The 2025 fall migration banding season at the Kiawah Island Banding Station (KIBS) began on 15 August and concluded on 30 November. Banding occurred at two sites on Kiawah Island: Captain Sams and Little Bear. This was the 17th consecutive year of fall migration banding at the Captain Sams site with banding occurring daily during the last 14 years. It was the 11th season for the Little Bear site which we initiated during the fall of 2015. The two sites are located at each end of the island about 8 miles apart (Captain Sams on the west end, Little Bear on the east end). Both sites are situated in coastal scrub/shrub and high marsh habitats, however, the Little Bear site is in an earlier stage of succession.
Collectively, we banded 9,079 birds and had 2,386 recaptures
of 111 different species. Captain Sams
had a small decrease in the number of birds banded compared to last fall, while
Little Bear experienced a small increase. Combined, however, we only banded 0.5%
less birds than last year. This was the most species we have ever banded in a
fall.
Overall, the average monthly temperature was slightly cooler
than the historical average. However, November
averaged only 1.1 °F warmer than the historic average. This season was also wetter, and we
experienced more rain (21.8”) than normal (17.8”). Most of the rain this season (10.5”) came in the
second half of August. The first “cold”
front arrived on 7 September this year. Most of the cold fronts were weak or
had weakened by the time they reached the Southeast. We experienced good
movement of migrants with the passage of 2 strong cold fronts in late September
(9/20 and 9/28) and three in October (10/1 10/13, and 10/26). As
usual, migration slowed down during November but had decent migratory movements
on 4 and 12 November.
It was a quiet Atlantic hurricane season with 13 named
storms including 5 hurricanes. This was the first time since 2015 that no
hurricanes made landfall in the US, however three of the five hurricanes were
Category 5 storms which was the second most on record. Fortunately for us, only
two storms affected our banding operations at KIBS. Hurricane Imelda in late September and
Hurricane Melissa in late October. Both storms stayed well offshore and only
brought some wind and rain to our area.
CAPTAIN SAMS
Nets were open for a total of 104 days from 15 August - 30
November. There were 4 days when banding
did not occur because of weather: 8/23 (rain), 8/30 (rain), 10/11 and 10/12 (rain
from nor’easter).
We banded 5,584 new birds of 96 different species. The most commonly banded species were Common
Yellowthroat (1,560), Gray Catbird (855), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (540). Those
three species combined made up 53% of all the birds banded this season. After having a record-breaking year last
fall, Common Yellowthroat surpassed their previous total by 2.6% this fall.
Gray Catbirds rebounded a bit from last fall increasing by 11% and were 6% above
their 14-year average. Despite a good year last year, Yellow-rumped Warblers
had a 47% decrease from last fall and a nearly 30% decrease when compared to
the average from the last 14 seasons.
The overall effort decreased from 17,502.9 net-hours in 2024 to 17,004.8 net-hours this year. This difference is negligible, and we banded one less day this year.
We banded 195 fewer birds this year compared to last year, but still 773 birds above the average for the previous 14 years. The capture rate of new birds was 32.8 birds/100 net-hours. The capture rate decreased by 0.2 birds/100 net-hours compared to last year but was 4.7 birds/100 net-hours lower than the 14-year average of 37.5 birds/100 net-hours. Our capture rate has decreased every year starting in 2012 except for 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2024 when we experienced small increases from the previous year. The capture rate of recaptures is normally very consistent from year to year, however this year the capture rate was 7.9 birds/100 net-hours which is 1.7 birds/100 net-hours lower than the average since 2012.
We had 1,346 recaptures this season compared to 1,506
recaptures from last year representing an 11% decrease. Recaptures are divided into 3 categories:
repeats (birds recaptured in the same season in which they were banded),
returns (birds recaptured in a different season in which they were banded), and
foreign recaptures (birds recaptured that were banded elsewhere). We had 1,190
repeats, 150 returns, and 3 foreign recaptures. One of the foreign recaptures was captured
twice so there were only two unique individuals. They were both Gray Catbirds
and at the time of this report, we do not know where those birds were banded at
yet.
