. Optional Validations ............................................................................................ 13
3.4. Wing & Weight .................................................................................................. 13
3.5. User Fields ........................................................................................................ 14
3.6. Other Settings .................................................................................................... 14
4. Band Inventory ............................................................................................................. 15
5. Locations ..................................................................................................................... 19
5.1. Location Screen—Table View ............................................................................... 19
5.1.1. Resizing and Repositioning Columns ........................................................... 20
5.1.2. Sorting Location Records by Columns ......................................................... 22
5.1.3. Entering Location Data in Table View ......................................................... 22
5.2. Location Screen—Details View ............................................................................. 23
5.3. Entering locations by different precision options. ...................................................... 24
5.3.1. Entering Locations with 10-Minute Block Precision ........................................ 24
5.3.2. Entering Locations with 1-Minute Block Precision .......................................... 25
5.3.3. Entering Locations with Exact Precision ....................................................... 26
6. Entering Banding Data ................................................................................................... 28
6.1. Bands Screen—Table View .................................................................................. 29
6.1.1. Resizing and Repositioning Columns ........................................................... 29
6.1.2. Sorting Banding Data by Columns ............................................................... 29
6.1.3. Entering Banding Data in Table View .......................................................... 29
6.2. Bands Screen—Details View ................................................................................ 30
6.2.1. Using the Navigation Panel ........................................................................ 31
6.2.2. Entering Auxiliary Marker Data .................................................................. 31
6.2.3. Entering Data for Double Banded Birds ........................................................ 32
6.2.4. Entering Replaced Bands ........................................................................... 33
6.2.5. Reporting Recaptures ................................................................................ 33
6.3. Error Checking ................................................................................................... 33
6.4. Using the Remarks Field ...................................................................................... 34
6.5. User Fields ........................................................................................................ 34
6.6. Other Features of the Bands Screens ...................................................................... 35
6.6.1. Filtering Banding Data .............................................................................. 35
6.6.2. Fill-down Feature ..................................................................................... 36

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Bandit User Manual

6.6.3. Duplicating Banding Records .....................................................................
6.6.4. Clearing Banding Data ..............................................................................
6.6.5. Submitting Banding Data ...........................................................................
6.6.6. Importing Banding Data ............................................................................
6.6.7. Exporting Banding Data ............................................................................
6.6.8. Reports ...................................................................................................
7. Entering recapture and other re-encounter data ...................................................................
7.1. Recaptures Screen—Table View ............................................................................
7.1.1. Sorting Recapture Data by Columns ............................................................
7.1.2. Entering Recapture Data in Table View ........................................................
7.2. Recaptures Screen—Details View ..........................................................................
7.2.1. Using the Navigation Panel ........................................................................
7.2.2. Entering Auxiliary Marker Data ..................................................................
7.2.3. Entering Data for Double Banded Birds ........................................................
7.2.4. Recording Recaptures from the Banding Details View .....................................
7.3. Error Checking ...................................................................................................
7.4. Using the Remarks Field ......................................................................................
7.5. User Fields ........................................................................................................
7.6. Other Features of the Recaptures Screens ................................................................
7.6.1. Filtering Recapture Data ............................................................................
7.6.2. Duplicating Recapture Records ...................................................................
7.6.3. Recaptures Records Menu ..........................................................................
7.6.4. Submitting Recapture Data .........................................................................
7.6.5. Importing Recapture Data ..........................................................................
7.6.6. Exporting Recapture Data ..........................................................................
7.6.7. Recapture data fields received and processed by the BBL/BBO .........................
8. Data Submission ...........................................................................................................
8.1. Banding Data Submission Process .........................................................................
8.2. Recapture Data Submission Process .......................................................................
9. Find Mode ...................................................................................................................
10. Reports ......................................................................................................................
11. Reference Tables .........................................................................................................
12. Importing and Exporting ...............................................................................................
12.1. Importing from Band Manager ............................................................................
12.1.1. Importing Band Inventory from Band Manager ............................................
12.1.2. Importing Locations from Band Manager ....................................................
12.1.3. Importing Bander Information from Band Manager .......................................
12.1.4. Importing Banding and Recapture Records from Band Manager .......................
12.2. Importing from Other Sources .............................................................................
12.3. Exporting from Bandit .......................................................................................
12.3.1. Exporting Bands, Band Inventory, Banders, Locations and Recapture Records
.......................................................................................................................
12.3.2. Exporting Reference Tables ......................................................................
13. Bandit Backup File ......................................................................................................
13.1. Creating a Backup File ......................................................................................
13.2. Restoring from a Backup File ..............................................................................
A. Tips and Shortcuts ........................................................................................................
B. Bandit Band Record ......................................................................................................
C. Data Editing Error Messages ..........................................................................................
D. Alert Messages ............................................................................................................
E. Frequently Asked Questions about Bandit .........................................................................
F. Release Notes ...............................................................................................................
F.1. Version 3.0 (released 01/20/2011) .........................................................................

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List of Figures
2.1. Patch Log ................................................................................................................... 6
2.2. Bandit Opening Screen .................................................................................................. 7
2.3. Bandit Screen Layout .................................................................................................... 8
3.1. Bandit Bander Info Screen ........................................................................................... 10
3.2. Settings Screen—Data Entry Tab ................................................................................... 13
3.3. Bandit User Fields Settings Screen ................................................................................ 14
4.1. Bandit Band Inventory Screen ....................................................................................... 15
4.2. Add to Inventory Screen .............................................................................................. 16
5.1. Locations Table View Screen ....................................................................................... 20
5.2. Modify Table View ..................................................................................................... 21
5.3. Column Header popup menu ........................................................................................ 22
5.4. Locations Detail View Screen ....................................................................................... 23
6.1. Bandit Bands Table View Screen .................................................................................. 28
6.2. Bandit Band Details View Screen .................................................................................. 31
6.3. Aux Marker tab for a coded marker ............................................................................... 32
6.4. Aux Marker for a Sequence of Uncoded Colored Bands ..................................................... 32
6.5. User Fields tab on the Bands Screen—Details View .......................................................... 35
6.6. Bands Screen Records Menu ........................................................................................ 37
7.1. Recapture Table View ................................................................................................. 40
7.2. Recaptures Details View Screen .................................................................................... 41
7.3. Aux Marker tab on the Recaptures Screen—Details View .................................................. 42
7.4. Aux Marker for a Sequence of Uncoded Colored Bands ..................................................... 43
7.5. User Fields tab on the Recaptures Screen—Details View ................................................... 45
7.6. Recaptures Screen Records Menu .................................................................................. 48
7.7. Recapture Import Field Mapping ................................................................................... 49
8.1. Banding Data to be Submitted Report ............................................................................ 52
8.2. Bandit Data Submission Dialog Box .............................................................................. 53
8.3. Bandit Data Submission Email ...................................................................................... 54
8.4. Note For Submission File Report ................................................................................... 55
9.1. Bandit Mode Icon Bar ................................................................................................. 57
9.2. Find Mode Symbols Drop-down Menu ........................................................................... 58
10.1. Bands Screen with Reports Drop-down ......................................................................... 59
11.1. Bandit Reference Tables Screen ................................................................................... 61
12.1. Import Data from File ................................................................................................ 65
12.2. Import Field Mapping Screen ...................................................................................... 66

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Chapter 1. Introduction to Bandit
1.1. Welcome
Bandit is the latest in a series of programs aimed at helping bird banders manage and submit their data
for banded birds. We have tried to make the process of maintaining a series of banding records as simple
as possible. Bandit was created by the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) at the U. S. Geological Survey
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland.

1.1.1. Features of Bandit
The principal use of Bandit is to store data obtained during banding operations and facilitate the transfer
of banding data to the BBL and the Canadian Bird Banding Office (BBO). Bandit allows the bander to
enter or import data and edit data associated with bands obtained from the BBL/BBO as well as data for
recaptured or resighted birds, including those banded by other banders.
Other major features of Bandit are itemized below:
• Data entry and editing can be performed via a spreadsheet-like table interface or a record-by-record
form-based interface. The user can switch back and forth between the two interfaces just by clicking
a button.
• Ability to enter data in an extensive list of fields, including the traditional fields (Species, Age, Sex,
Banding Date, Banding Location, Bander ID, etc.) and a wide variety of other fields (how aged/sexed,
extensive measurements, auxiliary markings, tests performed, molt/parasites observed, etc.) A list of
the most important fields in the banding record can be found in Appendix B, Bandit Band Record.
• Pervasive error avoidance, error checking and feedback. Most of the fields in Bandit have an autocomplete feature which checks against a list of predefined values. Where appropriate, you can also add
your own values to these lists. Range checking, cross field validation, and location-based checking are
included.
• Extensive export capabilities. All of the data contained in Bandit, including all of the lookup tables, can
be exported to a variety of other formats, including Excel, tab-delimited text, comma-delimited text,
DBF, HTML, and XML.
• Banding location coordinates may be entered precisely, including degrees, minutes, and seconds, and
country, state/province, and county names.
• Data submission to the BBL/BBO can be done via an email link built into the program, provided
the computer running Bandit is connected to the internet and a default email client is configured and
opened. Separate data submissions can contain new bandings or modifications made to banding records
previously submitted.

1.1.2. Using Bandit—An Overview
1. Installing— You can double click the installer program that you received and follow the instructions in
the installer. More detailed instructions on the installation process can be found in Chapter 2, Installing
Bandit.
2. Running the program. On a PC, select the program from the Start menu, in the program group named
Bandit or you can click on the Bandit Icon (yellow bird icon) on your desktop, if it is present. On a

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Introduction to Bandit

Mac, select the program from the Applications folder. You may want to drag the icon to your dock
so it is available there.
On the opening screen:
Link 1 will take you to a screen where you can enter information about your permit and banders, and
some other preferences on how you want to use the program. More details on the Settings part of the
program may be found in Chapter 3, Bandit Settings.
Link 2 will allow you to build an inventory of the bands you received from the BBL/BBO. Details on
accessing and updating the Banding Inventory maintained by Bandit, including how to add bands into
the Inventory, may be found in Chapter 4, Band Inventory.
Link 3 is for entering your location information. You can switch back and forth between Table and
Details data entry modes by clicking either Table or Details. More details on the Locations part of the
program may be found in Chapter 5, Locations.
Link 4 is for entering your banding information. You can switch back and forth between Table and
Details data entry modes by clicking either Table or Details. Chapter 6, Entering Banding Data contains
more information on the details of using Bandit to store banding data.
Link 5 is for entering your recapture and other re-encounter information. You can switch back and forth
between Table and Details data entry modes by clicking either Table or Details. Chapter 7, Entering
recapture and other re-encounter data contains more information on the details of using Bandit to store
the data associated with recaptures.
Link 6 contains a series of references that is helpful to understand the various codes and how to use
them. Chapter 11, Reference Tables has more information on this feature.
To get back to the opening screen, click the word Bandit at the top of the green portion of the screen.
You also may navigate to any Bandit screen by using the buttons at the top of the green portion of
each screen.
3. Bandit, by default is a complete file of all your data, not a program in which you save and open different
files. But if you need to see or work with any subset (a year, a species, etc.) of your data, you can do
this with the Find option. Chapter 9, Find Mode has more information on how to use this feature.
4. Submit your data to the BBL/BBO by clicking either on the words "Submit New Data" or "Submit
Modified Data" on the Bands screen. A file will be created of any bands without errors (or with errors
bypassed) you have added or modified since the last time you submitted data and placed in your “My
Documents” (“Documents” in Mac) folder. Additionally, if you have an email client installed, an email
with this file attached will automatically be generated and will appear in your computer's email program.
More information on the data submission process is available in Chapter 8, Data Submission.
5. Reports are available from the Bands Table and Details screens. Select the report you want from the
drop-down menu and click the Show/Print Report button. Reports can be sent directly to the printer (to
be printed or saved as PDF) or saved in Excel format. See Chapter 10, Reports, for more information.
6. Methods for importing data into Bandit and exporting data from Bandit are in Chapter 12, Importing
and Exporting.

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Chapter 2. Installing Bandit
2.1. System Requirements
Bandit requires a computer equipped with either a Windows or Macintosh operating system.

2.1.1. Windows
• Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7.
• Memory: Minimum 256MB RAM (Minimum 1GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7).
• Disk Space: Minimum 500MB free.

Note
To be able to send automatic email from Bandit you must have:
1. an internet connection.
2. a [mail] section in the Win.ini file.
3. Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express or Eudora installed,
configured properly, and opened.

2.1.2. Macintosh
• Operating System: Macintosh OS X 10.5.7, or later.
• Memory: Minimum 512MB RAM (Minimum 1GB RAM for Mac OS X v10.6)
• Disk Space: Minimum 500MB free.

Note
To be able to send automatic email out of Bandit application, you must have:
1. an internet connection.
2. Mac OS X Mail or Microsoft Entourage installed to send email with FileMaker Pro.
3. Internet system preferences configured for use with one of the supported mail applications.
If you use Eudora 5, start the Eudora application before using Bandit.

2.2. Obtaining Bandit Software
You may download Bandit from the Bird Banding Lab website, http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/
resources/bandit/Software/index.html. Version 3 of Bandit will not work on Windows systems previous
to XP. If you are using an older version of Windows or Mac, you must download the appropriate version
of Bandit v. 2.01. If you cannot download from the web, you can request a copy of the CD ROM from
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Installing Bandit

the Bird Banding Lab (specify your operating system in the request). If you received the software on a
CD ROM from the Bird Banding Lab, insert the CD ROM into your CD drive and follow the installation
instructions on the CD ROM.

Tip
For dial up connections it might take a fairly long time to download the software.

2.3. Installation
Bandit comes with an installer program that will guide you through the installation of the program.

Tip
If you need administrative access to install programs on your computer, you should request
that the installation be performed by your system administrator.

2.3.1. Installing on Windows
Double-click the installer to begin the process. The installer will ask where you want to install the program.
The default is under C drive for new installation, and previously installed directory for upgrade installation.
You can install the program somewhere else if you have limited space on your default hard drive. Click
Next to go to the next screen.

Tip
For Windows Vista, it is recommended not to install Bandit under Program Files, use C drive
(For example C:\Bandit ).

Tip
If you manage data for more than one banding permit, you will need an installation of Bandit
for each permit. You may want to make each Bandit folder easily identifiable by adding an
appropriate permit number, e.g. Bandit55555.
The installer will put the program into a folder available under your Start menu. The default name for this
folder is Bandit. You can give it a different name here. Click Next to go to the next screen.
You can have the installer create icons on the Desktop or in the Quick Launch bar at the bottom of the
screen so you can get to the program without having to go back to the Start menu. If you want these icons,
check the appropriate boxes. Then click Next to go to the next screen.
The program will show you a summary of the installation to make sure you want to proceed. Click the
Install button to continue with the installation.

Note
You will also be given the opportunity of installing a utility program called PDFCreator.
PDFCreator is used by Bandit to enable saving reports in Adobe Portable Document Format
(PDF). This is useful for saving your reports for later viewing or printing or for emailing
the report to someone else. If you do not install PDFCreator, Bandit will not be able to
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Installing Bandit

save reports in PDF format. You may see error messages generated by PDFCreator during
installation; they may be disregarded.
The installer will extract all of the files and store them on your computer. Finally, you will see a screen
indicating the installation was successful and asking you if you want to run Bandit. Click Finish to launch
the program.

2.3.2. Installing on Macintosh OS X
You may need to know the name and password of a user that has administrative privileges on your
computer. If this is your own machine, it is just your regular login name and password. If you don't know
the name and password of a user with administrative privileges on your computer, you should request that
the installation be performed by your system administrator. Alternatively, you can avoid this requirement
by installing the software in a location other than the Applications folder.
If you downloaded the software directly from the BBL, first change the file extension on the Bandit installer
file from .bin to .dmg. Click directly on the name under the icon and type .dmg instead of .bin. The icon
will change to allow you to open the file. Double-click the icon and the system will check the disk image,
then open a new window showing the contents of the disk image. Double-click the installer icon to begin
the process. The installer will bring up a welcome screen. Click Continue to go to the next screen.
The installer will ask you to select the destination volume where Bandit will be installed. Typically you
will only have one hard disk and it will have a green arrow on it, indicating this is the selected drive. If
you have more than one drive and you want to store the software on one of the other drives, click on the
drive and the green arrow will move to this selected drive. Click Continue to go to the next screen, then
click Install.
Next the installer will ask where you want to install the program. By default, the program installs the
software into a folder called Bandit in your Applications folder. You can install the program somewhere
else if you have limited space on your main drive.
The installer installs the software and you will see a screen indicating the installation was successful. Click
the Close button to exit the installer.

Warning
Users need to have full access to the directory where Bandit is installed.

2.3.3. Upgrading from an Earlier Version of Bandit
If you are updating from an earlier version of Bandit already installed on your computer, the program
will ask if you want to automatically save a backup of your existing data file and reload the data from the
backup once the new version of the software has started to run. You will see a pop-up box informing you
that the program is going to reload the data from the previous version. If, for some reason, you do not wish
to reload the data from the previous version, you can click Cancel here. Usually, though, you will want
to click OK to reload the data from the previous version. After you click OK the reload will proceed and
you will see a box showing the summary of the reload process. Next, you may see a box showing that the
program is updating the values in the Wing and Weight tables. This patching process will only change
values if they are the same as they were when the original Wing and Weight table was installed. (If you
modified values in the Wing and Weight table, those values will not be changed.) See Figure 2.1, “Patch
Log”. Finally, a box will appear asking if you want to delete the backup file which was created during the
installation process. Click Yes to delete or No to skip.

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Installing Bandit

Figure 2.1. Patch Log

Warning
As mentioned above, the upgrade process automatically saves a backup of your existing
data file prior to installation. We recommend, however, that you create your own backup
using the regular backup facility within Bandit (see Chapter 13, Bandit Backup File) prior
to performing the upgrade process. Store this backup in a safe place, such as a removable
drive, or a CD.

Warning
For Windows Vista save backup prior to upgrade, and use Restore From Backup in File
menu to load data from this backup after upgrade.

2.4. Running Bandit
Once you have successfully installed Bandit onto your computer you can run the software by a variety of
methods. In Windows, select the program from the Bandit group in your Start menu, double-click the icon
for Bandit on your desktop (if you requested one during installation) or single-click the small bird icon in
your Quick Launch bar (if you requested one during installation). In Mac, open the Applications folder,
find and open the Bandit folder, and drag the bird picture icon for Bandit down to your dock. Then it will
always be available for easy execution with a single click of the mouse.

