Two great birds for KIBS

 Captain Sam's:

Another bird-full day has blasted by us. For the third consecutive day we've processed over 250 birds. Today we banded 240 new individuals and recaptured 27! Even the next two days may bring over 200 birds into our nets. It was another Gray Catbird heavy day with 114 new and 10 recaptures, however a few goodies found their way in there like another House Finch and Gray-cheeked Thrush. In particular we had our first of the season Blackpoll Warbler. As displayed by the image below, this species is quite the impressive migrant. They are one of few North American songbirds that are trans-Atlantic migrants. Usually when we catch this species, its associated with strong East winds since they'll be out over the ocean while the pass KIBS. This was a little unexpected for me today, but all the more exciting!

-- Dan E.

Hatch Year Blackpoll Warbler (KA)

Little Bear:

Todays total was lower than the last few days. We had a total of 93 birds captured, with only 4 of those birds being recaptures. Winds were a little high today, which could have been the cause for a slower day, but who knows, maybe birds just don't want to hang out at LB today. Only the cool birds decided to come down and hang out with us! The first run started out great! I got to band my first Eastern Screech Owl for this season! All I can say about this cutie is that it was not happy to be held., as you can see below. As you can see in the photo, the owl was not thrilled being held compared to being set on a limb. It was a true "monday feeling" for this bird. Eastern Screech Owls come in two different color morphs. One being rufous, while the other is gray. This allows them to be very cryptic to their surroundings. They are also known for their "whinny"  call that they do, which comes off as a chilling sound.

Photo by Kristin 

Our most exciting bird we captured today was this handsome fellow below! This would be the second Golden-winged Warbler KIBS has caught so far! The first Golden-winged Warbler was banded exactly 9 years ago from this day! How cool is that?! So, both birds were banded on 10/3. I sure was excited to see this bird as I have never held or seen one up close! These cuties are random when it comes to migrations. Mostly moving throughout the east as they make their way down south. 

As you can see in the image above, you can see that their breeding range is quite small (in orange) while the migration is random and large (in yellow). So, overall this one heck out a bird to capture and see. 

Photo by Kristin 

Populations are slowing decreasing, as these birds loose their habitat to invasive plants, habitat loss, and hybridization. Golden-winged Warblers will hybridize with Blue-winged Warbler, known as Lawrence Warbler and Brewster's Warbler.  They are considered to be 99% genetically alike, which allows them to hybridize readily with each other. Click HERE to see the hybridized species.  
I really can't wait to see what this season has to offer!

-Kristin 

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Screech-Owl	0	0	1	0
Traill's Flycatcher	1	0	0	0
White-eyed Vireo	9	0	0	0
Red-eyed Vireo	15	0	1	0
Carolina Chickadee	0	0	0	1
House Wren	3	0	1	0
Carolina Wren	0	0	0	2
Gray Catbird	114	10	34	0
Brown Thrasher	1	1	0	0
Northern Mockingbird	1	0	0	0
Gray-cheeked Thrush	1	0	0	0
Swainson's Thrush	2	0	0	0
House Finch	1	0	0	0
Eastern Towhee	0	1	0	0
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	0	0	0
Ovenbird	2	0	0	0
Worm-eating Warbler	0	1	0	0
Northern Waterthrush	3	1	2	0
Golden-winged Warbler	0	0	1	0
Black-and-white Warbler	3	0	2	0
Common Yellowthroat	33	3	12	0
American Redstart	16	5	11	1
Northern Parula	1	0	2	0
Yellow Warbler	2	0	0	0
Blackpoll Warbler	1	0	2	0
Black-thoated Blue Warbler	3	0	0	0
Western Palm Warbler	12	0	16	0
Prairie Warbler	4	2	1	0
Northern Cardinal	1	1	0	0
Indigo Bunting	7	0	2	0
Painted Bunting	2	2	3	0

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	240	89	329
# of Recaptures	27	4	31
# of Species	28	17	31
Effort (net-hours)	185.2	103.05	288.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	144.2	90.25	124.9
# of Nets	30	22	-

2020 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	2,546	1,290	3,836
# of Recaptures	471	167	638
# of Species	54	55	67
Effort (net-hours)	5879.76	3,384.5	9,264.26
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	51.4	43.05	48.3
# of Days	48	37	-

 

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Sarah Mueller (LB)
Sarah Stewart (CS)
Vincent Weber (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)