>A small dead "parrot" was found on Panama City Beach about two weeks
>ago.  It had a round leg band on it, which has USDAM 236 stamped on
>it.  Can anyone tell what USDAM 236 means?  Many thanks for any help.
It sounds like a quarantine station band number. If you call the local
USDA office they may be able to help a bit. Since importation of
wild-caught birds is now illegal in the US, I suspect the bird was
imported some time ago, banded, then perhaps got loose from someplace.
The most you can probably hope for by chasing down the band number is to
find out through which quarantine station it came into the US, and
*perhaps* the year of importation. It's my understanding that the
government did not keep close records on which band number was on what
bird.
--Kathy
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