2.4.1. Bandit Opening Screen
When you first launch Bandit, you will see the Bandit opening screen, and a small dialog box will appear
asking if you want to save a backup of your current Bandit data file. It is a good idea to save a backup
whenever you are going to be making changes to the file, in case you need to return to an earlier version
of the database.

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Installing Bandit

Figure 2.2. Bandit Opening Screen

After you have dispatched the Backup dialog box, you will be presented with an opening screen showing
six ways of entering the program on the left and a summary of the banding data contained in the Bandit
data file on the right. The six ways of entering the program are presented as a numbered list:

Tip
You can place your cursor over any link on this page to see a pop-up box, called a “tool tip”
with description of the link.
1. Settings. Goes directly to the Settings screen. If this is the first time you are using Bandit, it is very
important that you go here first to set your basic settings for using the program. Refer to Chapter 3,
Bandit Settings for more details.
2. Inventory. Goes directly to the Band Inventory screen. If you just received some new bands from the
BBL or the BBO, you need to go here to add the bands to your inventory via the Add to Inventory
process. If you are importing data from Band Manager, refer to Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting
to successfully complete this process. Also if you are importing data from another file, Chapter 12 will
explain how to do that. Chapter 4, Band Inventory has details on the use of the inventory and how to
add bands into your inventory.
3. Locations. Goes directly to the Locations screen. Refer to Chapter 5, Locations for more information.

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Installing Bandit

4. Bands. Goes directly to the Bands screen. Refer to Chapter 6, Entering Banding Data for more
information. Appendix A, Tips and Shortcuts contains useful keyboard shortcuts that can make the task
of entering your banding data even faster.
5. Recaptures. Goes directly to the Recaptures screen. Refer to Chapter 7, Entering recapture and other
re-encounter data for more information. Appendix A, Tips and Shortcuts contains useful keyboard
shortcuts that can make the task of entering your recapture data even faster. Refer to Chapter 12,
Importing and Exporting, if you are importing data from another file.
6. Reference. Goes directly to the References screen. Chapter 11, Reference Tables has more information
on this feature.

Tip
Unlike most other computer applications you have encountered, Bandit saves the information
you enter automatically whenever you go to another record or screen. Therefore, you never
need to click save or append.

Tip
Navigation between all the screens is possible from any screen without going back to opening
screen.

2.4.2. Getting Around
Once past the opening screen, all of the screens in Bandit share a similar layout. For example, Figure 2.3,
“Bandit Screen Layout” shows the Bands Table View screen, with numbers added to identify the various
areas of the screen.

Figure 2.3. Bandit Screen Layout

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Installing Bandit

Take a minute or two to look through the menus and familiarize yourself with the layout of the Bandit
program. It will pay dividends in the future through increased efficiency and understanding all the features
Bandit has to offer.
1. A menu bar appears at the top of the Bandit window (along the top of the screen on Macintosh OS X) and
has the usual features of a typical Windows program, including the ability to Exit or Quit the program,
found in the File menu, and the Cut, Copy, and Paste functions in the Edit menu. The ability to import
and export data can be found in the File menu, and the Records menu has functions for working with
the records in the database. There is no Save function in the File menu, because Bandit automatically
saves each record as you enter it.
2. A gray navigation panel appears at the top of the Inventory, Locations, Bands, and Recaptures
windows. It allows you to leaf through your data (while in Detail view) as easily as flipping through
the pages of a book, and see at a glance how many records are in your file. You may switch to Find
mode by clicking on the magnifying glass icon, for searching and filtering the contents of your data.
You will also see how many records are in a current found set.
3. The six buttons near the top of the green part of the screen of all screens allow you to switch easily to one
of the six sections of the program: Inventory, Locations, Bands, Reference, Recaptures, and Settings.
4. The functions available below these section buttons change depending on which section you are in.
5. If you want to get back to the opening screen, click on the line containing the word Bandit in the green
area of any screen. The opening screen summarizes the number of bands in your file and their status.
6. At the bottom left corner of each screen there are 4 boxes. The left one, here containing the value 150,
shows the current zoom level (default value is 100). Click on the second box containing the smaller
mountain range to zoom out for a big picture view. Click on the third box containing the bigger mountain
range to zoom in for a detailed view. Click on the fourth button with the panel icon to toggle hiding
or showing the gray navigation panel. The fifth button allows you to switch between Browse, Find and
Preview modes.

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Chapter 3. Bandit Settings
Note
if this is the first time you are using Bandit, it is imperative that you fill in the fields under
the Bander Info tab in the Settings section. All of the submission functions rely upon having
the information completed correctly.
You can navigate to the Settings section of Bandit by clicking on the button labeled 1 on the opening screen
or by clicking on the Settings section button at the top of the green area of any of the other screens.

Figure 3.1. Bandit Bander Info Screen

Once you are inside the Settings section, you will see five tabs: Bander Info, Data Entry Preferences, Optional
Validations, Wing & Weight, and User Fields. Each of these tabs has fields to be filled in. The most important
tabs are Bander Info, which allows you to enter information about the master bander and the sub-banders,
and Data Entry Preferences, which allows you to choose between alpha and numeric formats for Species,
Age and Sex.
To leave the Settings section, click on any other section button near the top of the screen. If you allow your
mouse to pause over each of these buttons you will see the purpose of each section. You can also click on
the word Bandit at the top of the green part of the screen to return to the opening screen.

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Bandit Settings

3.1. Bander Info
Note
It is imperative that you fill in the bander information since it will be needed for data
submission to correctly identify your data when it is received by BBL or BBO.
Click the Bander Info tab to bring up the page where information about the banders can be stored. First, put
in the name of the Master Bander (or the station name followed by the name of the responsible individual
if you have a station permit) in the Master Bander field. Next, in the Permit Number field, enter the permit
number that was assigned to you or your team by the Bird Banding Lab or the Canadian Bird Banding
Office. Choose the country where data are to be submitted by clicking the appropriate radio button.

Warning
If you hold a U.S. permit, click in the U.S. radio button and if you hold a Canadian permit,
click in the Canada radio button.
Under Choose Email Option, click appropriate radio button to specify your email client settings. If
you choose Email Client Established, at the time of submission Bandit will try to open the client and
automatically attach the submission file and send the email. The client must be open for this to work.
If you are using webmail and do not have an email client established, you should choose the No Email
Client Established radio button. It will be necessary to manually send an email with the submission file(s)
attached. The program will give you a warning telling you which file, where to send the email and what
the subject line should be.

Warning
If you have problems during data submission (Bandit crash), your selection should probably
be No Email Client Established.
Next, begin filling in the table below these entries by first clicking on the Add button. Be sure to enter
the Master Permit holder’s name as well as any other banders as this table will be used during the data
entry step to fill in the initials of the bander who actually banded each particular bird. Begin by typing
in the Master Bander's initials, the name of the Master Bander and entering the email address and phone
number in the appropriate fields (if desired). Only the initials (or other unique identifier) is required. In
the Sub ID field you may put in a sub-bander's Alpha ID (as assigned by the BBL or BBO), but leave this
field blank for the master bander, or any other banders who are not officially listed as subs. None of the
information in this table is transmitted to the BBL or BBO. It is for your own convenience to maintain
information about the banders.

Warning
Inadvertently clicking the Add button after you have added the final bander will create a
blank line. When you try to leave the screen, you will get an error message. Delete the blank
line in the table by clicking on the Delete button on the right.
If you wish to delete a bander, click with your cursor anywhere on the row containing the bander you wish
to delete and then click the Delete button on the right. This will delete the information contained in the
entire row of the table.
If you have more entries in the banders table than are visible in the space provided you can scroll through
the table using the scroll bar on the right.
11

Bandit Settings

Tip
If you have more banders than can be seen on the screen and you want to print out a list of
all of them, click on the Export button to the right of the table. An Export Records File dialog
box will appear. Choose where you wish to save the file and type the name of the file in
the appropriate box and choose the type of file you would like to save in the Save as Type
box. (Choose .tab for a tab-delimited table, for example.) Next, in the Specify Field Order for
Export dialog box, choose which fields you wish to export and in what order. Then, click the
Export button and a file will be created that you can print or email.

3.2. Data Entry Preferences
Clicking on the Data Entry Preferences tab will bring up a page with information about code formats,
language, and measuring units used by Bandit.
In this section you have the option to select the code format for entering Species, Bird Age, and Bird
Sex codes. The code formats available are alpha and numeric. Upon first installation, the defaults will be
Numeric, Numeric, Alpha in that order. To select a code format click the appropriate radio button. When
a format is changed, the program will rebuild the related lookup table to correspond to the selection you
have chosen and then go through the Band and Recapture tables, changing the codes in all of the records to
match. Measurement units for Weight and Length are grams and mm, respectively, and cannot be changed.

Warning
If you are importing banding data, the code formats in the import file must match the code
formats set in Bandit. Band Manager export files always use numeric coding, even if you
used the alpha option in the program.

Warning
It is best to settle on your preferences when you start and never change them. If you do change
them later, all records will be marked as “Modified”, and this will confuse things later if you
intend to actually submit modified data.

12

Bandit Settings

Figure 3.2. Settings Screen—Data Entry Tab

3.3. Optional Validations
Clicking on the Optional Validations tab will bring up a page with a few settings controlling the way
validations are performed on the banding data. You have the ability to disable/enable Wing Chord, Weight
and Time Check. If the Wing Chord and Weight Check boxes are clicked, species for which there are data
in the Wing and Weight table are run through validations to help ensure you have correctly recorded
or entered these measurements. The Time Check only compares capture time to weight time, and does
not verify chronological order within the Time fields. Any discrepancies encountered during the check
will appear in the Additional Errors field. All other validations are performed automatically and are not
dependent on user preferences.

3.4. Wing & Weight
Clicking on the Wing & Weight tab brings up a table showing minimum and maximum wing chord and
bird weight by sex for each species for which data were available in the Identification Guide to North
American Birds, Part 1 by Peter Pyle. This table is used to validate the wing chord and weight information
when those validations are selected. (See Section 3.3, “Optional Validations”.) Measurements that fail this
check will appear in the field Additional Errors. This check is intended to help catch recording or data
entry errors. The values in the table are incomplete, but we have provided the capability of editing them.
If you wish, you can add values for species we did not include or change the values for species if they
differ in your geographic area. Use the Find feature to find a species of interest by typing in a name, Alpha
Code, or numeric Species Code and clicking the Find button. You can type a partial value and the entries
that match will be returned. For example, typing “Sparrow” will return all birds with “Sparrow” in their

13

Bandit Settings

name. Click the Show All button to return to the original entire list. Finally, you can click the Export button
to export the wing and weight values. See Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting for detailed instructions
on the use of this feature and the file formats supported.

3.5. User Fields
Click on the User Fields tab to enter the labels for up to 5 additional fields you want to associate with
your banding/recapture records. These fields are to be used for information that is meaningful to you,
but not likely to affect any of the codes that are stored in the main BBL database, or be of use to future
data-users. For example, you might wish to note birds that escaped before all measurements were taken,or
enter certain field notes associated with bandings. Each of the 5 fields can contain an arbitrary amount of
information. Chapter 6, Entering Banding Data contains additional details on the use of this feature.

Figure 3.3. Bandit User Fields Settings Screen

3.6. Other Settings
There is one additional setting to turn the automatic spell checker on or off in Bandit (default is off). Find
this option by selecting File Options from the File menu. The spell checker is most useful in finding spelling
errors in the Remarks field. You can choose for errors to show up with a special colored underline familiar
to users of Microsoft Word. Visual and audio cues are also available. For Bandit, though, users may find
the spell checker unnecessary and intrusive.

14

Chapter 4. Band Inventory
Note
You must enter band spans in the inventory before you can enter any banding data.
The Band Inventory in Bandit contains information about the strings of bands you have received from the
BBL or BBO. These bands are issued in strings having contiguous numbers spanning a range. One string
or contiguous strings of bands is commonly referred to as a band span.
You can navigate to the Band Inventory section of Bandit in one of two ways: Click on the button labeled
2 on the opening screen, or click the Inventory button at the top of any of the other screens.

Figure 4.1. Bandit Band Inventory Screen

The Band Inventory screen allows you to add bands to your inventory and edit the information about the
band spans in your inventory. To add band spans to your inventory, go to the Inventory page and click on
the words Add to Inventory above the table. This will bring up a new window with fields for entering the
band number prefix, the starting and ending numbers of the suffix, the band size and type, the date you
received the bands, and a place for remarks.
You can also remove spans from the inventory, but understand that all banding records for those bands
will be removed also. The function for removing band spans in under Records in the top menu bar. Also
under Records is a function for removing unused bands from the inventory.
Bands can also be imported into the inventory, but only as complete lists of bands, not as spans. This option
is under File in the top menu bar. For more details on importing, see Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting.
There are two more functions Mark as Submitted and Mark as Not Submitted under the Records menu.
These functions can be used to reset submission timestamps for all banding records in the current span.

15

Band Inventory

Caution
Mark as Submitted and Mark as Not Submitted functions should be used with caution
because they overwrite original submission timestamps.
At the bottom of the Inventory screen you will see the total bands in the current list of band spans.

Note
If you are entering or importing older bands Bandit will use the current date for Received
Date. You must be sure to change that date to one that is before any dates that you used
those bands.

Figure 4.2. Add to Inventory Screen

First, enter the date you received the bands from the BBL/BBO or from another bander who transferred
the bands to you. You can do this in one of two ways. You can click on the calendar icon at the far right
of the Date Received field and scroll to the correct month and year you received the bands and then just
click on the date. You may also just click in the date field and type the date. If you do this, be sure to
use the format mm/dd/yyyy. After entering the date, Bandit will advance to the Prefix field. Enter the 4digit prefix (use a zero as the first number if you have bands with 3-digit prefixes) of the band string you
received and press the Tab key. Next, enter the 5-digit suffix of the first band in your span and press the
Tab key. Then, in the next field, enter the 5-digit suffix of the last band in your span. Enter the prefix and
the two suffix values carefully. You will not be able to make changes to these fields later without deleting
the span. The other fields can be modified later, if necessary.

Note
A complete string of bands have suffix numbers starting at 00001 and ending with 00000.
(00000 really means 100,000 here; the 1 is “silent”.) So if you have a span containing a suffix
with all zeros, it is always the ending suffix.
16

Band Inventory

Press the Tab key to enter the Band Size, and enter the band size. You can do this by selecting it from the
drop down menu or by typing it. If the number entered in this box does not correspond to the last digit in
the prefix, a pop up box will appear to warn you. Bandit will move you forward to the Band Type field,
from which you may select the appropriate band type from a drop down menu. You can press the Tab
key and enter a remark in the Notes field for that particular band span, if necessary. Finally, click the Add
button at the bottom of the window to add the span. Bandit will create a blank banding record for each of
the bands within the span and automatically link them to the band span in inventory.

Note
Depending on how many bands are in the band span, the process of adding the bands to your
inventory can take a while to finish.
If you entered a band span erroneously, are transferring bands to another bander, or returning bands to your
coordinator at the end of a banding season, you may want to remove those bands from your inventory.
To remove bands from inventory you have two options: remove the whole span or remove unused bands
from the span. To remove a whole span, select the span you want to remove by clicking with your cursor
inside the line of the desired span on the Inventory page. Then click on the Records menu at the top of the
page and select Delete Inventory Record from the menu. A message will appear to confirm you really want
to remove the whole span, pointing out how many of the bands in the span are used, and warning that the
banding data will be removed as well. You may cancel at this point, or proceed, in which case all related
banding data will be removed from the band table and saved in a .xls file in your My Documents folder
(Documents folder on the Mac). For example, if you removed the bands 1234-00001 through 1234-00024
on January 12, 2007, the name of the saved file is Bandit_Bands_123400001_123400024_20070112.xls.
(In case if you were using “Remove Unused Bands from Inventory Record” function the file name would
be Unused_Bands_123400001_123400024_20070112.xls ).
To remove unused bands from a span, select the span you want to modify by clicking with your cursor
inside the line of the desired span. Then click on the Records menu at the top of the page and select Remove
Unused Bands from Inventory Record from the menu. A message will appear stating how many unused
bands will be removed. You may cancel or proceed. If you proceed, the band span inventory record will
be split, to leave only the used bands. The Unused Bands Removed Report will appear on your screen.
You may print the report (using the tool Print icon) and then click the blue Continue in the upper right
portion of the screen to resume using the program.
To leave the Band Inventory section, click on one of the other Section buttons near the top of the screen.
If you allow your mouse to pause over each of these buttons you will see the purpose of each section.
You can also click on the name Bandit at the top of the screen to return to the opening screen. Typically,
after entering spans into the band inventory you are ready to enter banding information. If so, just click
the Bands button near the top of the screen to go to the data entry screen.

Note
If you imported bands from Band Manager or any other file, the date received will be the
date you performed the inventory process, not the date received in Band Manager or the
other file. If there are data associated with these bands that will also be imported, you must
change the date received to be a date earlier than the first bird banded using these bands. To
do this, go to the Inventory page, click on the date in the line containing the imported bands
and simply retype a date that is earlier than any banding date for birds associated with these
bands. Everything else can remain the same. Repeat this in each span, or use “Replace Field
Contents” under Records to fill all inventory records.

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Band Inventory

Tip
You can sort the records in your inventory by using Sort Records... in the Records menu or
Sort icon at the top. You can also use Find mode to select the spans you want to work with.
For more information about Find mode, see Chapter 9, Find Mode.

18

Chapter 5. Locations
An important characteristic of the banding and recapture data submitted to the BBL/BBO is the quality of
the banding location data attached to the record. In the past, due to limited computer memory and storage,
the BBL/BBO stored locations only with 10-minute block precision in latitude and longitude. Because of
advances in computer technologies, the precision of banding locations can be significantly enhanced. In
Bandit, we have taken the opportunity to permit the storage and submission of banding locations to the
nearest second, but if you prefer, you can use 10-minute block precision or 1-minute block precision.
In version 3.0 of Bandit the ability to see each location record in Table or Detail view was added. Now the
Locations screen is actually a pair of screens showing two views (or modes) of the same information. The
Table view shows a spreadsheet-like table of the information in the location records. You can use this view
to see a number of locations at a glance and rapidly enter a large amount of data, but only a limited number
of fields are visible without using the scroll bar at the bottom of the window. This is also the preferred
view for sorting locations or performing Finds. The Details view allows you to see all of the fields in a
particular location record at once, but only for one record at a time. This view can be easily navigated by
using the light gray navigation panel which appears at the top of the screen. Using this panel you can flip
forwards and backwards through the location records or jump directly to a particular location record. It is
possible to search and sort locations records by any field.
All of the banding locations are stored in a table that can be easily accessed at any time by clicking on
the Locations button at the top of the green part of the screen. The table has fields for a short identifier
Location ID (which must be unique), Country, State (Province in Canada), County, Nearest Place/Town
(this can be a town or a notable place like a mountain peak, within the country/state/county selected), Miles
and Direction from that place, Location Description (street address preferred, or any description that helps
you keep locations straight), fields for Coordinate Precision, Latitude and Longitude coordinates (in
degrees, minutes, seconds, and hemisphere). The fields Valid? and Bands Count, are used by the system
to provide feedback on the locations in the table. Valid? will have the value Yes if the location record has
passed all validations and the coordinates provided match the bounding box outline for the Country and
State provided. If the value in Valid? is No, you can place your cursor over the box containing the No to see
what validations this location did not pass. The errors will appear in a pop-up box, called a “tool tip” in the
Table view, or in the Errors field in a Details view. Band Count shows how many birds have been banded
at a particular location. Recapture Count shows how many recaptures are associated with this location.

