Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sunday's Results

We did a little better than yesterday with 30 new birds and had 10 recaptures of 10 different species.  The "cold" front seemed to have brought in some new birds even though the front had not yet passed at the time we opened the nets.  We'll see if we do any better tomorrow now that front has pushed into the Atlantic. 

 

It was neat to band 3 Swainson's Thrushes today because it is unusual for us to band more than 1 or 2 during a morning.  Thrushes typically follow the same molt pattern as Gray Catbirds (see the September 27 post) with hatch-years showing distinct molt limits within the greater coverts.  They usually only replace a couple of inner greater coverts which contrast with the unreplaced outer greater coverts.  The outer greater coverts usually have distinct buffy teardrops or tips to them when fresh and the replaced inner greater coverts will be darker, fresher, and about the same color as the back feathers.  Now, that being said . . . the following individual was much more difficult to age.  It appeared that all of the greater coverts had been replaced leading us to originally call it an after hatch-year.  However, upon a closer look at the greater coverts, they just didn't look right to me for an adult bird.  We ended up skulling the bird and found out that it was indeed a hatch-year bird.   Skulling is a process in which banders spread apart the feathers on the head and look through the skin for areas of the skull that have not been ossified yet.  This bird showed two small windows (spots that have not fully ossified) at the back of the skull.  In addition, if you look very closely you can kind of make out the very thin and indistinct buffy tips on the greater coverts.


Swainson's Thrush (hatch-year, sex unknown)


Swainson's Thrush (not showing the obvious molt limit in the greater coverts typical of hatch-years)


Painted Buntings undergo an "extra" molt during their 1st molt cycle. This molt typically begins within a week of fledging and only replaces the body feathers.  Later in the fall and before they migrate, they undergo another molt called the presupplemental molt which is eccentric meaning that the wing molt is incomplete.  Typically the outer primaries and the inner secondaries are replaced leaving a block of juvenile feathers in between.  Additionally, they will molt the rectrices (tail feathers), greater coverts, and their body plumage again.  The resulting plumage is female-like in both sexes with males retaining their female-like plumage through next year's breeding season.  Today we captured a Painted Bunting that had almost completed its 1st prebasic molt, and showed the eccentric molt pattern discussed above.  We have captured several Painted Buntings lately that have almost complete or complete prebasic molts which means that they will be leaving Kiawah Island soon. 



Painted Bunting (hatch-year, sex unknown)
         

NEW BIRDS

2 Red-eyed Vireo

2 House Wren

3 Swainson's Thrush

5 Gray Catbird

2 Black-throated Blue Warbler

5 Palm Warbler

2 American Redstart

8 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

3 House Wren

2 Gray Catbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

2 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  30

# of Recaptures:  10

# of Species:  10

Effort:  80.75 net-hours

Capture Rate:  49.5 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Saturday's Results

We banded 18 new birds along with 9 recaptures of 8 different species today. 
Hopefully this front will bring in some migrants with it - we will find out over the next couple of days.

 

NEW BIRDS

1 House Wren

1 Swainson's Thrush

11 Gray Catbird

1 American Redstart

4 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

2 Gray Catbird

1 Brown Thrasher

2 Common Yellowthroat

3 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  18

# of Recaptures:  9

# of Species:  8

Effort: 76.5 net-hours

Capture Rate:  35.3 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Friday, September 28, 2012

Friday's Results: Clay-colored Sparrow!

It turned out to be a decent morning with 28 new birds and 3 recaptures of 13 different species.  We banded two more new species for the 2012 fall season:  House Finches and CLAY-COLORED SPARROW.  The Clay-colored Sparrow was an unexpected surprise!  Although, they are seen occasionally on Kiawah (maybe once every fall), it was really cool to see one up close.  This bird kind of threw me for a few minutes.  I knew right away it was from the genus Spizella based on the size and shape of the bill but I wasn't 100% sure of the species.  It took a couple of measurements, consulting a field guide, and looking at the picture of the Clay-colored Sparrow that Lex Glover banded near Columbia, SC a few weeks ago before I was confident of the species.  



Clay-colored Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)


Clay-colored Sparrow


Clay-colored Sparrow


I couldn't resist adding the following photo of a very photogenic Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  The second photo is an excellent example of a molt limit in the greater coverts of this hatch-year bird.   




Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (hatch-year, sex unknown)


Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (hatch-year:  molt limit in greater coverts)

NEW BIRDS

2 Carolina Chickadee

1 House Wren

1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

10 Gray Catbird

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Palm Warbler

1 American Redstart

3 Common Yellowthroat

1  Clay-colored Sparrow

3 Northern Cardinal

2 Painted Bunting

2 House Finch


RECAPTURES

1 Brown Thrasher

1 Northern Cardinal

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  28

# of Recaptures:  3

# of Species:  13

Effort:  72.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  43.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16


         

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Thursday's Results: A Mimi-"day"

I cannot take credit for the bad pun in the title of this post - that was all Michael! 

 

We banded 14 new birds and had 1 recapture of 5 species today.  Most of the birds banded today came from the family Mimidae including 7 Gray Catbirds and 2 Northern Mockingbirds.  Because it was a slow day and we had so many catbirds I decided that I would dedicate this post to Gray Catbirds.  Although this is a rather dull looking bird from afar, up close it is quite handsome.    




Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird (note black cap on head)


Gray Catbird (undertail coverts)

Ageing these birds is fairly straight forward but as you will see they can be tricky too.  The first thing banders look at when ageing Gray Catbirds is the greater coverts.  In hatch-year birds, there will usually be a molt limit in the greater coverts between the retained juvenile feathers and the replaced "adult" feathers.  The retained feathers will be a dull gray color with a indistinct rusty edging while the replaced feathers will be dark gray without rusty edging.  In the following example, this bird actually skipped a feather during its first prebasic molt.    




This is a more typical example of a molt limit in catbirds with a few inner greater coverts being replaced during the first prebasic molt and several outer greater coverts being retained. 





This bird replaced all of its greater coverts on its right wing leading one to think that is may be an adult bird.  However, a quick look at the left wing revealed that it was actually a hatch-year bird and it retained the second to last outer greater covert. 


 

Right wing

Left Wing




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BIRDS

3 House Wren

9 Gray Catbird

2 Northern Mockingbird

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  14

# of Recaptures:  1

# of Species:  5

Effort:  75.2 net-hours

Capture Rate:  19.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wednesday's Results

We banded 17 new birds and had 6 recaptures of 9 different species today.  It looks like we are going to be stuck this current weather pattern until at least Sunday or Monday when a cold front may make it this far south.  If it does, lets hope it brings some birds with it!    

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 House Wren

4 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow Warbler

1 Palm Warbler

8 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

 

RECAPTURES

2 Carolina Chickadee

2 Carolina Wren

1 Gray Catbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  17

# of Recaptures:  6

# of Species:  9

Effort:  70.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  32.7 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16   

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tuesday's Results

We banded 27 new birds and had 3 recaptures of 7 species.  I kind of expected more birds today as the winds were out of the north overnight.  The winds did have an easterly component to them which may have "blown" migrants inland and away from the immediate coast.


Traill's Flycatcher (hatch-year, sex unknown)
 

NEW BIRDS

1 Traill's Flycatcher

1 White-eyed Vireo

3 Red-eyed Vireo

2 House Wren

6 Gray Catbird

14 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Yellowthroat

2 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  27

# of Recaptures:  3

# of Species:  7

Effort:  73.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  40.8 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Monday, September 24, 2012

Monday's Results - "The Return of the Yellowthroats"

We had a great day of banding with 143 new birds and 2 recaptures of 13 species.  Species diversity was not what I was hoping for as Common Yellowthroats made up over 70% of the banded birds but we did have two female Cape May Warblers (1 adult and 1 juvenile) and a nice array of other warblers.  Gray Catbirds numbers appear to be increasing a little bit everyday and I bet the next big cold front will bring in a bunch of them.


Another interesting highlight of the day was a Sora that was flushed from the grasses as we were checking the nets. 



Cape May Warbler (hatch-year, female)


Cape May Warbler (after hatch-year, female)

The latin name for the Cape May Warbler is Setophaga tigrina.  Tigrina translates to "striped like a tiger" which is a very good description for this species which can be very difficult to identify in the fall.  If you see a confusing-looking warbler in the fall that is heavily streaked across the breast with a greenish-yellow rump patch, it probably is a Cape May Warbler.   

 
Cape May Warbler (after hatch-year, female)

I would like to thank the banding assistants and the volunteers for all of their hard work!  Pat, Dave, and Keith you did a great job scribing data!    


