Tidal Wave of Tree Swallows and Other Highlights at Captain Sam's

 CAPTAIN SAMS 

Marvelous day over at Captain Sam's! 

The day started out very slow, with precious few birds hitting the nets. One of our runs we only had a single bird; but what a bird it was! 

After-hatch year female Yellow-throated Warbler. Note the white supraloral stripe over eye. In the more eastern subspecies Setophaga dominica dominica, this would be yellow. This makes this Setophaga dominica albilora, historically called the Sycamore Warbler.

Yellow-throated Warblers are, at least in the mind of this wandering New Englander, the iconic warbler of the southeastern coastal plain. These beautiful little forest gems breed in bottomland woodlands and pine forests in much of the South and portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. These warblers spend their winters in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Florida, and in smaller numbers in other southeastern US states in Texas, Georgia, and even in this area in South Carolina! 

This warbler was first described by English Naturalist Mark Catesby in 1710 as the Yellow-throated Creeper when he was visiting the patchwork of British colonies that would eventually become the United States. While not a creeper, it is very understandable that Mr. Catesby would describe this species as such as this species of warbler behaves very much like the Black-and-white Warbler (also referred to as the Black-and-white Creeper in its day!) climbing along tree trunks and branches to access insect prey hiding in bark crevices. The Yellow-throated Warbler is well-adapted to this purpose with a longer bill than any of the other Setophaga warblers. 

As with Northern Parulas, the preferred nesting substrate of Yellow-throated Warblers in the South is Spanish Moss. In more inland locations, where they lack access to the northernmost member of the pineapple family, they make do with pine needles. Interestingly on rare occasions Yellow-throated Warblers have hybridized with Northern Parulas producing a hybrid know as the Sutton's Warbler. In the Bahamas, a closely related, and endangered, warbler called the Bahama Warbler dwells on the isles of Grand Bahama and Abaco. These warblers are so closely related that up until 2010 they were considered a single species.

Our day was further improved with four Saltmarsh Sparrows that we were able to chase into the some of our extra nets between net runs. 

A few angles of a couple of after-hatch-year Saltmarsh Sparrows.

Saltmarsh Sparrows are beautiful little denizens of the Saltmarsh with rich orange hues playing beautifully off their intricate markings and contrasting grey faces. These patriotic birds are endemic to the United States, breeding along the Eastern Seaboard from the midcoast of Maine to Chesapeake Bay and wintering from Delmarva to the northeast edge of Florida (small numbers also make use of the Big Bend region of Florida). In all of these areas they occur only in slat marsh habitats making their range one of relatively great length, but very narrow breadth. 

In addition to its specialized habitat this species is extremely interesting due to its breeding behavior. Specifically its pair-bonding or rather lack thereof. Unlike most other passerines these sparrows do not form pair bonds and instead females mate with multiple males (and males aggressively pursue females) and are responsible for all nestling care. This system may be due to the natural abundance of food provided by the tidal ecosystem, but is nevertheless unique.

Lastly we concluded the day with a MASSIVE, record-breaking catch of 124 Tree Swallows in two nets strategically placed by a fruiting Wax Myrtle bush. These swallows are one of the few birds that can digest the waxy, but abundant, berries of the Wax Myrtle bush. Since Wax Myrtle berries can be rendered into candles, this is not an insignificant accomplishment and is shared by few peers, one of which is the aptly named "Myrtle" subspecies of the Yellow-rumped Warbler. This ability serves both birds well contributing to both species to winter through much of the southeast, especially along the coasts while many of both their kin make for tropical climes.

Head, back and wing shots of an after-hatch year Tree Swallow.

Since the last record for Tree Swallows was about 74 or 76 bird today's haul smashes the record, and, with the other species involved made for an unforgettable day! 

Grateful to be here.

-Jeremiah

 

 

LITTLE BEAR

Slow day at Little Bear, with a handful of birds banded and captured. Luckily we had plenty of swallows to share at Captain Sam's and were very grateful for the much-appreciated assistance of the Little Bear crew!

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
Tree Swallow	124	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	1	11	7	17
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Saltmarsh Sparrow	2	2	-	-
Song Sparrow	-	-	2	-
Swamp Sparrow	1	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	1	-	1
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Northern Parula	2	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	1	-	-	-
Myrtle Warbler	3	-	2	-
Yellow-throated Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	3	-	1
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	138	13	151
# of Recaptures	19	21	40
# of Species	13	9	16
Effort (net-hours)	199.3	115.8	315.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	78.8	29.4	60.6
# of Nets	34	28	62

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,347	3,151	7,498
# of Recaptures	890	808	1,698
# of Species	87	82	100
Effort (net-hours)	11,003.6	8,136.01	19,139.61
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	47.6	48.7	48.0
# of Days	69	60

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (LB)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (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.