Tip
If you are banding outside the U.S., State and County are placeholder names for the 1st
and 2nd administrative divisions of the country.

Tip
For any location that has errors, all associated banding records will show errors, until those
errors are fixed.

5.1. Location Screen—Table View
The Table View presents the location data in much the same way as it would appear in a spreadsheet. Like
a spreadsheet you can rapidly enter information and use other keyboard commands to skip to the next and
previous fields, duplicate information in successive records, jump to the first field in the table, etc.

19

Locations

Figure 5.1. Locations Table View Screen

5.1.1. Resizing and Repositioning Columns
In the Table view, Bandit allows you to set the relative position and width of each column. Once you set
the widths and positions, the columns will remain the way you set them through each successive use of the
program, until you change them again (or upgrade to new version). To set the width of a column, position
the cursor between two column headings. A double-headed arrow cursor will appear. Click and drag the
cursor to the left to make the column smaller and right to make the column larger. To reposition a column,
click and drag the column heading to a new location to the right or left. A dark line will appear to show
you the position you are dragging to as you drag the column. When you get the column where you want
it, let go of the mouse button. The column will move in place.
The other way to rearrange columns is to use the Modify button in the upper right part of the screen. This
button allows you to modify Table view by showing or hiding columns and changing the order of the
columns. If a checkbox is checked – the column is shown in the view. To hide a column simply uncheck
it. To change the order of the columns, you can drag and drop any column up or down in this pop-up
window (point to double arrow symbol , when cursor changes, left mouse click and while holding the
key, start dragging, release the mouse key to drop the column in the appropriate place). See Figure 5.2,
“Modify Table View”

20

Locations

Figure 5.2. Modify Table View

Another way to get to modify Table view is to Right mouse click on any column header, choose Modify
Table View from pop-up menu as shown in Figure 5.3, “Column Header popup menu”

21

Locations

Figure 5.3. Column Header popup menu

5.1.2. Sorting Location Records by Columns
Most of the time when you are entering data you will want to see the locations records sorted in some
order. You can sort location records on any field by clicking on the column header. Click once to sort
in ascending order. Click again to sort in descending order. Click on another column header to sort the
records based on the value in that field. You can also sort records by using Sort Records in the Records
menu at the top of the screen. It can sort by multiple columns.

5.1.3. Entering Location Data in Table View
To enter location data, click in one of the cells to start. You can see what is supposed to be entered into
a particular column by pausing with your cursor over any cell in a column. The Tab key takes you to the
next field. Shift-Tab takes you to the previous field.

Caution
If you click on any cell in the blank line at the bottom of the list (the one with a + on the
left) Bandit thinks you are trying to add a location and will not let you leave that page until
you either enter data or choose delete.

22

Locations

Tip
Using the Find function before entering location data helps to focus on those locations you
will be using during a session, see Chapter 9, Find Mode for information about the way to
select records you want to operate on.

5.2. Location Screen—Details View
The Details view of the Locations screen presents the location data as a collection of fields shown as a
form, making it easier to see all the fields for the location record at once. Although the screen presents data
on only one location at a time, a navigation panel is provided to scroll through the location records (see left
portion of the grey area at the top). The Details view also provides a Map feature not available in Table
view. This feature links to Google Maps and will only function with a high-speed internet connection. It
is intended to help you determine the coordinates of your banding location. Once you have located it on
the map, you can click the map to show a balloon with the coordinates in it.
By default, Bandit enters the Locations screen in Table view. To switch to Details view, click the Details
button. To switch back to Table view, click the Table button.

Caution
Depending upon the focus on the screen, the mouse wheel works differently. When you first
open this screen, the default is that the mouse wheel scrolls through the different location
records on the left of the map. If you use the map, you will find that the mouse wheel becomes
a way to zoom in and out on the map.

Figure 5.4. Locations Detail View Screen

23

Locations

Note
Looking for the Save item in the File menu? Bandit automatically saves data whenever you
leave a record or go to another screen so you never have to worry about doing the save
yourself.
Four buttons are placed at the top of the table to facilitate maintaining the locations table:
Print, and Export.
Add

Delete

Print
Export

Add, Delete,

To add a new location into the locations table, click the Add button. This will create a new empty
record. You must populate it with correct data, including a unique identifier for Location ID.
If a location has been entered in error or is not being used it can be deleted. Click anywhere
on the row containing the location to be deleted and then click the Delete button. The system
checks to make sure that there are no banding data with that location in the database. If there
are none, the location will be deleted. If there are banding or recapture data at that location,
you will not be able to delete it.
Use the Print button to print out the locations.
If you are interested in using the location information in another program you can use the Export
button. The exported locations can be put into a file in a variety of formats. See Chapter 12,
Importing and Exporting for more details on the formats provided.

To begin entering locations in the Locations Table view, click on Add at the top of the table. This will
create a new empty record. For Location ID enter up to 8 characters to create a unique location identifier.
It may contain alphabetic and numeric characters. Use the Tab key to navigate through the fields. For Loc
Precision field there are three options available: the traditional 10-minute block, a more precise 1-minute
block, and the capability to enter an exact (to the nearest second) location. Each option will have different
effects on the Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds entries under Latitude and Longitude.

Tip
Choose 10-minute block precision if you have multiple banding sites in the same 10-minute
block and do not wish to catalog all of the locations separately or you wish to mask the exact
location or be less specific about the location of a sensitive species.
Using 1-minute block precision is recommended for an operation like a MAPS station or
migration monitoring station, where several mist nets are in a small area. We prefer that you
NOT identify each mist net site as an exact location.
Choose Exact Precision if you are only banding at one location or several well-separated
locations. Banders at MAPS or migration monitoring stations may also choose to use a
centroid for the net locations and use this option, instead of the 1-minute block option.

5.3. Entering locations by different precision
options.
5.3.1. Entering Locations with 10-Minute Block Precision
If you choose 10-minute block, a 10 will be entered in the Loc Precision column and 00 will automatically
be entered into the Sec column for both latitude and longitude. Next, enter a location description. The
24

Locations

description must be identifiable on most common maps and should include miles and direction from an
identifiable landmark such as a town, lake, mountain peak etc.

Note
It is important to describe the location in such a way that it can be relocated by others,
because this information will be used for the Certificate of Appreciation provided to a person
who may report this bird in the future. A good location description could help them locate
(approximately) where the bird was banded using a common map. More importantly, at the
BBL, we use the description you provide to confirm the coordinates. Do not put country,
state, province, or county into the location description field. There are separate fields for this
information.
After entering the description, enter the degrees and minutes of latitude that correspond to the banding
location using the closest 10-minute line of latitude to the south. The number entered can only be 0 through
5. You may then press the Tab key and a 5 will automatically be inserted as the second digit. If you enter
a second digit in the Minute field, the program will automatically change it to a 5. This is because you
selected 10-minute block as the location precision and Bandit is expecting the value entered to be the
center of the 10-minute block. After the latitude, enter the number of degrees and minutes of Longitude
to the closest 10-minute line of longitude to the east. The number entered again can only be 0 through
5 and after pressing the Tab key, the second digit will automatically default to 5 for the same reason as
described in the latitude entry.

Tip
South of the equator, the closest 10-minute line of latitude to the north of the banding location
should be chosen. Likewise, when banding east of Greenwich, choose the closest 10-minute
line of longitude to the west of the banding location.
If you selected U.S. for where you want your data to be submitted during the Bander Info settings set up,
United States will be the default in the Country field. If you are entering data for a non-U.S. location,
you may change this by selecting the correct country from the drop down list. Typing the first few letters
of the country will shorten the list closer to the correct country. Press the Tab key again to go to the State/
Prov field and select the appropriate state or province. If your country is United States, the drop down list
will be populated with the U.S. states and again, the list can be shortened by typing the first few letters of
the state. If you selected data submission to Canada during the Bander Info settings set up, Canada will be
the default country and the drop down list for State/Prov will be populated with the Canadian Provinces.
For U.S. locations, a county for the banding location will be required. After selecting United States and
the appropriate state, the county list for that state will appear in the drop down list. Select the appropriate
county from the list provided and again, typing the first few letters of the county will shorten the list.
If all of the information is correct, a Yes will appear under the Valid? column. If a No appears, place your
cursor over the No to see why the location is invalid. It may be for one of several reasons: the latitude and
longitude are not in the state or country entered, the second digit of the minutes field is not a 5, or the two
digits of the seconds field are not zeros. If it is a U.S. location, the county must be entered. Since v 3.0 of
Bandit the Nearest Place/Town field is required. Check these fields and ensure they are correct.

5.3.2. Entering Locations with 1-Minute Block Precision
If you choose 1-minute block, a 1 will be entered in the Loc Precision column and 30 will automatically
be entered into the Sec column for both latitude and longitude. Next, enter a location description. The
description must be identifiable on most common maps and should include miles and direction from an
identifiable landmark such as a town, lake, mountain peak etc.

25

Locations

Note
It is important to describe the location in such a way that it can be relocated by others,
because this information will be used for the Certificate of Appreciation provided to a person
who may report this bird in the future. A good location description could help them locate
(approximately) where the bird was banded using a common map. More importantly, at the
BBL, we use the description you provide to confirm the coordinates. Do not put country,
state, province, or county into the location description field. There are separate fields for this
information.
After entering the description, enter the degrees and minutes of latitude that correspond to the banding
location using the closest 1-minute line of latitude to the south. The number of minutes entered should be
00 through 59. As mentioned above, the seconds will be 30. This is because Bandit is expecting the point to
be the center of a 1-minute block. You may then press the Tab key 3 times to tab to the Longitude degrees
field. Next, repeat the process for the longitude degrees. Enter the degrees of longitude and press the Tab
key to get to the Minute field. Then enter the closest 1-minute line of longitude to the east. The number of
minutes entered again should be 00 through 59. Then press the Tab key 4 times to enter the State/Prov field.

Tip
South of the equator, the closest 1-minute line of latitude to the north of the banding location
should be chosen. Likewise, when banding east of Greenwich, choose the closest 1-minute
line of longitude to the west of the banding location.
If you selected U.S. for where you want your data to be submitted during the Bander Info settings set up,
United States will be the default in the Country field. If you are entering data for a non-U.S. location,
you may change this by selecting the correct country from the drop down list. Typing the first few letters
of the country will shorten the list closer to the correct country. Press the Tab key again to go to the State/
Prov field and select the appropriate state or province. If your country is United States, the drop down list
will be populated with the U.S. states and again, the list can be shortened by typing the first few letters of
the state. If you selected data submission to Canada during the Bander Info settings set up, Canada will be
the default country and the drop down list for State/Prov will be populated with the Canadian Provinces.
For U.S. locations, a county for the banding location will be required. After selecting United States and
the appropriate state, the county list for that state will appear in the drop down list. Select the appropriate
county from the list provided and again, typing the first few letters of the county will shorten the list.
If all of the information is correct, a Yes will appear under the Valid? column. If a No appears, place your
cursor over the No to see why the location is invalid. It may be for one of several reasons: the latitude and
longitude are not in the state or country entered, the minutes field is not in the range 00 through 59, or
the two digits of the seconds field are not 30. If it is a U.S. location, the county must be entered. Check
these fields and ensure they are correct.

5.3.3. Entering Locations with Exact Precision
If you choose Exact from the Loc Precision drop down menu, a 0 will be entered in the Loc Precision
column and you will be required to fill in the exact degrees, minutes, and seconds in both the latitude
and longitude columns. Next, enter a location description. The description must be identifiable on most
common maps and should include miles and direction from an identifiable landmark such as a town, lake,
mountain peak etc.

Note
It is important to describe the location in such a way that it can be relocated by others,
because this information will be used for the Certificate of Appreciation provided to a person

26

Locations

who may report this bird in the future. A good location description could help them locate
(approximately) where the bird was banded using a common map. More importantly, at the
BBL, we use the description you provide to confirm the coordinates. Do not put country,
state, province, or county into the location description field. There are separate fields for this
information.
After entering the description, enter the degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude that correspond to the
banding location. The degrees entered should be in the range (longitude: 0-180, latitude 0-90). Minutes
should be in the range 0-59, Seconds should be in the range 0-59.

27

Chapter 6. Entering Banding Data
Clicking on Link 4 on the opening screen or clicking on the Bands button on one of the other screens
will bring up the screen for entering banding data. This is actually a pair of screens showing two views
(or modes) of the same information. The Table view shows a spreadsheet-like table of the information in
the banding records. You can use this view to see a number of banding records at a glance and rapidly
enter a large amount of data, but only a limited number of fields are visible without using the scroll bar
at the bottom of the window. The Details view allows you to see most of the fields in a particular banding
record at once, but only for one record at a time. This view can be easily navigated by using the light
gray navigation panel that appears on the top of the screen. Using this panel you can flip forwards and
backwards through the banding records or jump directly to a particular banding record.

Figure 6.1. Bandit Bands Table View Screen

By default, Bandit always enters the Bands screen in Table view. To switch to Details view, click the
Details button. To switch back to Table view, click the Table button.

Note
Looking for the Save item in the File menu? Bandit automatically saves data whenever you
leave a record or go to another screen so you never have to worry about doing the save
yourself.

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Entering Banding Data

6.1. Bands Screen—Table View
The Table view presents the banding data in much the same way as it would appear in a spreadsheet. Like
a spreadsheet you can rapidly enter information and use other keyboard commands to skip to the next and
previous fields, duplicate information in successive records, jump to the first field in the table, etc.

6.1.1. Resizing and Repositioning Columns
In the Table view, Bandit allows you to set the relative position and width of each column. Once you
set the widths and positions, the columns will remain the way you set them through each successive use
of the program, until you change them again. To set the width of a column, position the cursor between
two column headings. A double-headed arrow cursor will appear. Click and drag the cursor to the left to
make the column smaller and right to make the column larger. To reposition a column, click and drag the
column heading to a new location to the right or left. A dark line will appear to show you the position you
are dragging to as you drag the column to the left or right. When you get the column where you want it,
let go of the mouse button. The column will move in place.

Tip
There are 12 fields that are transmitted to the BBL/BBO when you submit data. These fields
are Band Number, Disposition, Species, Age, How Aged, Sex, How Sexed, Banding Date, Bird
Status, Location, Aux Marker Combined, and Remarks. All of the data in these fields must be
error free in order for the data to be submitted. It is therefore recommended that you locate
the Error Text column, click on the heading, and drag that column so it is immediately to the
right of these columns. Any errors in the mandatory data will then be readily visible and can
be corrected immediately.

6.1.2. Sorting Banding Data by Columns
Most of the time when you are entering data you will want to see the banding records sorted in band
number order. This is the default in Bandit, however, you can sort on any field by clicking on the column
header. Click once to sort in ascending order. Click again to sort in descending order. Click on another
column header to sort the records based on the value in that field. You can also sort records by using Sort
Records in the Records menu at the top of the screen. It can sort by multiple columns.

6.1.3. Entering Banding Data in Table View
To enter banding data, click in one of the cells to start. You can see what is supposed to be entered into a
particular column by pausing with your cursor over any cell in a column. You cannot enter anything into
the band number field as that field is pre-populated from the inventory. Pausing over the band number
field will give you a summary of information about the band.
Many of the fields have a list of possible values associated with them. When you click in a cell a small
triangle will appear. You can click the triangle to bring up the list or type in the value yourself. For coded
fields, you may wish to refer to the associated reference table. You may do so at any time by clicking on
the Reference section button near the top of the green part of the screen. When you return to the Bands
section, you will still be in the same place you were when you left the screen.
The Species, Age, and Sex fields can be coded using either alpha or numeric codes. Refer to the Data Entry
section in Chapter 3, Bandit Settings, for details on how to tell Bandit which coding format you wish to
use (and be sure the Settings section is completed prior to entering banding information.)

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Entering Banding Data

Many of the fields feature type-ahead completion. As you type, the program looks through the list of
possible values and finds the first one that matches what you have typed so far, completing the value. If this
is the value you want you can just Tab to the next field. If this is not the value you want, continue typing
until the value is matched. The Tab key takes you to the next field. Shift-Tab takes you to the previous field.
Most of the fields are self-explanatory, but Banding Date needs extra attention to prevent errors. The
banding date must be after the Received Date in your inventory. If you imported data from Band Manager
or any other file, the received date will be automatically defaulted to the date you imported. If that date isn't
changed as described in Chapter 4, Band Inventory, you will get Banding Date VS Received Date error.

Tip
Using the Filter function before entering banding data helps to focus on those bands you will
be using during a session. Select the prefix and the starting and ending suffixes and click the
Filter button. Only those records will appear in the table. You can return to showing all bands
in the table by clicking the Show All button. See Section 6.6.1, “Filtering Banding Data” for
more information about filtering banding data, and see Chapter 9, Find Mode for information
about an alternative way to select banding records you want to work with.

6.2. Bands Screen—Details View
The Details view of the Bands screen presents the banding data as a collection of fields shown as a form,
making it easier to group related information (such as auxiliary marking). Although the screen presents
data on only one band at a time, a navigation panel is provided to scroll through the banding records. The
Details view also provides additional features not available in Table view for double banding, auxiliary
marking, error reporting and bypassing certain errors, reporting recaptures, and more.

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Entering Banding Data

Figure 6.2. Bandit Band Details View Screen

Entering banding data in Details view has all of the features from Table view, described in the previous
section, including help when you pause over a field, value lists, type-ahead completion, and the use of the
Tab key (and Shift-Tab) to jump from one field to the next.

