I would give biologists (I am not one) the benefit of the doubt that they really try to help birds in the bigger picture. When it comes to banding, I don't think that one little ring per leg if properly done causes leg injuries. Canadian researchers put big yellow neck bands on adult female snow geese that supposedly don't have a negative impact on their life expectancy. That may be true but I don't know if the geese are comfortable not being able to get rid of it. Last year I saw red knots with 2-3 rings and even little flags on each leg. Particularly the flags are so big that I have a hard time imagining they don't cause discomfort. The numerous little rings seem somewhat outdated to me. Isn't this what computer databases are for?