Larry Dolphin’s voice rang clear through the snow-crisp area, a winter afternoon sun casting short shadows around the I.J. Holton Intermediate School students circling the man.

“Two, seven, two, zero …” he read from the band on the bird’s leg.

Dolphin, former naturalist and director of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center and today a volunteer there, was holding a black cap chickadee, and reading off the number on the band encircling its leg. That number is all-important to understanding the age of the bird and where it was banded. The number specifies its banding location and is entered into a database with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said Dolphin, so someone checking a band can access the service to figure out where the bird was originally banded.

As it turned out, the bird was banded right here at the nature center and it was about four years old.

Most of the chickadees recaptured are from the center property and stay at the center all year long. Others could be captured upon migration through the area, in the spring.

“When he got one, and opened the band, I thought he would hurt the bird, but it didn’t,” said Kirin Opstad, 11. “It was cool.”

Alia Retterath, 11, agreed.

“You can learn a lot” from bird banding, she said. “You can figure out a lot about where he’s been.”

There were 12 classes of fifth graders that spent a day at the center, banding birds outside and learning more about birds during talks inside; and also playing outdoor games. While cross-country skiing was on the schedule, the trails were too icy to negotiate. So, a winter-type of hide and seek — using animal actions instead — was played.