6.2.1. Using the Navigation Panel
The Details view provides a gray navigation panel at the top of the screen. The navigation panel includes
a small book icon to flip forward (right-hand page) or backward (left-hand page) through pages. Use the
slider below the book to rapidly scroll ahead or back in the book of records.

6.2.2. Entering Auxiliary Marker Data
The Details view has a tab named Aux Marker which is for entering auxiliary marker data associated with
a bird. First choose a marker type from the drop-down list in the Aux Marker Type field. If the auxiliary
marker contains a code, click on the circle with Y under Is Aux Marker Coded? and fill out the left-hand
side of the screen, indicating the actual code, the color of the band, and the color of the code. If the bird
is marked by a sequence of uncoded colored bands on one or both legs, click on the circle with N under Is
Aux Marker Coded? and fill out the right-hand side of the screen, choosing the colors for the sequence of
bands as appropriate. The Remarks field is repeated here, making it easy to add explanatory remarks.

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Entering Banding Data

Figure 6.3. Aux Marker tab for a coded marker

Figure 6.4. Aux Marker for a Sequence of Uncoded Colored Bands

The Aux Marker Combined field is automatically generated from the rest of the information on the screen.
It summarizes the information into a single field. This is the field that is submitted to BBL/BBO.

Note
The Aux Marker page in Bandit is a work in progress, and currently only accommodates
relatively simple auxiliary marking conditions. If the bird has more than one type of marker,
one of which is coded, describe only the coded one and mention the other(s) in remarks. In
this case, you would set the Aux Marker Type field to match the type of the coded marker. In
any combination of markers, the default one to be reported here is the one most likely to be
seen and reported by the public.

6.2.3. Entering Data for Double Banded Birds
If your banding permit authorization allows it, the Details view makes it easy to add data for double banding
birds. First, make sure the Disposition code associated with the band is D. Fill in the remaining data fields

32

Entering Banding Data

and then, in the field Second Band Number, type the band number for the other band. Then click the button
next to the field labeled Fill Second Record. Bandit will copy the data from the current banding record into
the record for the second band number, changing the Disposition code to S and setting the Second Band
Number field to the starting band number.

Note
Double-banding of birds can only be done with permission from the appropriate Banding
Office. It is preferred that this be done with two separate strings, rather than adding adjacent
band numbers to the same bird. Be consistent: If you use two strings of bands, one string
should all have Disposition code set to D and other to S. If one string is used, odd numbers
may be set to D and even to S.

6.2.4. Entering Replaced Bands
From time to time, it is necessary or desirable to replace a band on a bird. Often this is because the
band is too worn to be read or is close to being that worn. If you do replace a band, use the Replaced
or Second Band # field to enter the REPLACED band. If the number can’t be read completely, fill
the missing numbers with question marks. The unreadable band must be sent to the BBL or BBO for
etching. It is extremely important that each band that is sent has the replacement number associated with it.
Recommended is a piece of masking tape on the back of the flattened band with the replacement number
on it.
Occasionally a bird is captured with an auxiliary marker but no Federal leg band. In this case, if you
know the band number that was originally on the bird, use it and explain in Remarks. If you do not know
the original band number, you can put the auxiliary marker code in the REPLACED field and explain in
Remarks. It may be possible to determine the original band at the BBL or BBO.

6.2.5. Reporting Recaptures
If you want to record the recapture of a bird you banded previously, click the button next to the band
number labeled Report Recapture. A new recapture record will be created and you will automatically be
switched to the Recapture function. See Chapter 7, Entering recapture and other re-encounter data for
complete details on recording recaptures.

6.3. Error Checking
Bandit automatically and transparently checks the banding data using a variety of validation checks to
ensure the data are coded correctly and the fields are internally consistent. Any fields that fail these
checks are considered errors. You can see the errors Bandit has identified by looking at the Error field
in the Details view or the Error Text column in the Table view. Where possible, fields with erroneous or
inconsistent data are highlighted in yellow. Also, the field containing the error text will be highlighted in
yellow if there are non-bypassable errors in the record. Refer to Appendix C, Data Editing Error Messages
for a complete description of the errors that may occur and how to correct them. Some less-critical errors
may be bypassed, allowing the banding record to be submitted during the data submission process. Other
errors may be bypassed after appropriate remarks are entered. For example, the Bad Size error can be
bypassed if an explanatory remark is added to the Remarks field indicating why a different size band was
used. When you click Y in the Bypass Error field, the error message will still be visible, but the record will
be submitted during the data submission process. If you try to bypass errors and Bandit does not allow it,
this is because, in addition to the bypassable error, one or more errors in the record cannot be bypassed.
Records with errors that cannot be bypassed and records that have errors that can be bypassed but Bypass
Error was not set to Y will not be sent during the data submission process.

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Entering Banding Data

Errors that show up in the Error field (Details view) or Error Text field (Table view) must either be corrected
or bypassed for the data to be submitted. Errors that show up in the Additional Errors field of the Table or
Details view are informational only and are associated with fields that are not submitted. Errors in wing
chord, weight, and time appear here. These Additional Errors do not need to be bypassed in order for the
record to be submitted.

6.4. Using the Remarks Field
Associated with each banding record is a Remarks field which is useful in several situations. Add an
explanatory remark whenever you bypass an error, indicating why the error does not apply to this record.
Add a remark as necessary for special auxiliary marking situations not covered by the capabilities of the
auxiliary marker fields. You can add any other information you want the banding office to be aware of.
Keep in mind that only the first 250 characters of the Remarks field are submitted to the BBL/BBO. If you
wish to keep other detailed information associated with a particular banding that is not sent to the BBL/
BBO, use one of the user-defined fields.

Note
The Band Manager program had a remarks field that applied to all 100 records in a band span.
In Bandit, each banding record has its own remarks. If the remark should apply to several
bands, use the ditto feature (see Appendix A, Tips and Shortcuts) to duplicate the remark
from the previous record. You can also use Replace Field Contents to repeat remarks for a
large number of records.

6.5. User Fields
Up to 5 additional fields can be associated with each banding record. You can create labels for these fields
on the Settings screen. Enter and edit information for these fields using the User Fields tab on the Details
view of the Bands screen or by referring to the User Field 1, …User Field 5 columns on the Table view. An
arbitrary amount of information can be stored in each of these fields. Use the scroll bar to scroll through
the information.

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Entering Banding Data

Figure 6.5. User Fields tab on the Bands Screen—Details View

6.6. Other Features of the Bands Screens
The Bands screens have several other important features. The most important is the ability to submit
banding data to the BBL or the BBO. Other features facilitate data entry and editing such as the ability
to filter the bands visible on the screen, propagate field values throughout a collection of bands, duplicate
the contents of a banding record, and clear out (reset) a banding record. Also, see Appendix A, Tips and
Shortcuts for additional enhancements to data entry and editing.

6.6.1. Filtering Banding Data
You may select which bands are visible in the Table view by filtering by prefix, suffix range, used and
submitted bands. If you fill in just the prefix, only those bands with that prefix will be on your screen. If
you fill in only the first suffix, all the bands in the span starting with that suffix will be in view. If you fill
in both suffix blocks, only those bands in that range will be in view. The Used and Submitted checkboxes
can be checked to narrow the list even further. The Used and Submitted boxes can be checked and used
without entering anything in either the prefix or suffix boxes as well. After you have entered your criteria
click the Filter button. To go back and see all of your bands click the Show All button.

Tip
If you open Bandit and all of your data are not visible as you may expect, you may have
performed a filter operation the last time you used the program. In this case, be sure to click
on the Show All button to bring all of your bands back into view.

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Entering Banding Data

Tip
See Chapter 9, Find Mode for an alternative way to select banding records. Find mode will
permit you to do more complex searches and base your selection on any of the fields in either
the Table or Details view.

6.6.2. Fill-down Feature
The fill-down feature lets you quickly enter large amounts of banding data, in much the same way as the
Batch function in Band Manager. When using the fill-down feature all of the records in the set selected
will be updated with the criteria you selected to be filled down. It is important that you perform a filter
or find first so only the records you want will be updated.
Begin by filling in the prefix and suffix range for bands that have identical information for the fields you
wish to fill, and click Filter. Verify that these bands are the only ones now visible on your screen. Next, fill
in all of the blocks on the first line of the table. Go to the bottom of the screen and check each box to the
right of Fill Down By, selecting which information you want to have filled in the remaining records on your
screen. Then click Fill Down. A Verify Fill Down Operation box will appear, giving you the opportunity
to confirm this is actually what you want to do. Click OK if it is correct or Cancel if you see something
you do not intend to do. After clicking OK, all of the information in the selected columns will be repeated
in the remaining records.

Caution
It is imperative that you have the band numbers correctly selected/filtered before the filldown feature is used. This feature can modify large numbers of records at one time and the
operation cannot be undone.
After completing the Fill Down function, either select the next range of bands you wish to perform this
operation on or click Show All to return to the Table view showing all of your records.

6.6.3. Duplicating Banding Records
You can duplicate one banding record at a time using the Duplicate Band function located under the Records
menu found at the top of the screen. First, click with your cursor in any field in a row of completed data.
In the menu bar at the top of the screen select Records → Duplicate Band and all fields of the current row
will be copied to the next row. CTRL-d is the shortcut for this function. To use the shortcut, click your
cursor in the row containing the data to be duplicated and press the CTRL-d key combination. The next
row will be populated with the same data. This feature cannot be undone.

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Entering Banding Data

Figure 6.6. Bands Screen Records Menu

6.6.4. Clearing Banding Data
You can clear banding data using the Clear Band Record function located under the Records menu in the
menu bar at the top of the screen. Click in any field in a banding record to select that record and move
to the top of the screen on the menu bar and select Records → Clear Band Record. All of the data will be
removed from that banding record, returning it to the unused state. This feature cannot be undone.

6.6.5. Submitting Banding Data
The facility to submit banding data to the BBL and the BBO is initiated by picking Submit New Data
or Submit Modified Data function found on the Bands screen. Chapter 8, Data Submission, has detailed
information about this capability. Before submission you may preview what data is going to be submitted
by using the report "New Banding Data to be Submitted" or "Banding Data Modified After Submission".

Tip
If you wish to have a printed or electronic record of the data you are submitting, make
sure you select the “New Banding Data to be Submitted” report (or the “By Location: New

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Entering Banding Data

Banding Data to be Submitted” report) prior to submitting the data. This is the only means
you have to create a schedule similar to the one you had using Band Manager. Look near the
top of the green part of the screen and locate Report Name. Select the name of the report in the
drop down list and click Show/Print Report. You will get a Print Options box where you may
choose to print or export the report. If you choose Print, you will have the choice of saving
as PDF. This will be your only chance to print a schedule. After the data are submitted they
will no longer show in this report.

6.6.6. Importing Banding Data
Banding data can be imported by selecting the File → Import Data From File → Bands/Recaptures item from
the File menu. See Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting, for more details on this capability.

Tip
Data quality checking constraints inside Bandit require the use of an ordered import
sequence. Bands must be added into your inventory before banding data can be imported.
Likewise, banding location data must be imported or created before banding data is imported
to avoid location errors. Finally, bander information must be available before banding data is
imported to avoid bander identification errors. Importing in this order: inventory, locations,
bander information, and importing bands last will ensure consistency.

6.6.7. Exporting Banding Data
If you want to export banding data for use in another program or to share it with other people you can use
one of several methods for data export found on the banding screen:
•

Export Bands.

Extract the banding information and create an external file in a variety of formats. You
can choose which fields you want to export and the order in which you want them to appear.

•

Save as PDF.

•

Save as Excel.

Saves a version of the banding record (or records) as it (they) appear on the screen as an
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file suitable for printing or e-mailing.
This function outputs directly to the Microsoft Excel worksheet format. You cannot
choose which fields you want to see or the order in which you want them to appear. The entire Table
view will be exported into an Excel spreadsheet. If you want more versatility in the selection of fields
or order of the fields you are exporting, see Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting.

6.6.8. Reports
The Banding screen provides easy access to a variety of reports. Select the report you want to see from
the drop-down list and click the Show/Print Report button. The report will be created in another window.
You can flip through the pages by using the book icon in the navigation panel along the left side of the
window and then choose to send the output to the printer, save the results in Microsoft Excel format, or
create an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. See Chapter 10, Reports, for more details on the
reports provided and detailed instructions for using the report facilities.

38

Chapter 7. Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data
When a previously banded bird is recaptured, resighted, or encountered via another means, this is
considered an encounter record. A recapture is the capture of a previously banded bird. A resighting is
the observation of a bird previously marked with a unique identifier such as a neck collar, wing tag, or
radio transmitter. Recaptures and resightings are usually made by the original bander, but, like most other
types of encounters, may be made by other banders, collaborators or the public. Recaptures and resightings
constitute the majority of post-release data obtained from banded non-game birds, and for most analytical
purposes the two can be considered equivalent. Individual banders often make extensive use of their own
recapture and resighting data. In Bandit, for the sake of simplicity, we are referring to all re-encounters
as “recaptures”.
A powerful suite of analytical models and software is available for analyzing recapture data to estimate
parameters such as survival, population size, rate of population change, movement probabilities, and agespecific breeding probabilities. Many banders deliberately collect and analyze recapture data for their
project-specific needs. Others cumulatively collect millions of recapture data records suitable for use in
mark-recapture models but do not use them. The potential use of these data in population research and
management is great.
The functions available in the Recaptures section are similar to those in the Banding section. You have
the ability to add recaptures, delete recaptures, duplicate recapture records, and submit recapture data. The
two viewing modes, Table and Detail, are also available.
Clicking on Link 5 on the opening screen or clicking on the Recaptures button on one of the other screens
will bring up the screen for entering recapture data. This is actually a pair of screens showing two views
(or modes) of the same information. The Table view shows a spreadsheet-like table of the information in
the recapture records. You can use this view to see a number of recapture records at a glance and rapidly
enter a large amount of data, but only a limited number of fields are visible without using the scroll bar at
the bottom of the window. The Details view allows you to see most of the fields in a particular recaptures
record at once, but only for one record at a time. This view can be easily navigated by using the light
gray navigation panel that appears on the top of the screen. Using this panel you can flip forwards and
backwards through the records or jump directly to a particular recapture record.
By default, Bandit enters the Recaptures screen in Table view. To switch to Details view, click the Details
button. To switch back to Table view, click the Table button.

Note
Looking for the Save item in the File menu? Bandit automatically saves data whenever you
leave a record or go to another screen so you never have to worry about doing the save
yourself.

7.1. Recaptures Screen—Table View
The table mode presents the recapture data in much the same way as it would appear in a spreadsheet. Like
a spreadsheet you can rapidly enter information and use other keyboard commands to skip to the next and
previous fields, duplicate information in successive records, jump to the first field in the table, etc.

39

Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

Figure 7.1. Recapture Table View

7.1.1. Sorting Recapture Data by Columns
Most of the time when you are entering data you will want to see the recapture records sorted in a preferred
order. You can sort on any field by clicking on the column header. Click once to sort in ascending order.
Click again to sort in descending order. Click on another column header to sort the records based on the
value in that field. You can also sort records by using Sort Records in the Records menu at the top of the
screen. It can sort by multiple columns.

7.1.2. Entering Recapture Data in Table View
To enter recapture data, click in one of the cells to start. You can see what is supposed to be entered into
a particular column by pausing with your cursor over any cell in a column. The prefix and suffix of each
band number must be entered into separate columns.
If this is a recapture of one of your bands currently being maintained in the banding inventory in Bandit,
choose R (for Recapture) from the Disposition drop-down list. If you have recaptured a bird that was banded
by someone else, choose F (for Foreign Recapture) from the Disposition drop-down list.
Many of the fields have a list of possible values associated with them. You can click the little triangle to
bring up the list or type in the value yourself. For coded fields, you may wish to refer to the associated
reference table. You may do so at any time by clicking on the Reference section button near the top of
the screen.
The Species, Age, and Sex fields can be coded using either alpha or numeric codes. Refer to the Data Entry
section in Chapter 3, Bandit Settings, for details on how to tell Bandit which coding format you wish to
use (and be sure the Settings section is completed prior to entering recapture information.)
Many of the fields feature type-ahead completion. As you type, the program looks through the list of
possible values and finds the first one that matches what you have typed so far, completing the value. If this
is the value you want you can just Tab to the next field. If this is not the value you want, continue typing
until the value is matched. The Tab key takes you to the next field. Shift-Tab takes you to the previous field.

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Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

7.2. Recaptures Screen—Details View
The Details view of the Recaptures screen presents the recapture data as a collection of fields shown as a
form, making it easier to see related information (such as auxiliary marking). Although the screen presents
data on only one recapture at a time, a navigation panel is provided to scroll through the recapture records.
The Details view also provides additional features not available in Table view for auxiliary marking, error
reporting and bypassing certain errors and more.
In the details view on the right-most portion of the view, there is also the ability to see the banding data if
it is in the Bands module or to add the banding data for foreign recaptures/re-encounters. Typically you
will only know this information after hearing back from the BBL after you report the band. Fields that
can be added for foreign recaptures are banding date, banding age and sex, and banding location. These
fields are here for your information and are not viewable in the Table view, nor do they interact with any
of the recapture fields for editing purposes.

Figure 7.2. Recaptures Details View Screen

Entering Recapture data in Details view has all of the features from Table view, described in the previous
section, including help when you pause over a field, value lists, type-ahead completion, and the use of the
Tab key (and Shift-Tab) to jump from one field to the next.

Tip
Enter key (Return Key on MAC) works the same way as Tab Key.

7.2.1. Using the Navigation Panel
The Details view provides a gray navigation panel at the top of the screen. The navigation panel includes
a small book icon to flip forward (right-hand page) or backward (left-hand page) through pages. Use the
slider below the book to rapidly scroll ahead or back in the book.

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Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

7.2.2. Entering Auxiliary Marker Data
The Details view has a tab named Aux Marker which is for entering auxiliary marker data associated with
a bird. First choose a marker type from the drop-down list in the Aux Marker Type field. If the auxiliary
marker contains a code, click on the circle with Y under the Is Aux Marker Coded? and fill out the lefthand side of the screen, indicating the actual code, the color of the band, and the color of the code. If
the bird is marked by a sequence of uncoded colored bands on one or both legs, click on the circle with
N under the Is Aux Marker Coded? field and fill out the right-hand side of the screen, choosing the
colors for the sequence of bands as appropriate. The Remarks field is repeated here, making it easy to
add explanatory remarks if necessary.