We also captured 4 individuals that were banded at our
Little Bear site that is located 8.8 miles to the east of Captain Sams. Despite banding thousands of birds at each
site during the fall, we normally have very little movement of the birds
between them. This year we captured a
Northern Cardinal originally banded in 2021, a Gray Catbird, Song Sparrow, and
Ruby-crowned Kinglet all banded last fall. In addition, we also captured 3
Painted Buntings that were banded during the summer at a bird feeder at Mingo
Point which is located about 1.5 miles away from Captain Sams.
There were 18 days this fall when over 100 birds were banded
including 5 days with at least 200 birds.
The best day of the season was on 14 October when we banded 291
birds. Of those 291 birds, 159 of them
were Gray Catbirds! The next busiest day
occurred on 21 September when 231 birds were banded with 189 of those being
Common Yellowthroats. 29 September and 13 October tied for the third busiest
day with 221 birds.
We had 16 regularly occurring species that exhibited record
high numbers this season: Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker (15), Acadian Flycatcher (7*), Tree Swallow (313), Eastern Bluebird
(3), Song Sparrow (70), Lincoln’s Sparrow (4), Swamp Sparrow (87), Baltimore
Oriole (6*), Northern Waterthrush (184), Black-and-white Warbler (55),
Nashville Warbler (4*), Common Yellowthroat (1560)m Cape May Warbler (68),
Chestnut-sided Warbler (6), Pine Warbler (5), and Yellow-throated Warbler (2*).
Alternatively, we had four species that had record low numbers: Eastern Wood
Pewee (1), Northern Mockingbird (1), Eastern Towhee (2), and Scarlet Tanager
(1). The * indicates species that tied the record high or low.
Some other rare and notable species that were banded this
fall includes: Red-breasted Nuthatch (1; 15 previous), Sedge Wren (1; 5
previous), Grasshopper Sparrow (1; 4 previous), Vesper Sparrow (1; 1 previous),
Brown-headed Cowbird (1; 2 previous), Blue-winged Warbler (1; 4 previous);
Connecticut Warbler (2; 2 previous), Kentucky Warbler (1; 4 previous),
Blackburnian Warbler (2; 2 previous).
Species notably absent this year included: Eastern Screech
Owl (16 total, average 1.1/year), American Robin (59 total, average 4.2 year), American
Goldfinch (38 total, average 2.7/year).
We banded one species that has never been banded before:
Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Little Bear has banded a few of these over the
years but never at Captain Sams. This juvenile hung around the banding station
for a while feeding on fiddler crabs in our net lanes.
We hosted 4 groups this year including the SC Master
Naturalist Program (30 September), Kiawah Island Natural History Group (23
October), the naturalists from Camp St. Christopher (15 November), and the
Environmental Conservation Corps from AmeriCorps (20 November).
Top 10 Species Banded at Captain Sams
1. Common Yellowthroat (1,560)
2. Gray Catbird (855)
3. Yellow-rumped Warbler (540)
4. American Redstart (347)
5. Tree Swallow (313)
6. Painted Bunting (185)
7. Northern Waterthrush (184)
8. Red-eyed Vireo (144)
9. Palm Warbler (137)
10. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (111)
LITTLE BEAR
Nets were open for a total of 77 days from 22 August - 14
November. There were 7 days cancelled due to weather: 8/23 (rain), 8/30 (rain),
10/7 (rain), 10/10-12 (wind and rain), and 10/28 (wind). Little Bear was closed
for an additional day (11/5) for net repair after a deer destroyed 9 nets the
day before.
We banded 3,495 new birds of 93 different species. The most commonly banded species were Common
Yellowthroat (974), Gray Catbird (738), and Palm Warbler (257). Those three
species combined made up 56% of all the birds banded this season. It was a good year for Common Yellowthroats with
an 18% increase compared to last fall and a 51% increase over the average since
2015. Gray Catbird numbers exhibited a 35%
increase from last fall and a 12% increase on the 11-year average. Jumping back
into the 3rd spot this year, Palm Warbler numbers were up 62% from
last year and 20% over the 11-year average. Yellow-rumped Warbler fell out of
the top 3 to down to 7 this year with a 66% decrease from last year.
