Big Excitement at Little Bear!

 CAPTAIN SAMS 

Small pop-up rain showers plagued us much of the morning. Our nets were open for about an hour before it started to rain. We kept the nets closed for over and hour and a half until the rain passed. Once we opened the nets back up, the sun came out and helped dry out the nets. It was not a very productive day bird-wise with only 15 new birds and 3 recaptures but we did catch a Blackpoll Warbler which is not a very common bird for us. 

-Aaron 

 

LITTLE BEAR

While overall a quiet day at Little Bear it was a tremendously exciting day as we got two new species! The first was a hatch-year Seaside Sparrow.

Hatch-year Seaside Sparrow

The second was a hatch-year Yellow-crowned Night Heron that we caught in net 5. This was my first heron and I was absolutely delighted to actually get to have one of these in hand. In particular Yellow-crowned Night Herons are very distinctive herons with their shorter, heavier bills. 

Hatch-year Yellow-crowned Night Heron

These distinctive bills reflect a distinctive role of Yellow-crowned Night Herons in that this species specializes in crustaceans. Inland these prey items are typically crawfish, while in coastal habitats they feed heavily on crabs, of which we have no shortage on Kiawah. 

Close up view of bill. Note the extensive wear.

While the heavy bill and specialized diet mark this species apart from the many heron species that ply our swamps and waterways, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron does have a great deal in common with its kinsmen. A couple of these have to do with hygiene. Given their long bills the beak of a herons does not make for a very good preening instrument in contrast to many other birds. To compensate for this the middle tow of herons has a small comb on it that allows the heron to adequately preen and maintain its feathers. 

See middle toe. Note nail has comb-like ridges to allow for better preening. Apologies if not super focused, our camera had trouble focusing in on the middle toenail. I can't confirm, but I think they were made to focus on other subjects.

But the middle toe is not the only specialized adaptation herons have to keep them in handsome condition. On their breasts the have a specialized set of feathers called powder down. These feathers are fascinating as these feathers are to other feathers what hair is to fur, that is to say that while other feathers are molted and replaced these feathers continuously grow from the body of the bird. These feathers are delicate and break down into a talcum-like powder that can be used in preening to oil feathers and facilitate the removal of outside contaminants. This latter function must be deemed especially important as good feather maintenance is key for bird health and the environments most herons frequent could easily be the subject of a detergent commercial.

Powder down feathers of hatch-year Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Couldn't breathe more thrilled with the day. Very grateful with what we have gotten, but with much of the site still waterlogged we could well have more wetland birds. Here is hoping for our ibis!

Cheers,

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-crowned Night Heron	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	1	1	-
Gray Catbird	9	-	7	2
Seaside Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	1	-
Black-and White Warbler	1	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	1	1	6
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Cape May Warbler	-	-	1	-
Blackpoll Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	1	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	2	2
Painted Bunting	1	1	2	3
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	15	20	35
# of Recaptures	3	13	16
# of Species	8	12	14
Effort (net-hours)	105.6	157.9	263.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.0	20.9	19.35
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	2,733	1,916	4,649
# of Recaptures	361	346	707
# of Species	61	60	73
Effort (net-hours)	7958.4	5674.6	13,633.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	38.9	39.9	39.3
# of Days	51	44

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)

Amy Nickerson (CS)

Keegan Foster (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.