Caution
The Aux Marker fields are in place to describe auxiliary markers on the bird at time of
recapture. If a marker is added or replaced prior to the bird's release, the new marker
description, including any codes on the marker, should go into the Remarks field, not the
Aux Marker fields. If a bird's status is changed as the result of adding or removing markers,
the How Obtained for the recapture record must be “53: Captured for Scientific Purposes
(not collected). Status changed.” Remember that changing the status of any already-banded
bird requires permission from the BBL or BBO.

Figure 7.3. Aux Marker tab on the Recaptures Screen—Details View

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Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

Figure 7.4. Aux Marker for a Sequence of Uncoded Colored Bands

The Aux Marker Combined field is automatically generated from the rest of the information on the
screen. It summarizes the information into a single field. This is the field that is submitted to BBL/BBO.

Note
The Aux Marker page in Bandit is a work in progress, and currently only accommodates
relatively simple auxiliary marking conditions. If you feel you cannot properly describe the
marker(s) by using the available auxiliary marker fields, first complete the available fields
and describe the remaining details in Remarks. If the bird has more than one type of marker,
one of which is coded, describe only the coded one and mention the others in remarks. In
this case, you would set the Aux Marker Type field to match the type of the coded marker. In
any combination of markers, the default one to be reported here is the one most likely to be
seen and reported by the public.

7.2.3. Entering Data for Double Banded Birds
If you recapture a bird that is double banded with an additional Federal band, enter the second band number
in the Second Band # field in the recapture record.
If a bird is recaptured and the original band is replaced or an additional Federal band is placed on an already
banded bird, this is considered a banding event and should be recorded in the Bands table. See Chapter 6,
Entering Banding Data for more information.

7.2.4. Recording Recaptures from the Banding Details
View
If you want to record the recapture of a bird you banded previously, in the Banding Details View click
the button next to the band number labeled Report Recapture. A new recapture record will be created

43

Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data
and you will automatically be switched to the Recapture module. Band Number, Disposition, Species,
and How Obtained will be pre-populated by the Bandit.

7.3. Error Checking
Bandit automatically and transparently checks the recapture data using a variety of checks to ensure the data
are coded correctly and the fields are internally consistent. Any fields that fail these checks are considered
“errors”. You can see the errors Bandit has identified for an individual record by looking at the Error field
in the Details view or the Error Text column in the Table view. The field containing the error text will be
highlighted in yellow if there are non-bypassable errors in the record. Once the non-bypassable errors are
resolved, the error text will no longer be highlighted. Refer to Appendix C, Data Editing Error Messages
for a complete description of the errors that may occur and how to correct them. Some less-critical errors
may be bypassed, allowing the recapture record to be submitted during the data submission process. When
you click Y in the Bypass Error field, the error message will still be visible if left unresolved, but the record
will be submitted during the data submission process. If you try to bypass errors and Bandit does not allow
it, one or more errors in the record cannot be bypassed. Records with errors that were not bypassed or are
non-bypassable will not be sent during the data submission process.

7.4. Using the Remarks Field
Associated with each recapture record is a Remarks field which is useful in several situations. Add an
explanatory remark whenever you bypass an error, indicating why the error does not apply to this record.
Add a remark as necessary for special auxiliary marking situations not covered by the capabilities of the
auxiliary marker fields. You can add any other information you want the banding office to be aware of.
Keep in mind that only the first 250 characters of the Remarks field are submitted to the BBL/BBO. If
you wish to keep other detailed information associated with a particular recapture that is not sent to the
BBL/BBO, use one of the user-defined fields.

7.5. User Fields
Up to 5 additional fields can be associated with each recapture record. You can create labels for these
fields on the Settings screen. Enter and edit information for these fields using the User Fields tab on the
Details view of the Recaptures screen or by referring to the User Field 1, …User Field 5 columns on the
Table view. An arbitrary amount of information can be stored in each of these fields. Use the scroll bar
to scroll through the information.

44

Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

Figure 7.5. User Fields tab on the Recaptures Screen—Details View

7.6. Other Features of the Recaptures Screens
The Recapture screens have several other important features. The most important is the ability to submit
recapture data to the BBL or the BBO. Other features facilitate data entry and editing such as the ability
to filter the recapture records visible on the screen, propagate field values throughout a collection of
recaptures, duplicate the contents of a recapture record, and delete a recapture record or series of recapture
records. Also, see Appendix A, Tips and Shortcuts for additional enhancements to data entry and editing.

7.6.1. Filtering Recapture Data
You may select which recaptures are visible in the Table view by filtering by prefix, suffix range, and
submitted recaptures (see footer area of the screen). If you fill in just the prefix, only those bands with that
prefix will be on your screen. If you fill in only the first suffix, all the bands with that suffix and higher will
be in view. If you fill in both suffix blocks, only those bands in that range will be in view. The Submitted
checkbox can be checked to narrow the list even further. The Submitted box can be checked and used
without entering anything in either the prefix or suffix boxes as well. After you have entered your criteria
click the Filter button. To go back and see all of your bands click the Show All button.

Tip
If you open Bandit and all of your records are not visible as you may expect, you may have
performed a filter operation the last time you used the program. In this case, be sure to click
on the Show All button to bring all of your bands back into view.

45

Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

Tip
See Chapter 9, Find Mode for an alternative way to select recapture records you want to
operate on. Find mode will permit you to do more complex searches and base your selection
on any of the fields in either the Table or Detail view.

7.6.2. Duplicating Recapture Records
You can duplicate one recapture record at a time using the Duplicate Recapture function located under the
Records menu found at the top of the screen. First, click with your cursor in any field in a row of completed
data. Select Duplicate Recapture from the Records menu and all fields of the current row will be copied to
the next row except for the band number. CTRL-d is the shortcut for this function. To use the shortcut,
click your cursor in the row containing the data to be duplicated and press the CTRL-d key combination.
The next row will be populated with the same data.

Note
For those accustomed to using CTRL-d in Excel, note that this is the opposite of how this
shortcut works in Excel.

7.6.3. Recaptures Records Menu
In addition to the previously described functions in the Records menu, there are others which may be
helpful.
Delete Recapture – This will delete the recapture record that is selected. You will be prompted to answer if

you want to permanently delete the entire recapture record. Select Cancel or Delete. This function cannot
be undone. This function is also available as an icon immediately below the file menu.
– This will delete all recaptures in the found set. You will be prompted to
answer whether or not to permanently delete the records in the found set. Select Cancel or Delete All.
This function can be used to delete all recaptures if Show All has been selected prior to this function. This
function cannot be undone.
Delete All Found Recaptures

– This will allow a new recapture record to be added. This function is also available as an
icon immediately below the file menu.
Add Recapture

– This will mark all records in the found set as submitted. A prompt will provide the
number of recapture records that will be marked as submitted. The submission timestamp will be set to
the current day for all records in found set. These records will not be submitted the next time Submit
Recap Data is selected.
Mark as Submitted

Mark as Not Submitted – This will mark all records in the found set as not submitted. A prompt will provide

the number of recapture records that will be marked as not submitted. The submission timestamp will be
set to null for all records in found set. These records will be submitted the next time Submit Recap Data
is selected.
– This function is most useful when working in the Details view. Select ‘next’ or ‘previous’
as needed. The record number for a recapture in the found set can be entered under the ‘Go To’ selection.
Go to Record

– This function is the same as ‘Show All’ at the bottom of the screen when in Table
view. When selected, all recaptures will be shown in the Table view. If records were previously filtered
or the Find function used, Show All Records can be used to return to a view of all recapture records.
Show All Records

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Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data
-Selecting this will show all records that were omitted from the previous found set.
Clicking on the green pie immediately below the file menu will also revert to showing all omitted records.
Clicking on it again will reverse the action.
Show Omitted Only

Omit Record

– This function will omit the selected record from the found set.

Omit Multiple... – This function will omit the number of records entered, beginning with the selected record,

from the found set.
- This will bring up the find criteria from your previous search and you can change or
add any fields you wish for a new search.
Modify Last Find

– This will allow records to be sorted based on selected criteria. If the recapture records need to be
sorted at multiple levels (for example, first by prefix, then suffix, then recapture date), the desired order
can be assigned based on the selected criteria in the Sort Order box. Records can be sorted in ascending,
descending, or a customized order.
Sort

Tip
You can also sort records on any field by clicking on the column header. Click once to sort
in ascending order. Click again to sort in descending order. Click on another column header
to sort the records based on the value in that field.
Revert Record – Returns the current record or request to the way it was before you began adding or changing

data in the record.

47

Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

Figure 7.6. Recaptures Screen Records Menu

7.6.4. Submitting Recapture Data
The facility to submit recapture data to the BBL and the BBO is initiated by picking the Submit Recap
Data function found on the Recaptures screen. Chapter 8, Data Submission has detailed information about
this capability.

7.6.5. Importing Recapture Data
Recapture data can be imported by selecting the Import Data From File# Bands/Recaptures item from the
File menu.

Caution
Make sure Recapture Date source field is mapped to target field

48

Banding Recapture Date.

Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data
If there is a column for a second band number in the source file it should be mapped to the
target field Replaced Band Number.
How Captured and How Obtained are two different fields for different purposes. How
Captured is the technique used to capture the bird (e.g. mist net, rocket netting) whereas
How Obtained is how recapture was encountered (see How Obtained table in the Reference
section of Bandit).

Figure 7.7. Recapture Import Field Mapping

See Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting for more details on this capability.

Tip
Data quality checking constraints inside Bandit suggest the use of an ordered import
sequence. Bands must be added into your inventory before banding data can be imported.
Likewise, banding location data must be imported or created before banding data is imported
to avoid location "errors". Finally, bander information must be available before banding
data is imported to avoid bander identification "errors". Importing in this order: inventory,
locations, bander information, and importing bands last will ensure consistency.

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Entering recapture and
other re-encounter data

7.6.6. Exporting Recapture Data
If you want to export your recapture data for use in another program or to share it with other people you
can use one of several methods for data export found on the recapture screen:
• Export Recaps. Extract the recapture information and create an external file in a variety of formats. You
can choose which fields you want to export and the order in which you want them to appear.
• Save as PDF. Saves a version of the recapture record (or records) as it (they) appear on the screen as an
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file suitable for printing or e-mailing.
• Save as Excel. This function outputs directly to the Microsoft Excel worksheet format. You cannot
choose which fields you want to see or the order in which you want them to appear. The entire Table
view will be exported into an Excel spreadsheet. If you want more versatility in the selection of fields
or order of the fields you are exporting, see Chapter 12, Importing and Exporting.

7.6.7. Recapture data fields received and processed by
the BBL/BBO
There are 14 fields that are transmitted to the BBL/BBO when you submit data. These fields are
Permit Number, Band Number, Disposition, Species, Age, How Aged, Sex, How Sexed, Recapture Date,
Location, Aux Marker Combined, How Obtained, Present Condition, and Remarks. All of the data in these
fields must be "error" free in order for the data to be submitted. It is therefore recommended that you locate
the Error Text column, click on the heading, and drag that column so it is immediately to the right of these
columns. Any errors in the mandatory data will then be readily visible and can be corrected immediately.
After recapture data are submitted to the BBL/BBO, currently (at the time of release of Bandit v 3.0) only
foreign recaptures and certain local recaptures are processed into the encounter database. Only one record
per band number per day (first received) is loaded into the BBL/BBO encounter database. Also, while the
fields Age, How Aged, Sex, How Sexed, and Bird Status are submitted to the BBL, these fields are not
currently loaded into the BBL/BBO encounter database.

Note
When recaptures are fully processed into the BBL/BBO encounter database, at the end of
that week you will be sent a report, similar to the Report to Bander, titled Banding Report
for Recaptures. It will contain the banding data for any fully processed foreign recaptures
submitted via Bandit v 3.0 and foreign replaced or added-to bandings submitted via any
version of Bandit.

50

Chapter 8. Data Submission
In previous programs used to manage banding information, banding data were arranged to match a special
paper coding form called a Banding Schedule. Typically banders, after inputting the data would print the
schedule, which was then submitted to the BBL/BBO. Many banders found this confusing, as they were
unsure whether they had to wait until the schedule was completely filled out before they could send in
the banding data.
Bandit takes a different approach. Because there are no paper schedules to submit, new data or previouslysubmitted records that have been modified can be submitted at any time. Hopefully this will make
submission of banding data less cumbersome and more timely.

Note
It is imperative that your data be nearly error free prior to using the data submission process.
As described in the data editing section, some errors may be bypassed and some may not.
Errors that cannot be bypassed must be corrected. Bypassed errors must be set to Y to skip
these errors. The program will tell you which errors can be bypassed when you attempt
to bypass them. Records that contain errors that cannot be bypassed, or errors that can be
bypassed and have not been, will not be transmitted using the data submission process.
Eight fields are required to be submitted. These include Band Number, Disposition, Species,
Age, Sex, Banding Date, Bird Status, and Location. If you have placed an auxiliary marker on
the bird and used a status code reflecting that, aux marker data fields are also required. If you
do not have these fields filled in or bypassed correctly, the aux marker data fields will not
be included in the submission record when you submit data. The How Aged and How Sexed
fields are not required, but if the fields contain data, they must be valid and consistent with
the rest of the data in the record. The Remarks field may also be required, depending on the
value of Bird Status, auxiliary marker, and whether errors have been bypassed.

8.1. Banding Data Submission Process
When you initiate the data submission process by clicking on the Submit New Data function on the Banding
screen the system automatically goes through the data looking for bands that have been used but the data
have not been sent previously. These bands are added to a file.
When you initiate the data submission process by clicking on the Submit Modified Data function, the system
looks to see if any banding record has been modified since the last time that record was submitted. If so,
these bands are marked for inclusion in the data submission. As with New Data, only records without
"errors", or records where the "errors" were bypassed (true only for bypassable errors) will be submitted.

Tip
If you wish to have a printed copy of the data for your records you are submitting in a format
similar to the "schedule" produced by Band Manager, you must select the New Banding Data
to be Submitted report from the Report Name drop-down menu, then click Show/Print Report
and choose any options you want from the pop up box, prior to submitting data. This report
can only be created prior to submitting records.
You may also use the New Banding Data to be Submitted report to see all of the records ready
to be sent. Any records containing errors will be highlighted so you can easily tell at a glance
which records need to be corrected. Go to the bands Details screen, where you can see all
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Data Submission

the errors, and bypass them in appropriate cases or fix the errors. See Figure 8.1, “Banding
Data to be Submitted Report” for an example.

Figure 8.1. Banding Data to be Submitted Report

Bandit prepares the file and displays a dialog box showing the number of records being submitted.
(See Figure 8.2, “Bandit Data Submission Dialog Box”.) After the dialog box is dismissed, Bandit will
automatically launch your system-wide email program to send the message containing the file directly to
the BBL or the BBO, provided the system is configured to do so.

52

Data Submission

Figure 8.2. Bandit Data Submission Dialog Box

53

Data Submission

Figure 8.3. Bandit Data Submission Email

If your email program isn't automatically launched, the file containing the data submission
is saved to your My
Documents folder (Documents folder on the Mac) with the name
Bandit_Submission_PPPPP_YYYYMMDDHHMM.tab, where PPPPP is the permit number, YYYY is the current
year, MM is the current month, DD is the current day of the month, HHMM is the time the file was created.
So Bandit_Submission_55555_200607241020.tab contains a data submission that was created July 24,
2006 at 10:20am by the bander with permit number 55555. Open your email client as if you were sending
any normal email and type Bandit@usgs.gov (or Louise.Laurin@ec.gc.ca for Canadian Banding Office
submissions) in the address field and Bandit Banding Data Submission from PPPPP (Your Name) into
the subject field. Attach the file located in your My Documents folder as described above and then send
as any normal email.
The user has the option to create a Note for File, which will include a summary of all band spans and
locations submitted. You may print this note or save it as a file. The last Note for File will be available in
the Report Name drop-down menu, but only if you create the Note for File.

54

Data Submission

Figure 8.4. Note For Submission File Report

Once a banding record has been submitted, a submission timestamp will be created by the program and
placed in the Submission Timestamp field in the Table view or the Submission Date field in the Details
view. A modification date is also maintained by the system, and changes whenever changes are made
to the banding record. If the banding record has been modified after its original submission, the record
will automatically be included in the next submission file, when you choose to submit modified data. The
Number of Submissions field on the Details view indicates how many times a particular banding record
has been submitted.

Tip
If you are importing data from Band Manager or some other source file and you are certain
that data have been previously submitted, you can use the Mark as Submitted feature (in the
Records menu) to create a submission timestamp. First, use the Filter feature or the Find mode
to select the subset of your records that have already been submitted. Next, choose the Mark
as Submitted item from the Records menu. The submission timestamp is created for all of the
records in the current found set and the records will not be included in future submissions
unless you modify a record. This can be handy if you wish to have all of your previous data
in Bandit to check for recaptures, etc., but you should be sure to complete all of the import
processes prior to entering new data. Remember to choose Show All Records from the Records
menu to see all of your records.
Once the data submission email is received by the BBL/BBO, an email response is returned, often
immediately, but usually by the end of the next business day. If you do not receive a response, it is likely
that the data file was not received. Check within your email program to see if the email is still pending. If
not, you may have to go to My Documents (Documents in Mac) and find the file and email it.

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Data Submission

8.2. Recapture Data Submission Process
When you initiate the data submission process by clicking on the Submit Recap Data link on the Recapture
screen the system automatically goes through the data looking for records without errors or with errors
bypassed. These recaptures are added to a file for inclusion. Only records not submitted previously will
be added to BBL database.
To submit recapture data, If your email program isn't automatically launched, the file containing the
data submission is saved to your My Documents folder (Documents folder on the Mac) with the name
Bandit_Recaps_PPPPP_YYYYMMDDHHMM.tab. Open your email client as if you were sending any
normal email and type Bandit@usgs.gov (or Louise.Laurin@ec.gc.ca for Canadian Banding Office
submissions) in the address field and Bandit Recaptures Submission from PPPPP (Your Name) into the
subject field. Attach the file located in your My Documents folder as described above and then send as
any normal email.

56

Chapter 9. Find Mode
Find mode may be used to search for particular records that match a set of criteria. You can then work
with this subset of your records, called the found set. Find can be used in either the Table or Details view.
To make a find request:
1. Go to the screen that has fields in which you want to enter criteria: Bands, Recaptures, Locations or
Band Inventory.
2. Choose Find Mode from the View menu at the top of the screen or use CTRL-f (CMD-f on the Mac).
You may also click the magnifying glass icon in the grey portion of at the top of your screen, or choose
Find from Bandit Mode pop-up list in the bottom left corner of the screen, see Figure 9.1, “Bandit
Mode Icon Bar”

Figure 9.1. Bandit Mode Icon Bar

3. Enter your criteria into any fields to be used for finding records. The more fields you fill in, the more you
narrow down your found set. For example, you may just fill in a value for species. This will return all
records for that species. If you fill in both species and age, it will return all records for just that species
and that age. You can use operators such as greater than, less than etc. in your searches. Available
operators can be seen and selected by right-clicking in the field and selecting Operators from the dropdown menu or using the Operators drop-down located in the status area at the top of your screen.