NEW BIRDS

1 Traill's Flycatcher

2 Red-eyed Vireo

9 Gray Catbird

3 Yellow Warbler

2 Cape May Warbler

4 Black-throated Blue Warbler

2 Prairie Warbler

5 Palm Warbler

1 Black-and-White Warbler

10 American Redstart

3 Northern Waterthrush

101 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  143

# of Birds Recaptured:  2

# of Species:  13

Effort:  86.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  167.8 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Sunday's Results

Sorry I missed yesterday's post - I was not feeling well after banding but I just posted yesterday's results here:  http://kiawahislandbanding.blogspot.com/2012/09/saturdays-results_23.html 

 

We banded 60 new birds and had 1 recapture of 15 species today.  Palm Warblers gave Common Yellowthroats a run for their money early in the morning, but Palms were eventually edged out by the end of the day.  We had a good diversity of species as well as two new species for the 2012 fall season:  House Wren and Wood Thrush.  

 

I am predicting that the next two days will be very good for banding with north winds and much cooler temperatures.  Unfortunately for the Chicago Cubs (which I am currently watching as I write this post), the wind is blowing in from left field but that is the right direction for good bird migration!



Magnolia Warbler (after hatch-year, male)


House Wren (after hatch-year, sex unknown)


Wood Thrush (hatch-year, sex unknown)


NEW BIRDS

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 White-eyed Vireo

1 House Wren

1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

4 Swainson's Thrush

1 Wood Thrush

1 Magnolia Warbler

8 Black-throated Blue Warbler

14 Palm Warbler

4 American Redstart

21 Common Yellowthroat

1 Yellow-breasted Chat

1 Indigo Bunting

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of New Birds:  60

# of Recaptures: 1

# of Species:  15

Effort:  73.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  82.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Saturday's Results

I was feeling a bit under the weather after banding yesterday and wasn't able to do my normal write-up.  So here it is a day late . . .

 

As expected, we had a rather slow morning with 17 new birds and 2 recaptures of 11 different species.  "Big" birds were well represented today with a Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, 3 Northern Mockingbirds, and an Eastern Towhee. 




Eastern Towhee (after hatch-year, male)


These two Northern Mockingbirds were caught together in the same net.  The bird on the left is an adult while the bird on the right is a juvenile.  Two obvious characteristics stood out when we were determining their age.  The first is eye color; note the bright yellow eye on the adult compared to the dull yellow eye in the juvenile.  The other thing we noticed was that the juvenile had spotting on the upper breast and the adult had a clean white breast.  


Northern Mockingbird (left:  after hatch-year, right:  hatch-year)



NEW BIRDS

1 White-eyed Vireo

2 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Veery

1 Swainson's Thrush

1 Gray Catbird

3 Northern Mockingbird

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Northern Waterthrush

4 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Northern Waterthrush

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of New Birds:  17

# of Recaptures:  2

# of Species:  11

Effort:  68.8 net-hours

Capture Rate:  27.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16 

Friday, September 21, 2012

Friday's Results

We had another good day of banding with 87 new birds and 6 recaptures of 15 different species.  Winds are expected to shift to the south sometime today or tonight, so tomorrow will probably be much slower.  However, another cold front is scheduled to arrive early Sunday morning which means Sunday and Monday may be great banding days.


Brown Thrasher (after hatch-year, sex unknown)


Palm Warbler (hatch-year, sex unknown)


NEW BIRDS

1 "Traill's" Flycatcher

1 White-eyed Vireo

5 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Chickadee

2 Veery

4 Gray Catbird

1 Brown Thrasher

6 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Prairie Warbler

5 Palm Warbler

3 American Redstart

2 Northern Waterthrush

53 Common Yellowthroat

2 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

2 Carolina Chickadee

1 Carolina Wren

1 American Redstart

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of New Birds:  87

# of Recaptures:  6

# of Species:  15

Effort:  76.8 net-hours

Capture Rate:  121.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Thursday's Results - A Big Day!

As we were walking in the dark on our way to the banding station this morning, we could hear the flight calls of lots of migrants overhead, and I knew we were in for a good day of banding.  It turned out to be a fantastic day with 177 new birds and 2 recaptures of 16 different species!  Just like on September 10th after the last major cold front hit, Common Yellowthroats were everywhere with 141 of them being banded.  We also banded a few new species for the 2012 fall season - Northern Parula, Summer Tanager, and a somewhat early Ruby-crowned Kinglet!  In addition, we captured our 2nd Magnolia Warbler of the season.


Thanks to the banding crew for all their hard work today!       



Northern Parula (hatch-year, male)


In hatch-year male Summer Tanagers, sex can only be determined if there are some red feathers present on the head or other parts of the body.  However, if there are no red feathers present, we cannot automatically assume that it is a female.  A proportion of hatch-year males can lack red feathers which prevents certain identification.   


