One of the interesting types of data that scientists obtain through bird banding is information on the life span of many bird species. By re-trapping birds or receiving band reports from birdwatchers who find dead birds, scientists can use the database maintained by the Bird Banding Laboratory to determine when and where a bird was first banded. This works especially well with birds who are banded in their first year, providing biologists with a clear picture of the lifespan of many species.
Based on these band recoveries, here are the longest known life-spans for a variety of common bird species from North and Central America.
| Species | Age in “years-months” |
| Red-necked Grebe | 4-10 |
| Common Loon | 19-01 |
| Common Murre | 26-05 |
| Herring Gull | 28-00 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 27-03 |
| Black Tern | 8-05 |
| Ashy Storm-Petrel | 31-00 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 22-06 |
| Northern Gannet | 26-11 |
| American White Pelican | 31-06 |
| Mallard | 26-04 |
| Blue-winged Teal | 23-03 |
| Canada Goose | 30-04 |
| Tundra Swan | 30-07 |
| Greater Flamingo | 13-02 |
| Great Blue Heron | 24-06 |
| American Coot | 22-04 |
| Common Snipe | 9-03 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | 4-09 |
| Killdeer | 10-11 |
| Ruffed Grouse | 8-06 |
| Mourning Dove | 31-04 |
| Turkey Vulture | 16-10 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 28-10 |
| Bald Eagle | 30-09 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 19-03 |
| American Kestrel | 14-08 |
| Eastern Screech Owl | 20-08 |
| Great Horned Owl | 27-09 |
| Greater Roadrunner | 3-09 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 11-11 |
| Acorn Woodpecker | 11-01 |
| Common Nighthawk | 9-00 |
| Chimney Swift | 14-00 |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 9-01 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 4-00 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 11-01 |
| Eastern Wood Peewee | 7-01 |
| Least Flycatcher | 8-00 |
| Blue Jay | 17-06 |
| Florida Scrub Jay | 14-11 |
| Common Raven | 17-02 |
| European Starling | 15-03 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 16-10 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 15-09 |
| Baltimore Oriole | 11-07 |
| Common Grackle | 22-11 |
| House Finch | 11-07 |
| American Goldfinch | 10-05 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 6-10 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 9-08 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 11-10 |
| Eastern Towhee | 12-03 |
| Song Sparrow | 11-04 |
| Northern Cardinal | 15-09 |
| Indigo Bunting | 9-03 |
| Scarlet Tanager | 10-01 |
| Purple Martin | 13-09 |
| Tree Swallow | 12-01 |
| Bohemian Waxwing | 5-10 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 10-02 |
| Black-and-White Warbler | 11-03 |
| Tennessee Warbler | 6-05 |
| Blackburnian Warbler | 8-02 |
| American Redstart | 10-01 |
| House Sparrow | 15-09 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 12-05 |
| House Wren | 9-00 |
| Gray Catbird | 17-11 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 9-10 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 4-02 |
| American Robin | 13-11 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 10-05 |