57

Find Mode

Figure 9.2. Find Mode Symbols Drop-down Menu

4. Once you have entered all the criteria you wish to include in the search click the Perform Find button
at the top of your screen.
After you find a group of records, Bandit returns to Browse mode so you can begin working with them.
To show all records again, choose Show All Records from the Records menu or click the Show All button
at the top of the screen. If you are going to perform another find that involves changing some, but not
all of the criteria from your previous find, you can choose Modify Last Find from the Records menu. This
will bring up the find criteria from your previous search and you can change or add any fields you wish
for a new search.

Tip
Find mode can be used to create a custom Banding Summary by Location report. First select a
collection of bands using the process described above and then select the Banding Summary
by Location report from the Report Name drop-down menu. You will get a custom report with
just those bands you selected.

Tip
You can click the pie chart to toggle between your found set and the omitted records in the
database. When all records are displayed, the pie chart is a solid color.

58

Chapter 10. Reports
All of the reports in Bandit are available from the Bands section. Pick the report you want from the Report
Name drop-down menu and click the Show/Print Report button. A new window will appear where you can
preview the report. Use the book icon on the navigation and status panel at the top of the window to look
through the pages of the report. A small dialog box will also appear with 2 checkbox options: Export to
Excel and Print. You can select any or all of these options. Then click OK to complete the process or click
Cancel to cancel the process.

Figure 10.1. Bands Screen with Reports Drop-down

The following reports are available in Bandit.
Report Name
New Banding Data to be Submitted

Use
Similar to the "Schedule" produced from Band Manager. This
report must be produced before the submission process. It
contains all the records not submitted to BBL previously
(Number of submission = 0).

Banding Data Modified after submission Similar to New Banding Data to be Submitted report except
it contains only previously submitted data that was modified
since last submission (Number of submission >0).
Banding Summary by Location

Summary report grouped by location showing the number of
birds of each species, age, and sex combination banded at
that location. Use the filter function or the find mode before
requesting the report to select a subset of all the records to be
used for this report.

By Bander: Count Birds Handled per Summary report showing how many birds have been handled
Year
by each bander.
By Location: New Banding Data to be Similar to the "Schedule" produced from Band Manager, with
Submitted
the information divided by banding location. This report must

59

Reports

Report Name

Use
be produced before the submission process. It contains all
the records not submitted to BBL previously (Number of
submission = 0).

By Location: Banding Data Modified Similar to By Location: New Banding Data to be Submitted
after submission
report except it contains only data submitted before and
modified since last submission (Number of submission >0).
By Species: Count Bandings by record Summary report divided by species showing how many birds
type
were banded, recaptured, etc.
By Species: Count Bandings Per Day

Summary report divided by species showing how many birds
were banded each day over a range of dates.

By Species: Count Bandings Per Month Summary report divided by species showing how many birds
were banded each month over a range of dates.
By Species: Count Bandings Per Year

Summary report divided by species showing how many birds
were banded each year over a range of dates.

By Species: Count Birds by Age and Sex Summary report divided by species showing how many birds
of each age and sex combination are being maintained in the
inventory.
Summary of Bandings per Location by Summary report showing the banding activity for each location
Date
over a range of dates.
Last Note For File (Bands)

The last Note for File submission report created during the
submission process is available under this selection, provided
you asked to create the Note for File at the time of submission.

Unused Bands Removed

A report showing the list of bands removed via the Remove
Unused Bands from Inventory function.

60

Chapter 11. Reference Tables
Bandit uses a variety of reference tables to facilitate data entry and aid in the error checking process.

Figure 11.1. Bandit Reference Tables Screen

To see what is contained in any of the reference tables, click on the Reference tab at the top of the screen.
Here is a list of the reference tables and their use.
Age

Bird age codes and meanings. Both alpha and numeric codes are given.
Used in the drop-down lists for age data entry and error checking.

Color

List of color codes and their meanings, for use with auxiliary markings.

Condition

Present condition of the bird/band used in recapture module.

Disposition

List of banding and recapture record disposition codes and their
meanings.

Error Messages

Error messages, Causes, and Resolutions for all the possible banding,
recapture and location errors.
Other way to lookup Error Messages is by using Error Messages
Lookup under Help menu (where you can do find and sort as well).

How Aged

List of how aged codes and their meanings.

How Obtained

Explanation for the How Obtained codes used in recapture module.

How Sexed

List of the how sexed codes and their meanings.

Present Condition

List of the codes and their meanings for the condition of a recaptured
bird when it was released.

Region

Region codes and their equivalent meanings for geographic regions.
The region codes are being phased out in favor of using the Federal

61

Reference Tables

Information Processing Standard (FIPS) codes for country, state/
province/territory, and county/parish/district.
Sex

Bird sex codes and meanings. Both alpha and numeric codes are given.
Used in the drop-down lists for sex data entry and error checking.

Size

List of band sizes. Refer to the Species tab to see which band sizes are
allowable on which species of bird. Used in the drop-down list for band
sizes.

Species

Bird species alpha codes, numeric species ids, names, and allowable
band sizes. Used in the drop-down list for species and for error checking.
Because this list is lengthy, it includes a search facility.

Species-Age-Sex-Month

Months or fractions of months a particular species, age of bird, and sex
of bird combination is likely to be encountered.

Species-State-Month

Months or fractions of months a particular species is likely to be
encountered within a particular state/province/territory or country.

Status

Combination of the bird "status" and "additional information" fields.
Lists status code and a longer description. Because this list is lengthy,
it includes a search facility

Type

List of the types of bands that may be used. Used in the drop-down list
for band types.

62

Chapter 12. Importing and Exporting
The ability to transfer data between Bandit and other programs such as Excel and SAS is an important
part of successfully integrating Bandit into your work processes. These capabilities have been enhanced
in the current version of Bandit.

Tip
Data quality checking constraints inside Bandit suggest the use of an ordered import
sequence. Bands must be added into your inventory before banding data can be imported.
Likewise, banding location data must be imported or created before banding data is imported
to avoid location errors. Finally, bander information must be available before banding data is
imported to avoid bander identification errors. Importing in this order: inventory, locations,
bander information, and importing bands last will ensure consistency.

12.1. Importing from Band Manager
You can import four kinds of records from Band Manager: Band Inventory, Banding Locations, Banders,
and Bands. The first step is to use the export facilities of Band Manager to export the data in each of
these four areas. Export the files to a location on your hard drive or removable storage device that you
will be able to easily locate later, and be sure to give the files meaningful names so you know what each
of the files contains. Most often, it will be easiest to export them into the Band Manager Export folder.
When exporting files from Band Manager for future importing into Bandit, it is best to select dbf as the
file type for export in Band Manager. However, if you have user-defined fields, Excel is the preferred file
type for the export.
Imports for all four kinds of records from Band Manager can be done by selecting the appropriate Import
item located in the File menu. For each kind of record, the process is the same: find the file containing the
records you exported from Band Manager, verify that the fields from the import file match the fields in
the Bandit record, and click the Import button. Bandit will automatically verify the data from the import
file and incorporate it into the Bandit data file. In addition to Import from Band Manager, Bandit provides
the capability to import bandings, locations, and bander information from a variety of other types of files.
For more information, see Section 12.2, “Importing from Other Sources”, below.

12.1.1. Importing Band Inventory from Band Manager
Begin the process by exporting your inventory in Band Manager as a dbf (dBase IV) file into the Band
Manager Export folder and be sure to name it as something you will remember. Also check the box in
Band Manager at the bottom of the Export screen for the No. of Bands and note that number. Switch to
Bandit and click on the File menu and then select Import from Band Manager → Band Inventory from the
submenu. A dialog box will appear asking you to locate the file containing the data you exported from
Band Manager. Navigate to the Band Manager Export folder and click on the inventory file you exported
from Band Manager and wish to import into Bandit. A results box will appear telling you how many bands
were successfully imported as well as the number of spans added to your inventory. Ensure that the total
number of bands that were imported matches the number of bands shown on the inventory Export screen
as mentioned above. This will ensure that you successfully exported all of your bands from Band Manager
and imported them into Bandit.

Warning
Import Inventory from Band Manager may take a long time if you have a large number of
bands. The process is fairly quick (minutes) for less than 10,000 bands but may take some

63

Importing and Exporting

time (hours) if your inventory in Band Manager is extensive, particularly in the 100,000 band
range. Do not interrupt this process. After the import has started, clicking anywhere else in
the program will interrupt it. Interrupting the import process will result in erroneous records
being entered into the band number field and the only way to correct this is to reload the
program.

12.1.2. Importing Locations from Band Manager
Begin the process by opening Band Manager and navigating to the export function for locations by clicking
this sequence of buttons: Utilities, Program Lookups, Locations, Export. Your locations table will open.
Select dBase IV as the format and export the locations table to the Export folder by clicking on Export.
Switch to Bandit and click on the File menu and then select Import from Band Manager → Locations. A
dialog box will appear asking you to locate the file containing the data you exported from Band Manager.
Navigate to the Band Manager Export folder and click on the locations file you exported from Band
Manager and wish to import into Bandit. An Import Field Mapping box will appear. About 2/3 of the way
down the window on the right side, just at the top of the gray area, there will be an Arrange By drop-down
list. Select Matching Names from the drop-down list if it is not already there and then click the Import
button at the bottom right of the window. An Import Summary box will appear showing you how many
locations were successfully imported. Make sure this is the same number of locations you had in Band
Manager. Click OK. An Import Locations Result box will appear showing you how many locations were
added to the Bandit locations table. Click OK. The locations will now be in your table, added to the bottom
if you already had locations entered into the table. You must now add the counties to the table to get the
Valid? column to say Yes. County is required in Bandit for U.S. locations. Click on the Location tab to
navigate to the location table.

12.1.3. Importing Bander Information from Band
Manager
Begin the process by opening Band Manager and navigating to the export function by clicking this
sequence of buttons: Utilities, Program Lookups, Banders, and Export. Once again, select dBase IV as the
appropriate format and click Export. Name the file and save it in the Band Manager Export folder. Switch
to Bandit and click on the File menu and then select Import from Band Manager → Banders. A dialog box
will appear asking you to locate the file containing the data you exported from Band Manager. Navigate to
the Band Manager Export folder and click on the banders file you exported from Band Manager and wish
to import into Bandit. An Import Field Mapping box will appear. About 2/3 of the way down the window on
the right side, just at the top of the gray area, there will be an Arrange By drop-down list. Select Matching
Names from the drop-down list if it is not already there and then click the Import button at the bottom right
of the window. An Import Summary box will appear showing you how many banders were successfully
imported. Make sure this is the same number of banders you had in Band Manager. Click OK. An Import
Banders Result box will appear showing you how many banders were actually added to the Bandit bander
information table. Click OK. The banders will now be in your table, added to the bottom if you already had
banders entered into the table. You can now add the email addresses and phone numbers for sub banders
by clicking in the appropriate fields on the banders information table. The banders information table is
located by clicking the Settings section button and then the Bander Info tab.

12.1.4. Importing Banding and Recapture Records from
Band Manager
Begin the process by opening Band Manager and selecting the file containing the banding records you
wish to import into Bandit. Open that file and then click Export and go through the Band Manager export

64

Importing and Exporting

fields process. Select the dBase

IV format and click Export. Name the file and save it in the Band Manager

folder. Switch to Bandit and click on the File menu and then select Import from Band Manager →
Bands/Recaptures. A dialog box will appear asking you to locate the file containing the data you exported
from Band Manager. Navigate to the Band Manager Export folder and click on the banding records file
you exported from Band Manager and wish to import into Bandit. An Import Field Mapping box will
appear. About 2/3 of the way down the window on the right side, just at the top of the gray area, there will
be an Arrange By drop-down list. Select Matching Names from the drop-down list if it is not already there
and then click the Import button at the bottom right of the window. An Import Summary box will appear
showing you how many bands were successfully imported. Make sure this is the same number of bands
you had in Band Manager. Click OK. An Import Banders Result box will appear showing you how many
band records were actually assimilated into the Bandit banding records table. Click OK.
Export

12.2. Importing from Other Sources
Banders who have never used Band Manager, but maintain files in other formats, such as Excel, Access,
SQL Server, dBase, etc. can also import data into Bandit if they wish to do so. In the File menu, choose
Import Data From File. It is recommended that, when the data are exported from the other program, they be
in tab-delimited (.tab), comma-delimited (.csv), Excel spreadsheet (.xls), or dBase (.dbf) format.

Figure 12.1. Import Data from File

After the Import Data From File choice is made, choose the file and note that a Field Mapping screen appears.
In the Arrange By box, the recommended choice is matching names, but this option will not work unless
you have already named your fields to match those in Bandit. For fields that do not match, click and drag
the target fields up or down, using the double-sided arrow icon, to match the data you see from the source
fields on the left. You must also make sure that any field you want to import has a thick arrow, not a thin
line connecting from the source side to the target side. If the data you are importing has headings in the
first row, you should click the option Don’t import first record at the bottom of the screen.

65

Importing and Exporting

Figure 12.2. Import Field Mapping Screen

When using this import option, it is important to note that the band number can be separated into two fields:
prefix and suffix or together in one field. Also, the date can be expressed as one field or three separate
fields. The Field Mapping screen allows for either option. If Band Number is in one field it can include
a dash between prefix and suffix or not.

Tip
In Excel, numbers with dashes have the advantage that the leading zeros are maintained on
3-digit prefixes. If you have your data in separate fields or don’t want to use dashes, put an
apostrophe (single quote) in front of the band number to tell Excel to treat the value as text
rather than as a number.

Tip
Dates can be imported as either 3 separate fields: month, day, and year, or as one combined
field. If you are using one combined field, put the fields in the order month, then day, then
year, and separate the parts with either slashes '/', dashes '-', dots '.', or semicolons ';' (but you
must use the same separator character in both places). Either two- or four-digit years can be
input, but note the following: two-digit year dates are converted into four-digit year dates
based on the year in which the date is entered into Bandit, with the assumption that the fourdigit year date should be in either the next 30 years, or the preceding 70 years.

66

Importing and Exporting

12.3. Exporting from Bandit
Bandit has several ways of exporting data. You can export data to Adobe Portable Document Format
(PDF), Microsoft Excel Worksheet format, or a variety of other formats, including tab-delimited text,
comma-delimited text, SYLK, DBF, HTML Table, and XML.

Note
Microsoft Excel 2003 has a limit of 65,536 rows. If you choose the Microsoft Excel
Worksheet (.xls) format for export, only the first 65,536 records will be exported.

12.3.1. Exporting Bands, Band Inventory, Banders,
Locations and Recapture Records
To export bands from Bandit go to the File menu. Then go to the Export Into File sub menu and select Bands.
A dialog box will appear asking you to name the file you want to export the records to, where you want to
put the file, and the type of file you want to create. When you click Save (or just press Enter) a new dialog
box will appear allowing you to select the fields you want to export and the order in which you want them
to appear in the exported file. A number of fields have already been selected and will appear in the box
labelled Field export order. You can select additional fields from the list on the left and click Move to add
it to the Field export order box, click a field in the Field export order box and click Clear to remove the field
from the export list, or click and drag up and down with your cursor on the little double-pointed arrow icon
to move the fields up or down in the Field export order box. Finally, click Export to complete the operation.
Use a similar procedure to export band inventory, banders, locations, and recaptures. Each of these items
appears under the Export Into File sub menu under the Files menu. To export band inventory go to the File
menu. Then go to the Export Into File sub menu and select Band Inventory. To export banders go to the File
menu. Then go to the Export Into File sub menu and select Banders. To export locations go to the File menu.
Then go to the Export Into File sub menu and select Locations. To export recaptures go to the File menu.
Then go to the Export Into File sub menu and select Recaptures.

Tip
Bander information, banding locations, and wing and weight data can also be exported
directly from the tabbed screens associated with each of these collections in the Settings
section. See Chapter 3, Bandit Settings.

12.3.2. Exporting Reference Tables
To export reference tables go to the tab page with the reference table you want to export. Then click the
Export button in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Enter in the file name and select the file type. Tabseparated Text Files (*.tab), comma-separated Text Files and Excel Files (*.xls) are the most common.

67

Chapter 13. Bandit Backup File
13.1. Creating a Backup File
Each time you open Bandit you will see a pop-up box that asks you if you wish to create a backup file. It
is recommended that you always choose OK. By selecting OK, a backup file is created and saved before
you start making changes to the data. The backup file is normally saved into your My Documents folder
(Documents folder on the Macintosh) but you have the option of choosing an alternate location. Then,
if something happens while you are in the program, you can use the backup file to restore the Bandit
data up to the date of the backup. By selecting OK at the beginning of each session, there is no need to
worry about being unable to recover from unanticipated problems. To identify the backup files, Bandit
gives them a special name which includes the date and time the backup was created. (Bandit Data bak
200803141549.fp7 is the backup created March 14, 2008 at 3:49pm.) You may delete these files anytime
you wish, but you may want to keep at least the latest two or three files in case you need to use them. You
may also create a separate folder and move them there after they are created. You can also rename or add
to the name of the files to help you keep them straight.
In addition there is ability to create backup file at any time by using Backup Data function under the File
menu.

Tip
For additional protection against unforeseen circumstances such as disk crashes, operating
system corruption, etc., it is a good idea to store your backup files on a separate disk from the
one containing your primary data file. You can store the files on a removable disk such as a
CD, a USB-based drive, or a different hard drive in your system, if you have more than one.

13.2. Restoring from a Backup File
If you inadvertently delete your data file or you feel you have corrupted your data file to the point you
must step back to a previous version, restoring from a backup file may be necessary. Keep in mind that if
you choose to restore from a backup file,addition or corrections made since that file will be lost.
Restoring data from a backup file created in Bandit 1.02 or later is quite simple. From the File menu at the
top of the screen, click Restore From Backup. Navigate to your My Documents folder (Documents folder on
the Macintosh) and select the backup file that you wish to use to restore your data. Choose “OK” on the
pop-up dialog box. Another pop-up box will appear showing you the results of the restore process.
Restoring data from a backup file created in Bandit 1.0 is a little more complicated. After you select the
backup file you wish to use to restore your data, a series of dialog boxes will appear asking you to put in
your Name and Password. In the name field, enter user for the name and leave the password field blank. It
may be necessary to repeat this many times. At the end of this process, the pop-up box will appear showing
you the results of the restore process.

