Conures - open leg bands

Question
Chrys: I was doing a web search on leg banding in regard to wild-caught conures and saw a related post from you on this site. I've been keeping exotic finches and small parrots for about 7 years. About 6 years ago I acquired a pair of jenday conures from a bird sanctuary that was being forced to close because of zoning regulations. These birds had been dumped at the sanctuary a few years prior, were living in a large outdoor cage, and had not been handled during their stay at the sanctuary. I was told they were a breeding pair (why would a sanctuary encourage more breeding?) that had laid but not successfully hatched any eggs. I purchased the pair because they didn't appear to be tame, and I felt they had an uncertain future. To my surprise, with a little time, a lot of patience, and an occasional loss of flesh (mine!), they became very loving pets. I never encouraged them to breed, but to my surprise after about 5 years I started finding eggs on the bottom of the cage! Actually, way too many eggs. Turns out I have two females. Anyway, here's my question: each of them has an open band. I can't read the writing on the band; it's too small. Do you think these birds may have been wild-caught? They're about 13 or 14 years old now. Thanks for your help! Pam Grieger

Answer
Hi, Pam.  Thanks for posting!

Open leg bands can mean the conures were wild caught and went through a port quarantine station, but you'd need to use a magnifying glass and read the printing on the band so you could research what the band reads.  However, open leg bands can also mean the original breeder didn't band them when they were young enough in order to use closed bands so someone put open leg bands on them when they were older.  You really need to see what the printing on the bands says and go from there in order to determine.

Chrys