We logged 10,543.8 net-hours at Little Bear this fall – an increase
from the 9,924.0 net-hours in 2024. We
banded three less days than last fall but added two new nets (net 27 and 28). The new net weas added to mitigate some of
the loss of vegetation surrounding several of our wetland nets. Excessive flooding and saltwater intrusion
have reduced the vegetation in that area severely to the point where a couple
nets have very little cover nearby.
We banded 150 more birds this year compared to last year, and 441 more birds than the average since 2015. Little Bear’s capture rate of new birds slightly decreased by 1.8% from 33.7 birds/100 net-hours in 2024 to 33.1 in 2025. The capture rate decreased by 21% compared to the average over the last 11 years. The capture rate of recaptures was up 4.2% from last year but right in line with the 11-year average.
We had 1,040 recaptures this season, which is higher than the 941 recaptures from last year. We had 938 repeats, 101 returns, and 1 foreign recaptures. One of the foreign recaptures was a Gray Catbird, however, at the time of this report, the banding date and location is unknown. We also captured a few birds that were originally banded at Captain Sams: Yellow-rumped Warbler (2023), Gray Catbird (2023), Painted Bunting (2025). The Painted Bunting was banded at Captain Sams on 15 September and recaptured at Little Bear on 11 November.
There were 9 days when over 100 birds were banded including 2 days with at least 200 birds banded. Last year, we had 8 days with over 100 birds and only one 200-bird day. The best day of the season was on 14 October when we banded 251 birds and had 23 recaptures. Of the 251 birds, almost half of them were Gray Catbirds! The next two busiest days occurred on 13 October and 1 October when 227 and 194 birds were banded, respectively.
Several species exhibited record high numbers this
season: Mourning Dove (3), Downy
Woodpecker (11), Acadian Flycatcher (2*), Eastern Phoebe (58), Hermit Thrush (22),
Clay-colored Sparrow (2),Dark-eyed Junco (2), White-throated Sparrow (16), Bobolink
(3), Nashville Warbler (2*), Common Yellowthroat (974), Northern Parula (37), Bay-breasted
Warbler (3*), Canada Warbler (2), Wilson’s Warbler (2), Scarlet Tanager (3*). Species that had record low numbers
included: Yellow-billed Cuckoo (5*), “Traill’s Flycatcher (9), Blue-headed
Vireo (1*), Brown Thrasher (1*), Northern Mockingbird (4), Yellow-rumped
Warbler (98). The * indicates species that tied the record high or low.
Some other rare and notable species banded included: Common
Ground Dove (1, 30 previous but none since 2019), Tricolored Heron (1; 1
previous), Blue-winged Warbler (1; 2 previous).
Species notably absent include Cooper’s Hawk (7 total; 0.6/year),
House Finch (11 total; average 1.0/year), Chipping Sparrow (8 total; 0.7/year),
Yellow-throated Warbler (11 total; 1.0/year).
We banded three new species this year at Little Bear: Sora,
White Ibis, and Dickcissel. This was the 1st Dickcissel ever banded at KIBS!
Top 10 Species Banded at Little Bear
1. Common Yellowthroat (974)
2. Gray Catbird (738)
3. Palm Warbler (257)
4. Painted Bunting (194)
5. American Redstart (175)
6. Northern Waterthrush (122)
7. Yellow-rumped Warbler (98)
8. Red-eyed Vireo (82)
9. Prairie Warbler (76)
10. Eastern Phoebe (58)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the cooperation of many people and entities, this
work would not be possible. The success
of this project relies on their commitment, and I owe a debt of gratitude to
everyone involved.
I'd like to thank my awesome team of seasonal banding assistants (Liz Held, Arden Schneider, Camille Beckwith, and Jeremiah Sullivan). Their hard work over the course of this long season was outstanding. It was a great season, and I would like to wish them all the very best of luck in the future. I’d also like to thank Michael Gamble, who was a former seasonal banding assistant from 2015-2018 but is now a full-time biologist with the Town of Kiawah Island. He is a tremendous asset in all operations of KIBS! We were thankful to have Amy Nickerson and Keegan Foster who volunteered for several weeks during the season. Both were looking to gain bird banding experience and while they did get that, we gained two great additions to the team this fall.
