Bird Longevity: How Long Do Birds Live?

With fall migration winding down, another wave of bird banding is also wrapping up. Many licensed bird banders are monitoring fall migration and hoping to re-catch birds to monitor their movements and measure an individual bird’s longevity. A recent article in North American Bird Bander shared updated data on some of the longest lived birds. This quiz explores the age of some of the longer lived individuals of several species.

Hint: When answering these questions, remember, larger birds tend to live longer, and smaller birds tend to have a shorter life span. Also note that these are wild birds. Captive birds tend to live longer when well fed and not threatened by predators.

All bird banding should be performed under authorization of permits from the USGS BBL.

If you find a banded bird please report where and when you found it to: https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/index.cfm