Morning Owl at Little Bear!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We hoped that today’s cooler temperatures would bring a wave of birds, but unfortunately we continued our trend of low capture rates with 18 birds. We were excited, however, to capture six Painted Buntings, giving us the opportunity to collect molt data and fecal samples. Our most exciting capture of the day was a seven year old female Painted Bunting! She was banded in 2019 as a second year and has visited the station at least twice a year since then. Right now she is looking a little scruffy due to her annual molt which she will finish before her migration.

Female Painted Bunting 

Female Painted Bunting molting
her flight feathers

LITTLE BEAR

Today was a very exciting day at Little Bear. Started the day with a bang with this gorgeous (if a little tired and grumpy) hatch year Eastern Screech Owl that flew into one of the nets right after it was opened.

Hatch Year Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl

Hatch Year Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl

Eastern Screech Owls are the only owls in North America to occur in two color morphs, red and grey, though there are neotropical owls that also show this variety of color morphs.  In Eastern Screech owls roughly a third (36%) of all birds are red morphs, but this varies widely depending on where in their range you are with some western populations having very few to no red morphs and some eastern areas have a closer to fifty-fifty split. I have been told that the majority of birds in this area are red morph birds. Interestingly one of my sources suggested that gray morph birds were better adapted to colder conditions, but I am skeptical of this as western populations are almost exclusively grey and the other species of screech owl inhabiting the southwestern deserts do not have red morphs. What I have heard elsewhere, and I am inclined to agree with is that the red morphs are associated with more humid areas. This reconciles nicely both with the frequency of the morph in the east and southeast as well as in the Neo tropical species of the rainforests of the Latin World.

Our screech owl left a very stinky present in the bag and it was quickly made apparent that this bird had been feasting on fish. This makes sense as with drier local conditions we have seen a decrease in water and subsequent die-offs of unfortunate minnows in the few remaining puddles on the path. Eastern Screech Owls are the most opportunistic feeders among North American owls feeding on everything from insects, to birds, to mammals up to the size of rats. That they will take aquatic fare is well documented and one of my sources talks about how they will even wade into shallow water to hunt for a variety of organisms. In the totality of prey species consumed, Eastern Screech Owls predate a wider variety of prey species than any other North American Owl.

Hatch Year Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl view of back.

You might notice our friend has a bit of a bald spot on the back of his head. Beginning in late summer and continuing through fall Eastern Screech Owls molt many of their feathers so what you are seeing right now is just natural feather replacement. While South Carolina is in someways a more forgiving part of the species range, it is generally much better to replace your feathers in August and September than wait to winter.

Eastern Screech Owls do not typically disperse far from where they were hatched so there is a reasonable chance our friend will establish himself elsewhere on the island. If you listen close come winter, maybe you will hear his horse-like whinny call some chilly night!

Overall great day with a wonderful species diversity for the number of birds banded at 26 individuals of 12 species!

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
EASO	-	-	1	-
TRFL	1	-	-	-
CACH	-	-	-	1
CARW	-	-	1	2
NOMO	-	-	1	-
OVEN	-	-	1	1
NOWA	2	3	2	2
BAWW	-	-	1	-
COYE	-	1	1	-
HOWA	-	1	-	-
YEWA	-	-	1	-
PRAW	2	1	4	-
NOCA	-	-	-	2
PABU	2	4	3	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	7	16	23
# of Recaptures	11	10	21
# of Species	7	12	19
Effort (net-hours)	134.4	105	239.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	13.4	24.8	38.2
# of Nets	35	28	63

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	388	238	626
# of Recaptures	107	101	208
# of Species	31	29	40
Effort (net-hours)	2949.8	1452.95	4402.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.8	23.3	18.9
# of Days	21	15

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)