Nets deployed in this manner often use a playback of a species' song or call, or a model of that species placed near the net to lure the targeted individuals into the net (e.g. ). Because broadcast netting captures birds indiscriminately, this technique is better suited to examining the species that occur within a specific habitat. Bird banding stations throughout the United States use this method. Typically, such stations collect a set of standard measurements from each individual, including mass, wing chord, breeding status, body fat index, sex, age, and molt status. Although setting up mist nets is time-consuming and requires certification, there are certain advantages compared to visual and aural monitoring techniques, such as sampling species that may be poorly detected in other ways. It also allows easy standardization, hands-on examination, and reduces misidentification of species. Because they allow scientists to examine species up close, mist nets are often used in mark-recapture studies over extended periods of time to detect trends in population indices. Some uses of data collected using mist net sampling are: Mark-recapture for population sampling Humane capture and relocation of small birds or bats Tagging and tracking Testing health of bird or bat species and for ectoparasite studies Examination of avian phenology in response to climatic and other variables Examination of patterns of molt Because there is still debate as to whether or not these techniques provide precise data, it is suggested that mist netting be used as a supplement to aural and visual methods of observation. One of the main disadvantages of mist nets is that the numbers captured may only represent a small proportion of the true population size. Mist netting is a unique method in that it provides demographic estimates throughout all seasons, and offers valuable guides to relative abundance of certain species or birds and/or bats. Example study Mist nets can be important tools for collecting data to reveal critical ecological conditions in a variety of situations. This summarized study, "Effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian understory bird communities" by Richard O. Bierregaard and Thomas E. Lovejoy, used mist nets to analyze the effects of forest fragmentation on understory bird communities in terra firme forest of Central Amazon. Data from intensive mist netting mark-recapture programs on understory birds from isolated forest reserves were compared to pre-isolation data from the same reserves to investigate changes related to isolation from continuous forest. Birds surveyed