Clubs & associations
Your bands. Your members. One place to find them.
Clubs, societies and associations have banded Australian birds for generations, each with their own scheme. BIRD doesn’t replace any of that. We give your members a free, private place to register the birds wearing your bands, so if one goes missing, the band can lead it home.
Why it matters
A band can only lead home if someone can look it up.
When a banded bird turns up in a stranger’s backyard or at a vet, the finder usually has no way to know which club issued the band, let alone who bred the bird or who owns it now. Many birds have changed hands several times since they were banded.
BIRD connects the band to the bird’s current owner, privately. The finder reports what they’ve found, BIRD matches the band, and the owner is told straight away. Your scheme keeps doing what it does; BIRD is the part that happens after a bird leaves the aviary.
How we work with you
We adopt your scheme. We don’t compete with it.
Australia has no single standard for aviary bands, and it doesn’t need one imposed on it. BIRD accepts every club, society, association and manufacturer format as it is.
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Your bands stay yours
Members record your bands exactly as you issue them, with your name as the issuer. We don’t re-number, re-band or replace anything.
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Your register stays yours
We don’t ask for your membership list or breeding records, and we never will. Members choose what they put on BIRD.
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No fees, no exclusivity
BIRD is free for your members and free for you. Work with us and with anyone else you like.
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Owners stay private
Finders never see a member’s details. We don’t sell or share data, and we won’t use it to market to your members.
What BIRD offers
For your members, and for you
- Available now
Free registration for every member
Birds, bands, microchips, photos and parentage, with lost-bird alerts, posters and private messaging with finders.
- Available now
Your bands recorded the way you issue them
Members enter the inscription, colour, closed or open band and the issuing club. Vets and rescues who look up a band see who issued it.
- Available now
Transfers and lineage
When a member sells a bird, its record, bands and parentage move to the buyer, and the breeder keeps a view of the family line.
- With your help
Your band format, recognised
Share your format and year colours and BIRD will recognise your bands: the issuer fills in automatically, and our identification guide explains how to read them.
- With your help
Found birds routed to you as well
If you run your own lost-and-found process (as pigeon federations do), we’ll point finders of your bands to it, alongside BIRD.
- With your help
Materials for your members
A short note for your newsletter, a flyer for shows and meetings, and a page for your website, written with you.
For your members
Registering takes a few minutes
- 1 Create a free account With an email address. No membership number needed.
- 2 Add each bird Species, colours, a photo, and the band written exactly as it appears, with your club as the issuer.
- 3 Add parents and breeder Optional, and linked if the parents are registered too.
- 4 Keep it up to date Transfer the record when a bird is sold, and mark it lost the moment it goes missing.
What we’d ask of you
Four small things
- Tell your members BIRD exists, in a newsletter, at a meeting or on your website.
- Share how your bands are made up (codes, year and colours) so we can recognise them.
- Nominate a contact we can reach if a found bird is wearing one of your bands.
- Tell us what would make BIRD more useful for your members.
None of these are conditions. Your members are welcome on BIRD whether or not you get in touch.
Questions clubs ask
Questions and answers
Do we have to change our bands or our numbering?
No. Members record your bands exactly as you issue them. If two clubs happen to use the same number, BIRD tells them apart by the issuer, the band colour and year, and the bird’s species, colours and photos.
Do you want our membership list or ring register?
No. We don’t need it and won’t ask for it. Each member decides what to register. If your club would like to offer members a bulk upload in future, it would be the member’s choice and under their account.
Is BIRD trying to set its own band standard?
We’re working with band manufacturers on an optional format for new bands that makes each one unique and easy to trace, for breeders who don’t already belong to a scheme. Clubs and associations are welcome to adopt any part of it, but they don’t need to. Your existing format is supported as it is, and always will be.
We already reunite our own birds. Where does BIRD fit?
Alongside you. Pigeon federations, for example, have long-running lost-bird processes, and our found-bird helper already points finders of racing pigeons to them. Tell us how your process works and we’ll route finders of your bands to you as well as to the owner.
Who runs BIRD, and how is it paid for?
BIRD is operated by PAPACITO PTY LTD, an Australian company, and is free for owners, finders, professionals and clubs. Today its operator pays its running costs; in future, partnerships with band manufacturers may help. It isn’t a charity or a government agency, and it isn’t endorsed by any government. More about BIRD.
Can we say we’re a BIRD partner?
Once we’ve agreed how we’ll work together, yes, and we’ll list your club on our partners page if you’d like. Until then, you’re welcome to tell members about BIRD in your own words.
Get in touch
Let’s help your members’ birds get home.
Whether you’re a state association, a species society or a small local club, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us your club’s name, the birds your members keep, and how your bands are made up.