FOS Least Flycatcher and Yellow-breasted Chat

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was another cool morning with a few migrants flying over as we opened nets. We ended the morning with 27 new birds and 5 recaptures of 10 different species. We captured 7 species of warbler, including another two Prothonotary Warblers. It has been a good fall for Prothonotary Warblers with 10 captured so far. We also banded a first-of-the-season Least Flycatcher, which is the smallest flycatcher species that migrates through our area and has a characteristic white eye ring that is typically shaped like a tear drop. 

Least Flycatcher (hatch year, unknown sex)

-Michael

LITTLE BEAR

While things are still a little slow, overall we had a pretty good day at Little Bear. The winds have died down a little bit and we were able to open all of the nets for the first time this week. We caught a total of 26 birds, with 14 newly banded and 12 recaptures including a first of the season Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Yellow-breasted Chat. These are two species that are known for their spunky attitudes, so we were delighted to see them in our nets today. We also ended up catching almost as many recaptures as new birds today. Our migrating warblers are hanging around, foraging and fattening up while waiting for the right weather to continue their journey south. 

Hatch year female Yellow-breasted Chat

Aside from a nice day of banding, we enjoyed a few other wildlife encounters today. Camille came across a Timber Rattlesnake while checking a couple of our nets in the dunes. It was all of our first time seeing one, so we rushed over to observe it (from a safe distance away). Camille also had a flock of Ibis fly right overhead, and not too far away from a net! We've had a couple of close encounters with a night heron bouncing out of net 27, so our fingers are crossed that we end up catching one soon.

-Liz  

Timber Rattlesnake

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	3
Eastern Towhee	-	-	-	1
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	1	1	2
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	2	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	5	-	4	-
Hooded Warbler	-	1	-	-
American Redstart	6	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	2	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	1	-
Wilson's Warbler	-	-	-	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	1	2
Painted Bunting	4	1	2	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	27	14	41
# of Recaptures	5	12	17
# of Species	13	13	20
Effort (net-hours)	155.3	128.8	284.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	20.6	20.2	20.4
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	355	193	548
# of Recaptures	84	77	161
# of Species	31	28	39
Effort (net-hours)	2534.8	1241.5	3776.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.3	21.7	18.8
# of Days	18	11

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

Last Minute Worm-eating Warbler at Little Bear!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

September has brought cooler weather but we’re still waiting for a push of migrants. That being said, we’re still enjoying the usual suspects like American Redstarts and Prairie Warblers. Today we also caught an interesting Northern Waterthrush, one with some leucistic feathers! Waterthrushes typically have dark brown feathers on their wings, head, and back but this one had a single white greater covert, a band of white feathers across its rump, and a single white feather above its eye! Leucism is a partial loss of pigment caused by a genetic mutation which inhibits an individual’s ability to produce melanin. This is seen in a wide variety of animals including reptiles, mammals, and many species of birds!  

A Northern Waterthrush with a band
of leucistic feathers on its rump

A Northern Waterthrush with a
white feather above its eye 

LITTLE BEAR

Had an interesting day out at Little Bear with modest numbers, but great species diversity. Of the eleven species we had at Little Bear three, an Eastern Kingbird, a Wilson's Warbler, and a Worm-eating Warbler were all first-of-seasons! 

After Hatch Year Worm-eating Warbler

Worm-eating Warblers are olive-backed with buffy faces sporting distinctive broad, dark brown crown stripes. Many warblers are associated with foraging behaviors in live leaves high in the canopy, but Worm-eating Warblers have a particular reputation for foraging in twisted, dead leaves, often close to the understory, for invertebrates. While they do make use of this foraging strategy on the breeding grounds it is actually something that is practiced far more on their wintering grounds in the Caribbean and Central America, where this kind of foraging can be far and away the most common method depending on the month. While in the states they make ample use of live leaves, though are still often found near the ground.