68

Appendix A. Tips and Shortcuts
On the Bands and Recaptures screens (both Details and Table data entry modes) you can duplicate the
contents of the current record into the next record by selecting Duplicate from the Records menu or using
the keyboard shortcut (Windows: CTRL-d; Macintosh: CMD-d).
To duplicate (ditto) the contents of a field from the same field in the previous record, type Windows:
CTRL-'(single quote mark); Macintosh: CMD-' (single quote mark). Add the shift key (Windows: SHIFTCTRL-' (single quote mark); Macintosh: SHIFT-CMD-' (single quote mark)) to do the duplicate (ditto)
and automatically tab to the next field.
To enter today’s date, type Windows: CTRL-(dash); Macintosh: CMD-(dash). ???
To enter the current time, type Windows: CTRL-(semicolon); Macintosh: CMD-(semicolon).
To go to the next record, type CTRL-(down arrow). To go to the previous record, type Windows: CTRL(up arrow).
To go to the first field in the record, type Windows: CTRL-(left arrow); Macintosh: CMD-(left arrow).
To go to the next field, type Tab. To go to the previous field, type Shift-Tab.
To enter Find mode, type Windows: CTRL-f; Macintosh: CMD-f. To enter Browse mode, type Windows:
CTRL-b; Macintosh: CMD-b.
To copy all of the records to the clipboard, hold down ALT-SHIFT (OPT-SHIFT on the Macintosh) and
select Copy from the Edit menu. Then go to another application, like Word or Excel, set an insertion point
and select Paste.

69

Appendix B. Bandit Band Record
Within Bandit, the Band Record is the primary place where data is stored about a banding. Although many
of the fields contain primary information about banding, some of the fields are used for error checking. In
this Appendix, only the fields of general interest to banders will be described.

1

Additional Errors

Additional error text associated with the banding record.

Age

User-visible age code in either alpha or numeric form, depending
on the setting in the preference section.

Age Code1

Numeric age code equivalent of the Age field.

AOU1

Numeric species id based on the 4-digit numbering scheme
originally developed by the American Ornithologists’ Union.

Aux Marker Band Color

The code referencing the color of the auxiliary marker band.

Aux Marker Code

The alphanumeric string imprinted on the band.

Aux Marker Code Color

The code referencing the color of the alphanumeric string imprinted
on the band.

Aux Marker Combined1

A calculated field combining all of the given auxiliary markerrelated fields.

Aux Marker Type

The type of auxiliary marker used on the bird.

Band Number

Calculated version of the band number containing the prefix, a dash,
and the suffix.

Band Size

Coded size of the band.

Bander ID

Identifier for the bander who handled this bird. If this was an official
sub-bander, this should be the sub-bander ID.

Banding Date1

Date the bird was banded.

Bill Height

Height in millimeters of the bill.

Bill Length

Length in millimeters of the bill.

Bill Width

Width in millimeters of the bill.

Bird Status1

The 3-digit code indicating the status of the bird after the banding
operation was completed.

Bird Weight

The weight in grams (mass) of the bird at the time it was captured.

Body Molt

Whether or not body molt was observed.

Brood Patch

Presence and size of the brood patch.

Capture Time

Time of day the bird was captured.

Data field submitted as part of the banding record. These fields must be error free or have the errors bypassed if able with remarks.

70

Bandit Band Record

Cloacal Protuberance

Presence and size of the cloacal protuberance.

Culmen Length

Length in millimeters of the culmen.

Date Received

Date the band was received.

Disposition1

Code indicating what happened to the band.

Errors

Error text associated with the banding record.

Ectoparasites

Whether or not ectoparasites were present on the bird.

Eye Color

Color of the eyes of the bird.

Fat Score

Amount of migratory fat found on the bird, using a scale of 1-6.

How Aged1

Code indicating how the age of the bird was determined.

How Captured

Code indicating how the bird was captured.

How Sexed1

Code indicating the method used to determine the sex of the bird.

Left Leg Color 1

Color of the 1st auxiliary marker on the left leg for non-coded
markers.

Left Leg Color 2

Color of the 2nd auxiliary marker on the left leg for non-coded
markers.

Left Leg Color 3

Color of the 3rd auxiliary marker on the left leg for non-coded
markers.

Net Nest Cavity Designator

How (or from where) the bird was captured. Could be Mist Net,
Nest, Box, etc.

Net Nest Cavity Number

Specific location where bird was captured from.

Prefix1

The 4-digit prefix of the band number. The value has leading zeros
if necessary.

Present Condition

The condition of the bird.

Right Leg Color 1

Color of the 1st auxiliary marker on the right leg for non-coded
markers.

Right Leg Color 2

Color of the 2nd auxiliary marker on the right leg for non-coded
markers.

Right Leg Color 3

Color of the 3rd auxiliary marker on the right leg for non-coded
markers.

Remarks1

Free-form text for remarks relating to this bird. May indicate
additional information about aux markers, methods used, etc. Only
the first 100 characters of the remarks are included in the data
submission.

Replaced Band Number1

If the band is a replacement band or an additional band put on a
bird, this field contains the band number of the original band.

71

Bandit Band Record

Reward Band Number1

5- or 6-digit reward band number.

Scribe

Initials or reference to the person writing down information at the
banding site.

Sex

The sex of the bird in coded form. Can be either alpha or numeric
code, depending on what the user requested in preferences.

Sex Code1

Numeric version of the sex of the bird.

Skull

Degree of skull pneumatization.

Species1

The 4-letter or 4-digit code representing the species of the bird in
either alpha or numeric format, depending on the preference set by
the user.

Species Name

The name of the species of the bird.

Submission Date

The date the banding record was (last) submitted.

Suffix1

The 5-digit suffix of the band number. This number has leading
zeros, if necessary. The 5 digits of the band number stored here are
actually the last 5 digits of what is really a 6-digit suffix.

Tail Length

Length in millimeters of the tail of the bird.

Tarsus Length

Length in millimeters of the tarsus of the bird.

Tests Performed

The tests that were performed on the bird.

Weight Time

The time of day the bird was weighted, including hours and
minutes, using the 24-hour clock.

Wing Chord

The length in millimeters of the wing chord of the bird.

72

Appendix C. Data Editing Error
Messages
The table below lists all of the errors flagged by Bandit as it edits the data, along with an explanation of the
cause of the error and the suggested way to fix it. Many of the edits apply to banding and recapture records,
so these errors are grouped together. Errors associated with banding locations are grouped separately.
Error Message

Cause

Resolution

Bypassable?

Module

Banding and Recapture Data
Age/Sex unlikely Species-Age-Sex-Month
on this date
combination invalid.

See Species-Age-SexMonth table for valid
combinations. **May be
bypassed with remarks.

Aux.
Marker
Type VS other
marker-related
info

Verify if an Aux Marker
was used and choose
correct marker type if not,
empty other marker-related
fields.

Aux Marker Type field
is blank but some other
marker-related field is
populated

Yes**

Bndg, Recap

Bndg, Recap

Bad
Recapture Recapture Age does not Verify Age and Dates on
Age VS Banded agree to Banding Age both sides (banding and
Age
(based on banding and recapture).
recapture dates).

Recap

Bad Recapture
Sex VS Banded
Sex

Sex should correspond
on banding and recapture
records.

Verify sex of recaptured
bird.

Recap

Bad Recapture
Species VS
Banded Species

Species are not the same
for same band number.

Verify recapture band
number; Verify species.

Recap

Bad Size

Species is not supposed to Go to species reference
wear this size of band.
table to see the lisBndg,
Recapt of appropriate
sizes. May be bypassed
with an explanatory
remark.

Yes

Band Found in
Disposition code is set to F Set disposition code to R
Bands Inventory. while the banding record is or verify band number.
Incorrect
in inventory.
disposition code
used
Band Not
Disposition code is set to R Verify disposition code.
Found in Bands and the banding record is May be bypassed.
Inventory. Make not in inventory.
sure this is not a
foreign recapture
Banding
Date Banding Date greater than Verify banding date. Verify
Greater
Than Current Date
if system date is current.
Current Date

73

Bndg

Recap

Yes

Recap

Bndg

Data Editing Error Messages

Error Message

Cause

Resolution

Bypassable?

Module

Banding Date VS Banding Date less than Make sure Received Date
Received Date
Date Received
in band inventory is set to
proper value

Bndg

Duplicated band
number

Bndg

How
VS
Status

This band number already Fix band number.
exists.

Obtained The banding record shows
Banding that this bird has an
auxiliary marker but the
how obtained code shows
that the federal band, not
the auxiliary marker, was
read from a distance.

If the federal band was Yes
determined via the auxiliary
marker, modify the how
obtained to 29. If the federal
band was read, bypass the
error.

Recap

Choose an Age from the
drop-down list.

Bndg, Recap

Invalid Age

Age is not in the list.

Invalid Band
Number

Not numeric band number Fix band number (prefix
or Band Number Length is and suffix).
not equal to 9.

Bndg, Recap

Invalid Banding
Date

Banding Date greater
than Current Date or
Banding Date less than
Date Received.

Make sure Received Date
in band inventory is set
to proper value. Verify
banding date.

Bndg

Invalid Bird
Status VS Tests
Performed

If Bird Status indicates
blood sample was taken,
Test Performed needs
to reflect this (and vice
versa.)

Make sure bird status
reflects test performed
information.

Bndg

Invalid Color(s)

Color of markers or Color
of Code are not correctly
coded.

Choose appropriate colors
from associated drop-down
lists.

Bndg, Recap

Invalid How
Aged code

How Aged value is not in
the list of values.

Make sure the How Aged
field is either empty or
contains a value from the
drop-down list.

Bndg, Recap

Invalid
Obtained

How How obtained is empty or Verify How Obtained
not in the list of acceptable
values

Recap

Invalid
How Present condition of the Verify how obtained and *
Obtained
VS bird is not corresponding to present condition (*some
Present Condition how obtained code.
cases may be by-passed)

Recap

Invalid How
Sexed code

Bndg, Recap

How Sexed value is not in Make sure the How Sexed
the list of values.
field is either empty or
contains a value from the
drop-down list.

Invalid Location Location is empty or not Make sure Location field
verified.
is not empty. Go to
Settings screen, Locations
tab.
Verify
location

74

Recap

Data Editing Error Messages

Error Message

Invalid Marker
Type

Cause

Resolution
Bypassable?
information. Valid column
has to be Yes. (Hint: Put
your cursor over any No
value to see what the errors
are.)

Marker Type is not
correctly coded.

Choose Marker Type from *
drop-down.(*on recapture
site is bypassable)

Module

Bndg, Recap

Invalid Present Present Condition of the Verify Present Condition
Condition
bird/band is empty or not in
the list of acceptable values

Recap

Invalid Recapture Recapture Date greater
Date
than Current Date or is
empty.

Verify recapture date.

Recap

Invalid Recapture Recapture Date less than
Date VS Date
Date Received.
Received

Verify recapture date.

Recap

Invalid Replaced If Disposition code is 5,
Verify disposition and
Band Number
6, S, or D, Replaced or
replaced band number
Second Band Number has fields.
to be reported, and the
length of this number must
be 9. Otherwise this field
has to be empty.

Yes

Bndg, Recap

Invalid Reward
Band Number

If Status indicates this is a Verify status and reward
reward band, the length of band fields.
Reward Band has to be 5
or 6.

Bndg

Invalid Sex

Sex is not in the list.

Bndg, Recap

Invalid Species

Species is not entered or is Verify species.
not in the species list.

Choose a Sex from the drop
down list.

Bndg, Recap

Invalid Status VS If this bird has been double Verify disposition and bird
Disposition Code banded (Disposition code status.
D or S,) Status needs to
reflect this.

Bndg

Invalid Status VS How Sexed is L
How Sexed
(laparotomy or
laparoscopy) but Status
does not reflect this.

Bndg

Status code must end
with 11, 12, or 85 if
laparotomy or laparoscopy
was doneBndg, Recap.

Invalid Status
Bird status needs to
Verify Status and Aux
VS Marker Type correspond to Aux Marker Marker Type fields.
Code
Type.

Bndg

Location used is
not valid

Bndg, Recap

Location is empty or not
verified.

Make sure Location
field is not empty. Go to
Settings screen, Locations
tab. Verify location
information. Valid column

75

Data Editing Error Messages

Error Message

Cause

Resolution
Bypassable?
has to be Yes. (Hint: Put
your cursor over any No
value to see what the errors
are.)

Module

Marker Code is Aux. marker code is longer Verify Aux Marker Code Yes
too long
than 5 char.
field.

Bndg, Recap

Recapture date
before banded

Recap

Banding date is greater
than recapture date.

Verify dates.

Recapture date Banding date is greater than Verify dates. *By-passable *
before or on or equal to recapture date. if dates are the same.
banding date

Recap

Remarks
are
required
for
selected
how
obtained code

How obtained shows that Explain in the remarks how
status of the bird was status of the bird was
changed, but remarks are changed.
empty.

Recap

Replaced band?

The
selected
present
condition suggests that
the band may have been
replaced on this bird.

If the band was not replaced Yes
and bird released without
a band, bypass the error.
If the band was replaced,
the replacement should be
reported in the banding
record for the new band and
this recapture deleted.

Recap

Same-day
recapture record

This bird was already
entered into the system as
recaptured on this date.

If appropriate, delete one
of the recapture records.
By-passable.

Recap

Yes

Sex in Banding Sex at banding is unknown, Sex in banding record needs
Record
must but is known at recapture to set to 6 or 7 depending on
be
set
to time.
Sex in the recapture record.
correct
sexed
upon recapture
value

Recap

Species unlikely
in state

Species-Region
See Species-State-Month
combination questionable. reference table for valid
combinations. **May be
bypassed with remarks.

Yes**

Bndg, Recap

Species unlikely
on date

Species-Month
See Species-State-Month
combination questionable. reference table for valid
combinations. **May be
bypassed with remarks.

Yes**

Bndg, Recap

Status code
Remarks field is empty
requires remarks but the status code entered
requires an explanation in
the remarks field.

76

Add appropriate
information to the remarks
field. See the BBL web site
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/
BBL/manual/status.htm
for details. (Status codes
ending with 25 and 29
require a marker type to

Bndg

Data Editing Error Messages

Error Message

Cause

Resolution
Bypassable?
be entered in the remarks
field. Status codes ending
with 06 or 85, or codes
starting with 5, 7, or 8
require an explanation to
be entered in the remarks
field. Status codes starting
with 2 require capture
location and date to be
entered in the remarks
field.)

Module

Undefined Age

Age is empty.

Choose an age from dropdown list.

Bndg, Recap

Undefined Bird
Status

Bird Status is empty.

Set Bird Status field from
the choices in the dropdown list.

Bndg

Undefined
Record Type

Disposition code is empty
or invalid.

Choose a Disposition code
from the drop-down list.

Bndg, Recap

Undefined Sex

Sex is empty.

Choose a Sex code from
the drop-down list. *Bypassable for recaptures.

*

Bndg, Recap

Location Data
Direction
town
specified

from Miles from nearest town/ Provide direction from
not place is not empty, but town or empty miles from
direction is not provided. town field.

Loc

Invalid
coordinates VS
Region

Coordinates provided do
Verify Latitude/Longitude
not correspond to Country/ and Country/State.
State combination

Loc

Invalid Country

Country is empty or
invalid.

Choose a Country from the
drop-down list.

Loc

Invalid County

US locations must have a
county entered.

Choose a County from the
drop-down list.

Loc

Invalid
Description

Location
empty.

Description

is Enter a short description for
this location.

Loc

Invalid Direction Hemisphere values are
incorrect.

Verify the hemisphere
fields for both Latitude and
Longitude.

Loc

Invalid Direction Direction from town is not Choose correct direction
from town
empty and is not in the list. from drop down list, or
empty the field.

Loc

Invalid Lat

Latitude degrees must be Verify Latitude (Deg, Min,
in the range 0-90. Minutes Sec).
and seconds must be in the
range 0-59.

Loc

Invalid Lat Hem

Latitude hemisphere must Choose Latitude
be N (North) or S (South). Hemisphere from the dropdown list.

Loc

77

Data Editing Error Messages

Error Message

Cause

Resolution

Bypassable?

Invalid Location Location ID is empty, not Set Location ID to correct
ID
unique, or length is greater value.
than 8 characters.

Loc

Invalid Location Location Precision is
Precision
empty or invalid.

Loc

Choose Location Precision
from the drop-down list.

Invalid Long

Longitude degrees must be Verify Longitude (Deg,
in the range from 0 to 180. Min, Sec).
Minutes and seconds must
be in the range 0-59.

Loc

Invalid Long
Hem

Longitude hemisphere
must be E (East) or W
(West).

Choose Longitude
Hemisphere from the dropdown list.

Loc

Invalid Minutes

Latitude and longitude
minutes must be in the
range 0 to 59.

Verify Minutes.

Loc

Invalid Region

Bandit is unable to find
the region code based on
Country/State provided.

Verify the Country and
State fields.

Loc

Invalid Seconds

Latitude and longitude
seconds must be in the
range 0 to 59.

Verify seconds.

Loc

Invalid State

US and Canada locations
must have State entered.

Choose State from the
drop-down list.

Loc

Miles from town Direction from nearest Provide miles or empty
not specified
town/place is not empty, direction from town field.
but miles are not provided.

Loc

Miles must be
positive, numeric,
preferably
in
range from 0 to 10

Miles are not numeric, not
in range 0-999, or the length
of the field is longer than 5
characters.

Loc

Minutes/
Seconds do not
correspond to
the center of 1
degree block

If Location Precision is 60, Verify Minutes and
minutes must be 30 and
Seconds or change
seconds must be 00.
Location Precision.

Loc

Minutes/
Seconds do not
correspond to
the center of 10
minute block

If Location Precision is
10, minutes must be 05,
15, 25, 35, 45, or 55 and
seconds must be 00.

Loc

Verify Miles from town.
Round
miles
to
1
(maximum 2) digits after
point if needed. You
may choose different townmiles-direction description
if available.

Verify Minutes and
Seconds or change
Location Precision.

Nearest Town is Nearest town/Place name Provide
unknown
field is empty.
Place.

Nearest

Town/

Negative Lat Deg Negative value in location Fix Latitude Dec field.
latitude degrees field.
(Hint: Set the hemisphere

78

Loc
Loc

Module

Data Editing Error Messages

Error Message

Cause

Resolution
Bypassable?
to E (East) or W (West)
in the field following
seconds.)

