Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Band Geese at OCTC
Nearly 40 Canadian Geese were banded to aid in studying, identifying, and tracking individual birds
Owensboro, KY (06/12/2024) — Representatives from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife came to Owensboro Community & Technical College (OCTC) today to band the newer generations of geese that have hatched on campus. Bird banding is a very important technique for studying, identifying, and tracking individual birds.
Approximately 50 Canadian Geese were safely corralled in a shady area near the larger of two lakes on OCTC's campus this morning. From New Hartford Road, you could see 20 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife representatives herding the geese. Once corralled, the younger geese were separated from the flock to determine whether they were large enough to be banded. Those too small for bands were put in a separate enclosure and later released with the first adult female that was successfully banded.
Many of the geese tagged today are considered "local" because they were born and raised here. OCTC's Nature Committee, Maintenance & Operations department, administration, staff, faculty, and students take pride in the wildlife fostered on campus and work together to ensure they are protected.
On the opposite side of OCTC's campus is the Virginia Miles Nature Center, which is home to the second, smaller lake on campus. At the center of the lake is a nesting island which benefits the environment by providing important nesting habitats for various animals and birds. In 2018, the National Wildlife Federation recognized the nature center as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. The 18-acre nature center is home to many species of wildlife throughout the year and serves as a stopover for migratory birds. The college uses the center for service-learning projects, and area school children visit the site frequently for field trips.
If you have any questions about the Virginia Miles Nature Center at OCTC or about the geese banded today, please contact OCTC Nature Committee member and Marketing Coordinator for Recruitment, Katie Powers at katie.powers@kctcs.edu.
If you would like to view more photos of the geese on OCTC's campus, please visit the OCTC Facebook page at facebook.com/OwensboroCTC.
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Owensboro Community & Technical College is one of the sixteen community and technical colleges that make up the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. OCTC serves the KY counties of Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and McLean. OCTC has three campuses in Daviess County and a Center and Annex in Hancock County. OCTC strives to serve the communities in the service area by providing associate degree education for transfer, state of the art technical education for students focusing on entering the workforce, customized business and industry solutions through the Workforce Solutions division, and adult education and business and industry testing through the SkillTrain unit.
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The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is the Commonwealth's largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky's largest provider of workforce training and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. We help students fulfill their dreams of creating a better life through programs that lead directly to jobs or help them transfer to one of our four-year partners.
Connect with OCTC: Owensboro.kctcs | Facebook.com/owensboroctc | Twitter@OCTC_Tweets | Instagram OwensboroCTC
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