[Keith C.]

I have friends that reuse old bands on younger birds, so a band does not necessarilly tell you the true age of the bird. All you know for sure is that the bird is no older than the date on the band.
The oldest bird I have is banded and is a 1996 born, white homer, that is still producing young birds.
I call it my Methusela pigeon.
Keith

 

[Keith C.]

But you can't tell on a really old bird if the band is off by a few years and some birds like people look much younger or older than they are.
Even nest mates can look dramatically different from each other age wise.
Keith