Summer Tanager (hatch-year, sex unknown)


Ruby-crowned Kinglet (hatch-year, female)


Magnolia Warbler (hatch-year, unknown)
  

NEW BIRDS

2 "Traill's" Flycatcher

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Swainson's Thrush

2 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Northern Parula

1 Yellow Warbler

1 Magnolia Warbler

4 Black-throated Blue Warbler

3 Prairie Warbler

3 Palm Warbler

12 American Redstart

3 Northern Waterthrush

141 Common Yellowthroat

1 Summer Tanager

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  92.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  194.6 bird/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Wednesday's Results - The Calm Before the Storm?

We banded 6 new birds along with 6 recaptures of 6 different species.  Jeez, I hope that's not bad luck?  Widespread rain across the northeastern United States last night probably prevented any substantial migration from occurring overnight.  In addition, the wind did not shift to the north until around 10am this morning.  North winds are expected overnight so I am hoping that today was just the "calm before the storm" and we will have a good day tomorrow!  

 

Some birds are able to time their migration to take advantage of seasonally abundant resources.  Right now at KIBS, berries of several species are beginning to ripen such as pokeweed, beautyberry, and Smilex.  I suspect that over the next couple of weeks we will start seeing (and banding) Gray Catbirds and thrushes in much greater numbers as a result of the numerous berry producing plants that are now fruiting.  


Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)


American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)


Resident species such as this Northern Mockingbird also take advantage of this abundant food source as evident by the purplish stains on the feathers under the tail.  Banders must also be on their toes during this time, especially when taking a bird that is head-high out of the net.  On a few occasions, I have received an unpleasant face full of purplish goo.  Not only does it stain the bird's feathers - it stains the skin for a while too!   


Northern Mockingbird
     

NEW BIRDS

2 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Veery

3 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

2 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  73.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  16.3 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

No Banding Today - Too Windy!

We did not attempt to open the nets this morning due to the strong SW winds.  I am hopeful for tomorrow morning as the wind is suppose to calm and shift around to the north.


Monday, September 17, 2012

A Slow Monday Morning

Another slow morning with only 13 new birds and 4 recaptures of 9 different species.  At the closing of nets yesterday we were sitting at 996 birds banded so far this season, so it was inevitable that today we would band the 1000th bird of season.  With all the Common Yellowthroats that we have been banding lately, I would have bet that one would have been the 1000th bird.  However, that was not the case when this adult male Yellow Warbler was pulled out of the bag and received the honor!

 

The weather tomorrow is not looking good for banding.  Maybe the rain and wind holds off until later in the morning and we can get a couple of hours in.


Yellow Warbler (after hatch-year, male) - 1000th bird of the 2012 fall season!
 

        

NEW BIRDS

1 "Traill's" Flycatcher

3 Red-eyed Vireo

3 Yellow Warbler

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Northern Waterthrush

4 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 Brown Thrasher

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  73.6

Capture Rate:  23.1

# of Nets:  16

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Sunday's Results

We only banded 21 new birds along with 12 recaptures of 12 different species.  It appears that all the birds that were at KIBS yesterday have cleared out to make room for the next wave of migrants.  It looks like there might be a weak cold front that will move through during the middle of the week, so hopefully it will bring some birds with it. 

I felt like I have been neglecting our resident species, so here is a photo of a fiesty Carolina Wren that was banded today. 


Carolina Wren (after hatch-year, sex unknown)
 

NEW BIRDS

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Carolina Wren

3 Yellow Warbler

2 Black-throated Blue Warbler

3 American Redstart

4 Northern Waterthrush

7 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 White-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Carolina Wren

2 Ovenbird

2 Common Yellowthroat

1 Hooded Warbler

3 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  76.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  43.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Saturday's Results

We had a great day of banding with 99 new birds and 2 recaptures of 14 different species!  I wasn't really expecting to catch as many birds as we did today.  We have had north winds all week but after Monday's 227 bird day, activity seemed to fall off substantially.  I think it had to do with the windier conditions we experienced from Tuesday - Friday and the birds were able to see the nets moving and avoid them.  The wind was calm today with only a light breeze and most of the nets hung motionless.

 

I finally got around to updating the Banding Staff page.  Please, take a few minutes to meet the banders!    