Negative Lat Min Negative value in location Fix Latitude Min field.
latitude minutes field.

Loc

Negative Lat Sec Negative value in location Fix Latitude Sec field.
latitude seconds field.

Loc

Negative Long
Deg

Negative value in location Fix Longitude Dec field.
longitude degrees field.
(Hint: Set the hemisphere
to E (East) or W (West)
in the field following
seconds.)

Loc

Negative Long
Min

Negative value in location Fix Longitude Min field.
longitude minutes field.

Loc

Negative Long
Sec

Negative value in location Fix Longitude Sec field.
longitude seconds field.

Loc

Not Numeric Lat Invalid character in
Deg
latitude degrees field.

Latitude Deg field must be
numeric.

Loc

Not Numeric Lat Invalid character in
Min
latitude minutes field.

Latitude Min field must be
numeric.

Loc

Not Numeric Lat Invalid character in
Sec
latitude seconds field.

Latitude Sec field must be
numeric.

Loc

Not Numeric
Long Deg

Invalid character in
longitude degrees field.

Longitude Deg field must
be numeric.

Loc

Not Numeric
Long Min

Invalid character in
longitude minutes field.

Longitude Min field must
be numeric.

Loc

Not Numeric
Long Sec

Invalid character in
longitude seconds field.

Longitude Sec field must
be numeric.

Loc

Seconds do not
correspond to
the center of 1
minute block

If Location Precision is 1,
seconds must be 30.

Verify Seconds or change
Location Precision.

Loc

79

Module

Appendix D. Alert Messages
The table below lists all of the pop-up alert messages displayed by Bandit along with the circumstance
in which the message appears.
Error Message

Cause
Band Inventory

Not all required fields are entered. Please enter all When entering band spans into inventory, you must
the fields.
enter band number prefix, starting suffix, ending
suffix, and band size.
One or more bands are already in the file for the When entering band spans into inventory, the band
range you specified. Please recheck your values.
number range cannot include bands that are already
in the file.
There are no unused bands in this span. Nothing to If you try to use the Records menu function Remove
remove.
Unused Bands from Inventory Record on a span in
the inventory that does not have unused bands you
will see this message. Make sure your cursor is on
the correct span before selecting this function. (The
column Unused Quantity shows how many bands in
the span are unused.)
Locations
An error occurred while trying to add this location. Every location must have a unique identifier
Location IDs must be unique.
associated with it. The identifier can be up to
8 characters long. The identifier is used on the
banding record to refer back to the location.
The location x can not be deleted because there are In the Locations screen, check the value in the
x bands with this location.
column Bands Count. If there is a non-zero value
here, you cannot delete the location because there
are banding records which reference this location.
Make sure your cursor is on the correct location
before trying to delete a location.
Bands
There are no band records which match the filter The filtering criteria you specified did not select any
request.
records. Look at all the possibilities in the filtering
criteria and change it to match the records you want
to see.
No band record to duplicate to.

The Duplicate Record function takes the values from
the current record and copies them into the next
record. If there is no next record, you will see this
message.

Second Band x has been filled previously. Do you For double-banded 1st band and double-banded 2nd
want to overwrite existing record?
band, if the record associated with the second band
is already filled in, you will get this message. This is
just a warning so you do not inadvertently overwrite
previously entered data.
Second Band x not found. Please, provide correct For a double-banded bird (disposition code D or S,)
second band number, or if it is correct, go to band both the 1st band number and the 2nd band number
must be in your inventory. If you meant to add an

80

Alert Messages

Error Message
Cause
inventory and add the corresponding span in to the additional band, use disposition code 6. If this is a
system.
replacement band, use disposition code 5.
Invalid Second Band Number.

The value in the Second Band Number field is not a
valid band number.

Current Band x and Second Band x are the same. The value in the Second Band Number field is not a
Please correct second band number.
valid band number.
Band x has status x. Recapture may not be reported The status of the band (as indicated in the Disposition
for this band.
field) is undefined or indicates that the band (or
record of the band) was lost or destroyed. You
cannot report a recapture by clicking the Report
Recapture button. (You may, however, add the
recapture through the Add Recapture button on the
Recaptures screen.)
Data Submission
Permit number is not defined. Please go to Settings: Your permit number must be entered on the Settings
Bander Info, and define permit number
screen before data submission can occur.
The country where submission has to be sent is not The country of submission (Canada or US) must
defined.
be selected on the Settings screen before data
submission can occur.
No valid data was found to be submitted.

The submission process only submits banding
records which are either new or have changed since
the last submission. Further, the records have to
be error free before they can be submitted. Some
errors can be bypassed, but you must select the
Bypass Errors option on the banding record. Prior to
submitting data, it is a good idea to use the Banding
Data to be Submitted report (or the By Location:
Banding Data to be Submitted report) to see what
data will be submitted.
Recaptures

There are no recapture records which match the The filtering criteria you specified did not select any
filter request.
records. Look at all the possibilities in the filtering
criteria and change it to match the records you want
to see.
Reports
No records found for this report.

The report cannot be produced because there is no
data available for this report.
Importing

This process may take a long time, please let it finish This warning message appears when the File →
(you may want to run it during night). Alert - no
edits will be performed on inventory records. No Import from Band Manager → Band Inventory menu
duplicated records will be loaded. If you are not item is selected.
sure if data is valid, you better use Add to Inventory
function instead.
Import Band Inventory Error: Band x already exists Duplicate records are not allowed in the band
in inventory. Cannot import this band.
inventory.

81

Alert Messages

Error Message

Cause
Miscellaneous

Function is under construction.

May appear when a capability has been partially
implemented.

Program Expiration: This version of Bandit 0.x has Your version of Bandit is an old version. The new
expired. Contact the USGS Bird Banding Lab for a versions do not expire.
new version.

82

Appendix E. Frequently Asked
Questions about Bandit
Q:

How do I import banding data with bands that have a 3-digit prefix?

A:

Make sure the file you are importing has lead zeros. In Excel, you must put an apostrophe in front
of the number for the lead zero to stay.

Q:

If I am importing a file from another program, must I have a dash in the band numbers?

A:

No. Bandit with take the band number with or without dashes.

Q:

When I download the Mac version, my computer says it doesn’t recognize the file Bandit_1.02.bin.
How do I proceed?

A:

You need to either change the extension to .dmg or open it with Disk Utility.

Q:

I am trying to install the program and I get a message saying “Error opening registry key, access
denied”. How do I proceed?

A:

You need administrative access to install the program. Contact your I.T. support staff.

Q:

My email program is not sending submission data automatically. What email address should I use
to submit my banding data?

A:

or for Canadian Banding Office
submissions.

Q:

I’m having trouble getting the program to work. Where do I go to get help?

A:

Send an email request for help to the Bandit Help Desk, , available
also from the Help menu or the opening screen. You can also call the Help desk at 301-497-5566.

Q:

If I import data from Band Manager, will Bandit recognize if those data have already been submitted?

A:

Bandit does not recognize that schedules have already been submitted via Band Manager. To avoid
re-submitting the data, they must be marked as submitted in Bandit. In version 2.0 and above, use
the "Mark As Submitted" function. In older versions you must click the "submit" button, but stop
the email. This will mark the data as "submitted". You can then add (or import) new data and only
it will be sent. If you have a mix of previously-submitted AND new data, mark only the previouslysubmitted.

Q:

Can I create user-defined fields in Bandit?

A:

In versions of Bandit prior to version 2.01 you cannot. Starting from Bandit version 2.01 this feature
is available. See documentation chapter 5.5. (User-defined Fields) for details.

Q:

How can I filter on fields other than band number?

A:

See Chapter 9, Find Mode.

Q:

Is there a way to copy identical data from one record to the next?

A:

Yes,to duplicate an entire line of data, make sure you have clicked any box in the line to be repeated.
Hold the control key down while hitting the letter "D". This will copy all of the data (all fields) from
this line to the next line. If you only want to copy data from one field to the next line, click in that

83

Frequently Asked
Questions about Bandit
field on the line below the data you want to copy and hold the control key down while hitting the
apostrophe(') key. This will copy the data from the line above for that field only.
Q:

How do I restore from a BANDIT backup file?

A:

Use Restore From Backup function under File menu. See Chapter 13, Bandit Backup File

Q:

I chose ALPHA for entering data but used Numeric Codes. I am now getting an error message. Can
I correct this by re-choosing NUMERIC?

A:

Yes.

Q:

How do I export my data from Band Manager so I can import it in to Bandit?

A:

NOTE: You cannot copy your Band Manager files via Windows Explorer, you must follow the
steps below.
Band Inventory
Open Band Manager
Click Inventory
Click Export
Select Export to .dbf (preferred) or .xls format
Click Export
Name the file and click Save
The file will be saved in the Export Directory of Band Manager. If you saved it as Excel, it should
be opened in Excel and saved as a newer version (Bandit will not accept the older version). You can
then import the file into Bandit. (or save the file onto disc, etc.)
Subs
Open Band Manager
Click Utilities
Click Program Lookups
Click Banders
Click Export
Select Export to .dbf (preferred) or .xls. Format
Click Export
Name the file and click Save
The file will be saved in the Export Directory of Band Manager. If you saved it as Excel, it should
be opened in Excel and saved as a newer version (Bandit will not accept the older version). You can
then import the file into Bandit. (or save the file onto disc, etc.)
Locations
84

Frequently Asked
Questions about Bandit
Open Band Manager
Click Utilities
Click Program Lookups
Click Locations
Click Export
Select Export to .dbf (preferred) or .xls. Format
Click Export
Name the file and click Save
The file will be saved in the Export Directory of Band Manager. If you saved it as Excel, it should
be opened in Excel and saved as a newer version (Bandit will not accept the older version). You can
then import the file into Bandit. (or save the file onto disc, etc.)
Bands (banding datafile)
Open Band Manager
Click Data
Select and open appropriate .dbf file
Click Export
Follow instructions regarding “Export Setup”
Click Export
Select Export to .dbf (preferred) or .xls. Format
Click Export
Name the file and click Save
The file will be saved in the Export Directory of Band Manager. If you saved it as Excel, it should
be opened in Excel and saved as a newer version (Bandit will not accept the older version). You can
then import the file into Bandit. (or save the file onto disc, etc.).
Q:

I have gotten a message that a file is corrupted. How do I recover it?

A:

To recover a damaged file:
On Windows machines, press Ctrl+Shift while double-clicking the Bandit icon on your desktop.
Hold the keys down until you see the "Open Damaged File" dialog box.
On Mac OS X machines, press Option + command while double-clicking the Bandit icon on your
desktop. Hold the keys down until you see the "Open Damaged File" dialog box.
In "Open Damaged File" dialog box, browse to Bandit installation directory, choose Bandit
App.BND file and click select. Wait until recovery process for this file is finished, click ok, and
85

Frequently Asked
Questions about Bandit
when you see "Open Damaged File" dialog box, select Bandit Data.BND file. When both files are
recovered, cancel "Open Damaged File" dialog box.
During the recovery process, Bandit:
1. Creates a new file.
2. Renames any damaged files by adding "Old" to the end of the filenames (for example, "Bandit
Data.BND" is renamed to "Bandit Data Old.BND").
3. Gives the (new) repaired file the original name(Bandit Data.BND).
If you experience unusual behavior in the recovered files, you should revert to a backup copy
(explained here) that was made before the file became corrupt, or contact Help for technical
assistance. After you verify your data is correct, you can delete old files from bandit installation
directory (Bandit Data Old.BND, Bandit App Old.BND).

86

Appendix F. Release Notes
F.1. Version 3.0 (released 01/20/2011)
Version 3.0 contains several new major features along with a significant number of fixes, refinements and
enhancements. A summary of the changes is given below, along with references to the relevant sections
containing more information, as appropriate.
1. Added records into the table for editing Region VS Coordinates (St. Helena - region 001-Africa)
2. Import Bands from File bug is fixed (only records in found set were imported, not all records)
3. Status X85 may allow color marker (bug fixed)
4. Falkland Islands (FK) flyway fixed (0 changed to 8)
5. Marker field added to the "Banding Data to be Submitted Report"
6. Status X85 may allow blood sample taken (bug fixed)
7. Two species added 3651, 6113
8. LO_HI_LAT_LON_REGION table reloaded
9. How Obtained table loaded. Fields How Obtained Code and Description added to Recapture module.
Default =89
10.Locations Layout created to make it easier deal with locations (sort, search, view as table or detail et.)
Locations tab from Settings screen is removed.
11.Nearest Town, Miles From Town, Direction From Town fields were added to the location record.
12.Banding Submission is separated. There are 2 functions: Submit New Data and Submit Modified Data.
13.Map interface added to the Location (see layout Locations With Map) Map zoom level field added to
location record (not to be sent to BBL yet)
14.Country-State-County table reloaded.
15.Same Day Recapture error is by-passable now, but only one recapture per day(the first received) is
going to be accepted by BBL. Currently only “foreign” recaptures are loaded into BBL Database.
16.Undo/Redo command are available in some simple modifications (typing, pasting)
17.Status bar moved to the top of the screen from the left part of it (FileMaker 10 related change)
18.Link to www.reportband.gov added to the help menu.
19.Function “Show Local Map” added to the location detail screen. The map functionality may be available
only if there is Internet connection.
20.Remarks field length extended to 250 char.
21.Email to the Bandit Help Desk will be prepopulated with some system info.

87

Release Notes

22.Acceptable band sizes for Northern Pygmy Owl (3790) changed from 2,3,4 to 3,3A,4
23.Total Bands count is available on inventory screen (this is the count of individual bands for the currently
shown list of spans).
24."Aux Marker Combined" field will not be calculated unless an Aux Marker Type has been chosen.
"space" is not going to be kept in Aux Marker Code field.
25.Band Size, Lat Float, Long Float, Location Coordinates fields are available on Banding screen. (not
modifiable).
26.Size 1D added as acceptable size for multiple species.
27.Error messages lookup is available in “Help” menu and in “Reference” screen.
28.Explanation what needs to be in Remarks is shown on Band Detail screen near remarks (based on bird
status code).
29.Bird Status 640 and 685 are not acceptable.
30.Backup Data function added to the “File” menu.
31.“Add to inventory” bug fixed (more checks performed before adding bands).
32.Species Name for species 0985 changed from Dark-rumped Petrel to Hawaiian Petrel, and the fourletter alpha code from DRPE to HAPE.
33.Import Bands/Recaptures bug fixed (the “banding date” label is now “Banding Recapture Date”, but it
needs to be matched manually as well as Second Band field.
34.New colors added to the color lookup table (to be used in color markers).
35.Upper limit of weight for species 6580 changed from 10 to 12 for both sexes.
36.Size 4A added as valid band size for Cooper's Hawks
37.Validation to compare empty Aux Marker Type to non-empty other marker related fields added.
38.“Band Edits” tab under settings renamed into “Optional Validations”.
39.Banding Info added to the recapture detail screen.
40.Recapture Age VS Banding Ade validation added.
41.“Save As PDF” option has been removed. In order to save as pdf, choose “Print” and use print to file
option with Adobe PDF, or PDF Creator as a printer instead.
42.”Find Related Bandings” and ”Find Related Recaptures” buttons are available now on Location (detail)
screen.
43.”Delete All Found Recaptures” function is available under records menu on Recapture screens.
44.Recapture validations added: “Invalid How Obtained VS Present Condition”, “Remarks are required
for selected how obtained code”, “Replaced band?”, “How Obtained VS Banding Status”.
45.Option to choose do not send email automatically added. See it on the Settings screen.

88

Release Notes

46.Record Status flag added to the banding record. M - modified after submission, N - new record to be
submitted, S -submitted.
47.Species 0012, 1441, 7221, 7702, 4172 are added; Some Species Names and/or Alpha codes were
modified.
Below is the list of species affected by this change:
AOU NEW ALPHA NEW NAME

NOTES

7310

TUTI

TUFTED TITMOUSE

2300

WISN

WILSONS SNIPE

3152

AFCD

African Collared-Dove

8100

AFSI

African Silverbill

7900

AKIK

Akikiki

8010

AKOH

Akohekohe

1820

AMFL

American Flamingo

4010

ATTW

American Three-toed Woodpecker

9141

ARRW

Arrowhead Warbler

2870

BLOY

Black Oystercatcher

8101

Bronze Mannikin

9116

BRTR

Bronze Mannikin

3814

BTPA

Brown-throated Parakeet

3181

CADO

Caribbean Dove

7621

CCTH

Clay-colored Thrush

3450

COBH

Common Black-Hawk

7720

DSFL

Dark-sided Flycatcher

3891

EAQU

Eared Quetzal

4170

EWPW

Eastern Whip-poor-will

6960

EYWA

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

7613

EYTH

Eyebrowed Thrush

Was already BRMA

Opens up YEWA for Yellow
Warbler

7390

Gray-headed Chickadee

THIS WAS ALREADY GHCH!!

7730

Gray-streaked Flycatcher

NO AFFECT ON ABBR.

0890

Great Shearwater

NO AFFECT ON ABBR.

7870

Greater Akialoa

NO AFFECT ON ABBR.

7423

GNLA

Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush

4271

GVIO

Green Violetear

4934

HIMY

Hill Myna

7422

HWAM

9132

JAVI

7930

KAKA

Kakawahie

7700

HAEL

Hawaii Elepaio

Hwamei
Jamaican Vireo

89

Release Notes

4551

LSFL

La Sagra's Flycatcher

4190

LEPA

Least Pauraque

2790

LRSP

Lesser Sand-Plover

8800

MASW

Mariana Swiftlet

7920

MAAL

Maui Alauahio

5491

NESP

Nelson's Sparrow

7940

OAAL

Oahu Alauahio

5490

SALS

Saltmarsh Sparrow

1711

TABG

Taiga Bean-Goose

7710

TAFL

Taiga Flycatcher

8120

TRMU

Tricolored Munia

9166

VETR

Venezuelan Troupial

6101

WESP

Western Spindalis

8042

YCBI

Yellow-crowned Bishop

Opens up MOPL for Mountain
Plover

48.Wing-Weght table was updated.
Version 2.01 (04/16/2008)
1. Import bands bug is fixed.
2. County 014 (Broomfield) added to the list of counties in Colorado(US).
3. Import Inventory bug related to missing leading zeros is fixed.
4. Submission Bands confirmation message was modified to clarify what was done and what to do if
confirmation was not received.
5. Import Inventory bug related to empty records and duplicated records is fixed.
6. Lat Min and Long Min - 0 will automatically precede numbers less than 10.

90