Back when I was hanging out in swamps with the wrong crowd (duck hunters
) i shot two banded birds in one year. One was a standard federal band and was a local bird. The other was not federal and only had a confusing set of initials and numbers on it and no address.
I did a lot of digging and some one suggested the abbreviation sounded like a nature center located about 75 miles east of where I shot the widgeon. I contacted them and it was from their program. I always wondered what their return rate was since only a local willing to spend the time was likely to figure it out.