 

No surprise - Common Yellowthroats were the most abundant species again with 78 banded.  We also banded our first Gray Catbird of the year.  Catbirds are one of the most commonly banded species at KIBS, so look for their numbers to increase substantially over the next several weeks.  The Bird-of-the-Day was an adult male CAPE MAY WARBLER - first of the fall season.  We don't band many Cape May Warblers at KIBS, so it was a real treat to band an adult male! 


Cape May Warbler (after hatch-year, male)


Black-throated Blue Warblers (BTBW) are fairly common at KIBS.  The males are a stunning blue with accents of black and white while the females are more subdued like in the photo below.  Ageing females is fairly straight forward and follows the A1/A2 molt limit pattern (as described in the 21 August 2012 post).  A supporting ageing characteristic to look at on female BTBW is the size of the white wing patch.  Adults females will usually have a larger white wing patch than juveniles (After hatch-year > 6.0mm, hatch-year < 6.0mm). 


Black-throated Blue Warbler (hatch-year, female)


Baltimore Orioles are not banded regularly at KIBS.  This bird had obvious fault bars in the tail which can be a useful tool for ageing.  Fault bars usually occur when the nutritional demand for growing feathers is not met during harsh conditions and the bird cannot feed or is not being fed (in the case of nestlings).  Fault bars are most obvious in the tail because, in juveniles (hatch-years) the tail feathers are grown in very quickly and all at the same time.  As a result, fault bar will appear in somewhat of a straight line across the tail or at equal distances from the tip of the feather. 


Baltimore Oriole (hatch-year, female)




Baltimore Oriole (note fault bars on the tail)


NEW BIRDS

1 Downy Woodpecker

2 White-eyed Vireo

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 Gray Catbird

1 Cape May Warbler

4 Black-throated Blue Warbler

2 Prairie Warbler

4 American Redstart

1 Ovenbird

1 Northern Waterthrush

78 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

1 Baltimore Oriole

 

RECAPTURES

2 Common Yellowthroat

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  70.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  143.5 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Friday, September 14, 2012

Friday's Results

Today we banded 42 new birds and had 9 recaptures of 8 different species.  Common Yellowthroats continue to be the most commonly banded species right now and probably will be for the next several weeks.     

 

NEW BIRDS

3 Palm Warbler

3 American Redstart

35 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 Prairie Warbler

2 American Redstart

1 Ovenbird

3 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  70.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  72.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Thursday's Results

Almost a carbon copy of yesterday with 30 new birds banded and 7 recaptures of 12 different species.  However, with did band 2 new species for the 2012 fall season - Palm Warbler and Indigo Bunting!  Both Palm Warblers and Indigo Buntings are fairly common migrants at KIBS. 




"Western" Palm Warbler (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Indigo Bunting (hatch-year, probable female)


 

NEW BIRDS

3 Red-eyed Vireo

2 Prairie Warbler

1 Palm Warbler

2 Northern Waterthrush

20 Common Yellowthroat

1 Hooded Warbler

1 Indigo Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 White-eyed Vireo

1 American Redstart

1 Northern Cardinal

3 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  76.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  48.7 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Wednesday's Results

We banded 30 new birds and had 5 recaptures of 11 different species today.  The highlight of the day was a LEAST FLYCATCHER - the first of the season!  Note the prominent almond-shaped eye-ring - a key characteristic for identifying Least Flycatchers.


Least Flycatcher

We also observed this unusual species of crab.  I believe it is a Blue Land Crab (Cardiosoma guanhumi).  If anybody has other ideas, please let me know.  This crab is commonly found across the Caribbean, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and coast countries of Central and South America.  In the US, it is restricted to coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico and South Florida.  I am not sure what it's doing at Kiawah Island but it seemed to be at home at KIBS.  



Blue Land Crab


Blue Land Crab


NEW BIRDS

1 Least Flycatcher

1 White-eyed Vireo

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Yellow Warbler

1 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Ovenbird

3 Northern Waterthrush

18 Common Yellowthroat

3 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 White-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 American Redstart

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  73.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  47.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Tuesday's Results

Bird activity cooled off a bit today with 52 new birds banded and 10 more recaptured of 12 different species.  There were still lots of Common Yellowthroats which made up almost 75% of all birds banded.  We also banded our second Blue Grosbeak of the season and another Common Ground-Dove. 



Common Yellowthroat (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Even though this Common Yellowthroat does not have a black mask we cannot automatically assume that it is a female.  A small proportion of hatch-year males can lack black facial feathers which precludes us from positively identifying it as a female.  Alternatively, you cannot assume that all birds with black facial feathers are males, because some "older" after hatch-year females can take on male characteristics and have some black facial markings. 


