CAPTAIN SAMS
Biggest day of the season over at Captain Sam's! In all we put out 147 new bands and had nine recaps for a total of 156 birds of 19 species, the great bulk of which being a tidal wave of Common Yellowthroats.
We had two new species for the season as well, a lovely Wood Thrush and a Blue Grosbeak. Given that we happily expect more of the former I want to focus on the latter bird as we only get one about every two years at Kiawah and this was the first I have had the pleasure of banding.
Blue Grosbeaks are spectacular-looking summer denizens of scrublands, edges, and thickets in the southern half of North America. The male has a deep blue coloration over most of his body with complementary orange shoulder patches and black goatee. The female is more modest, being dun-colored with a lighter, more gentle blue trim about her edges.
Gorgeous after-second-year male Blue Grosbeak from multiple angles.
From my reading Blue Grosbeaks are largely insectivores on during their summers in the States. While here they often have two broods of 3-5 young, though seem to suffer significantly from Brown-headed Cowbirds parasitizing their nests. There seems to have been a shift northwards in the species range since at least the end of the 1970s that contrasts with its reported range earlier in that century, but details are sparse and not easily forthcoming.
Researching this species for this post has been very interesting. Despite being an objectively stunning and noticeable creature and occurring in parts and habitats of the United States that should make them easy subjects for study (albeit with the notable complication that they generally occur in a given area only in limited numbers making for small sample sizes) there is a surprising dearth of information on this species. In fact, Birds of the World, which is an excellent site and a wonderful repository for detailed information on all aspects of avian life history openly states that we only have "a basic outline" of their breeding biology with some serious gaps like in its nesting ecology and know next to nothing about the birds when outside of the United States, both those reproducing in Latin America as well as of our own wintering birds. This is clearly an excellent species for future study.
As it stands we are thrilled to be having so many incredible birds coming through and can't wait to see what this push yields in the nets!
Jeremiah
LITTLE BEAR
Unfortunately Little Bear did not experience the same rush of birds as Captain Sams but we did capture 57 birds. As per usual Common Yellowthroats were the top captured species with 31 individuals. They were followed by Norther Waterthrushes with 4 individuals and White-eyed Vireos with 3.
Though the crew may be here for the birds, it doesn't mean that we don't enjoy all of the wildlife present at the station, especially on slow days! Since we are so close to the ocean, there are many many crabs in and around the net lanes including several kinds of fiddler crabs. We also enjoyed watching the clouds of butterflies that are drawn to the flowers blooming all around the station.
-Arden
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Mourning Dove | 1 | - | - | - |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | - | - | 1 | - |
Traill's Flycatcher | 1 | - | - | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 3 | 2 | 3 | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 3 | - | 2 | - |
Carolina Chickadee | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | 1 | - | - |
Gray Catbird | - | - | 1 | - |
Veery | 3 | - | 2 | - |
Swainson's Thrush | - | - | 1 | - |
Wood Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 2 | - | 2 | 1 |
Northen Waterthrush | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Black-and-white Warbler | 2 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 110 | - | 31 | - |
American Redstart | 6 | - | - | 1 |
Northern Parula | 1 | - | - | - |
Yellow Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
| Western Palm Warbler | - | - | 2 | - |
| Prairie Warbler | 5 | 1 | - | - |
| Blue Grosbeak | 1 | - | - | - |
| Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Painted Bunting | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 147 | 52 | 199 |
| # of Recaptures | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| # of Species | 19 | 15 | 24 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 198.4 | 126 | 41.3 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | - | - | - |
| # of Nets | 32 | 28 | - |
| 2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 1,122 | 613 | 1,735 |
| # of Recaptures | 191 | 155 | 346 |
| # of Species | 45 | 40 | 52 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 4,521.3 | 2853.21 | 7,347.51 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 29.0 | 26.9 | 28.22 |
| # of Days | 31 | 24 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)Michael Gamble (CS)
Liz Held (LB)
Arden Schneider (LB)
Camille Beckwith (LB)
Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)
Amy Nickerson (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.