Worm-eating Warblers are ground nesters and are, according to Hal. H. Harrison in his excellent book Wood Warbler World, to be held with the Virginia's Warbler as the most difficult nest to find. These are positioned like Black-and-White Warblers by some sort of larger substrate like a stump or rock on the forest floor, but are "buried in a drift of leaves" that makes the nest incredibly difficult to detect. The female does her part as well by refraining from flushing until almost stepped on. I think the strongest endorsement of the skill of the Worm-eating Warbler in concealing its nest is Mr. Harrison's admission that twenty-six years passed between his discovery of two nests despite serious effort and ample assistance.

While I don't know when (or if) I will see a Worm-eating Warbler's nest, I am grateful we decided to have one more run before close, giving us the chance to have seen this under-appreciated warbler today!

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Mourning Dove	1	-	-	1
Eastern Kingbird	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	3
Ovenbird	-	-	1	-
Worm-eating Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	1	2	-
Common Yellowthroat	5	-	2	-
American Redstart	2	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	-	-
Wilson's Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	1	-	-	3
Painted Bunting	3	2	3	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	18	12	30
# of Recaptures	3	8	11
# of Species	8	11	14
Effort (net-hours)	134.7	100.5	235.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.6	19.9	17.4
# of Nets	32	21	53

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	328	179	507
# of Recaptures	79	65	144
# of Species	30	26	37
Effort (net-hours)	2,379.45	1,112.75	3,492.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.1	21.9	18.64
# of Days	17	10

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

Ageing and Sexing Hatch Year Baltimore Orioles

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We experienced the coolest morning of the fall with the thermometer reading 66.6 degrees at sunrise. Coupled with a stiff breeze, it was almost chilly! Despite a decent amount of bird movement on the radar last night, we had a pretty slow day with only 16 new birds and 4 recaptures of 9 species. The winds were out of the northeast which oftentimes is not very good for pushing migrants to us as they steered more inland. 

One highlight was a Baltimore Oriole. We only band a handful orioles each fall - mostly Baltimore and rarely Orchard. Today's bird was a young (hatch-year) male. Juvenile male Baltimore Orioles more closely resemble females and lack the distinct black head of the adult male however there are a few characteristics that we can look at to help us determine the sex.

1. Wing size - there is a fairly good difference in wing length with males above 91 mm and females below.  

2. Upper wing bars - in young males, the white wing bar will have a good amount of yellow in it compared to just whitish in young females.

3. Color of lesser coverts - the lesser coverts will be blacker in young males compared to a dusky or grayish color in young females.

4. Color of throat and breast - young males tend to be brighter orange compared to more yellowish in young females. However, young males can look similar to adult females. 

Baltimore Oriole (hatch-year, male)

Most of the time when we are ageing Baltimore Orioles, the molt limit is within the greater coverts (see below). The replaced preformative feathers are highlighted in yellow and the unreplaced juvenal feathers are highlighted in red. Note that the replaced greater coverts are slightly longer, and darker compared to the duller unreplaced feathers.
   

Baltimore Oriole  (hatch-year, male)

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR

It was a windy day at Little Bear, with half our nets never even getting opened. This contributed to a very small number of captures with only a few new bands and a couple of recaptures. One of the recaptures, a young, and incredibly nippy, Northern Cardinal made herself memorable with several enthusiastic and well-placed bites. Hopefully the wind dies down soon and more birds work their way in soon!

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Baltimore Oriole	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	2	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	7	-	3	-
Hooded Warbler	-	1	-	-
American Redstart	1	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	2
Painted Bunting	2	1	1	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	16	6	22
# of Recaptures	4	2	6
# of Species	9	5	10
Effort (net-hours)	137.1	55.3	192.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	14.6	14.5	14.6
# of Nets	32	14	-

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	310	167	477
# of Recaptures	75	57	132
# of Species	30	23	35
Effort (net-hours)	2244.75	1012.25	3257.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.2	22.1	18.7
# of Days	16	9

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (LB)

Camille Beckwith (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Aidan Given (CS)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.