having been to sterling forest to photograph the kites on at least 8 different days so far (my office is only 15 min. away from the site), my guess is that someone mistakenly saw the white leg feathers and orange leg skin color and thought there were white/orange bands. these 2 birds are the same birds each time i have been there. the female has some fairly distinctive white patches on her back. their behavior in terms of where they perch and bring nesting material is consistent each day. and having established this area as their territory, i am sure they would not tolerate any other raptors around. twice i have seen them chase out bald eagles that have drifted into the area. if someone has photos of a banded female, then i stand corrected steve sachs
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