White-eyed Vireo (after hatch-year, sex unknown)


The very prominent white-eye in the appropriately named, White-eyed Vireo, is one of the best clues in ageing them in the fall.  Adults (of after hatch-years) will have a very bright white eye while hatch-year birds will have a grayish or brownish eye.  This still should be used with caution as some hatch-year birds can have brighter colored eyes, so I always double check by looking at the bird's plumage. 



NEW BIRDS

1 Common Ground-Dove

2 White-eyed Vireo

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Veery

1 Prairie Warbler

1 American Redstart

1 Ovenbird

3 Northern Waterthrush

38 Common Yellowthroat

1 Blue Grosbeak

2 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 Brown Thrasher

1 Prairie Warbler

2 American Redstart

4 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  72.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  86.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Monday, September 10, 2012

Monday's Huge Day!

We set a new fall record today with the banding of 227 new birds plus 11 recaptures of 23 different species!  Common Yellowthroats were everywhere with 151 of them banded!  I actually ran out of size 0 bands at the end of the day and we had to let 20 Common Yellowthroats go without banding.  I learned a valuable lesson - when you think you have enough bands . . . grab an extra package.  We also have several American Redstarts and Red-eyed Vireos.  The Bird-of-the-Day was a NASHVILLE WARBLER which is the first time we have ever banded one at KIBS!

 

North winds are predicted for the rest of the week so it will be interesting to see if these type of numbers continue. The banding crew did a wonderful job today! In the next couple of days I will be updating the "Banding Staff" tab with profiles of the banding crew. Stay tuned.



Common Yellowthroat (after hatch-year, male)

Nashville Warbler (hatch-year, female)

NEW BIRDS

1 Common Ground-Dove

3 "Traill's" Flycatcher

1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

4 White-eyed Vireo

15 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Wren

1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

3 Veery

1 Swainson's Thrush

1 Nashville Warbler

2 Yellow Warbler

1 Magnolia Warbler

5 Black-throated Blue Warbler

6 Prairie Warbler

3 Black-and-White Warbler

24 American Redstart

3 Northern Waterthrush

151 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 Downy Woodpecker

2 Carolina Chickadee

1 Carolina Wren

1 Ovenbird

2 Common Yellowthroat

2 Northern Cardinal

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

Effort: 99.2 net-hours

Capture Rate: 239.9 birds/100 net-hours (excluding birds released unbanded)

# of Nets: 16

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sunday's Results

Well, the "cold" front arrived a little later than forecasted but we still banded 32 new birds with 4 recaptures of 13 different species.  Common Yellowthroats finally have started to arrive in substantial numbers with 14 banded today.  Additionally, we banded two new species for the season - Eastern Wood-Pewee and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  

 

We are expecting north winds and cooler temperatures the rest of week, so I am hoping for alot of birds!



Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (after hatch-year, sex unknown)


NEW BIRDS

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 Eastern Wood-Pewee

1 "Traill's" Flycatcher

1 White-eyed Vireo

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

2 Yellow Warbler

4 Black-throated Blue Warbler

3 Prairie Warbler

1 Worm-eating Warbler

2 American Redstart

14 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

3 Carolina Chickadee

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  76.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  47.4 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Saturday's Results

There was a definite increase in migrant activity this morning probably due to the advancing cold front scheduled to arrive in the morning .  We banded 31 new birds and had 2 recaptures of 12 different species.  We had a very good mix of  neotropical warblers including American Redstart, Prairie Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Worm-eating Warbler, and Wilson's Warbler.  



Wilson's Warbler (hatch-year, female)


Worm-eating Warbler (after hatch-year, sex unknown)

We also banded our second Acadian Flycather of the season this morning.  These can be difficult to separate from "Traill's" Flycatcher by plumage alone, therefore a number of measurements are taken.  One of the first things we look at when we get an Acadian/"Traill's" is the color of the legs.  Grayish legs indicate Acadian while blackish legs point toward "Traill's".  However, leg color alone is not enough for most individuals and other measurements such as bill length and width are needed. 




Acadian Flycatcher:  note the gray-colored legs


NEW BIRDS

2 Common Ground-Dove

1 Acadian Flycatcher

2 Red-eyed Vireo

2 Yellow Warbler

2 Prairie Warbler

2 Worm-eating Warbler

2 Black-and-White Warbler

1 American Redstart

5 Northern Waterthrush

10 Common Yellowthroat

1 Wilson's Warbler

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

BANDING STATS

Effort:  80.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  41.3 bird/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16