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From right to left: Camille Beckwith, Aaron Given, Michael Gamble, Liz Held, Jeremiah Sullivan, Keegan Foster. Not pictured: Arden Schneider, Amy Nickerson
Nancy Raginski (97.4), Aidan Boyle (48.7), Kristin Attinger (42.5), Ann McLean (20.5), Jennifer Tyrrell (18.6), David McLean (13.7), Lucian (13.1), Tyler (13.1), Julia Hillary (13), Adam Wolf (12.9), Aidan Given (12.3) and Jacob Gianopulos (11.8) all donated a considerable amount of their time (more than 10 hours) to help at the banding station. We also had several more volunteers that came out for just the day. I’d like to thank all the volunteers that made it out this year. Because of their help, we were able to operate a more efficient banding station.
|
Banding Statistics |
Captain Sams |
Little Bear |
Total |
|
# of Birds Banded |
5,584 |
3,495 |
9,079 |
|
# of Recaptures |
1,346 |
1040 |
2,386 |
|
# of Species |
96 |
93 |
111 |
|
Effort (net-hours) |
17,004.8 |
10,543.8 |
27,548.6 |
|
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
40.8 |
43.0 |
41.6 |
|
Capture Rate of New Birds (birds/100 nh) |
32.8 |
33.1 |
33.0 |
|
Capture Rate of Recaptures (birds/100 nh) |
7.9 |
9.9 |
8.6 |
|
# of Nets |
32 |
28 |
60 |
|
# of Days Operated |
104 |
76 |
|
|
Dates of Operation |
8/15-11/30 |
8/22-11/14 |
|
|
Species |
Captain Sams |
Little Bear |
||
|
New |
Recapture |
New |
Recapture |
|
|
Common Ground Dove |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Mourning Dove |
5 |
- |
3 |
2 |
|
Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
11 |
2 |
5 |
- |
|
Black-billed Cuckoo |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Chuck-will's-widow |
3 |
- |
2 |
1 |
|
Eastern Whip-poor-will |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Sora |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
White Ibis |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Tricolored Heron |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Yellow-crowned Night
Heron |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
Cooper's Hawk |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Eastern Screech-Owl |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Belted Kingfisher |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
15 |
8 |
2 |
- |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
5 |
26 |
11 |
3 |
|
Northern Flicker |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Eastern Wood-Pewee |
1 |
- |
6 |
- |
|
Acadian Flycatcher |
7 |
1 |
2 |
- |
|
"Traill's"
Flycatcher |
17 |
- |
9 |
- |
|
Least Flycatcher |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Eastern Phoebe |
56 |
3 |
58 |
- |
|
Great Crested Flycatcher |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Eastern Kingbird |
2 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
White-eyed Vireo |
54 |
45 |
46 |
16 |
|
Blue-headed vireo |
5 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Red-eyed Vireo |
144 |
8 |
82 |
- |
|
Blue Jay |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Carolina Chickadee |
6 |
27 |
8 |
26 |
|
Tufted Titmouse |
4 |
8 |
1 |
- |
|
Tree Swallow |
313 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet |
8 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
111 |
23 |
40 |
3 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Brown Creeper |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
7 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
House Wren |
41 |
22 |
36 |
- |
|
Winter Wren |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Sedge Wren |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Marsh Wren |
2 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Carolina Wren |
3 |
6 |
19 |
75 |
|
Gray Catbird |
855 |
495 |
738 |
483 |
|
Brown Thrasher |
6 |
9 |
1 |
- |
|
Northern Mockingbird |
1 |
- |
4 |
1 |
|
Eastern Bluebird |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Veery |
17 |
- |
10 |
1 |
|
Gray-cheeked Thrush |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
|
Swainson's Thrush |
34 |
1 |
26 |
1 |
|
Hermit Thrush |
46 |
32 |
22 |
5 |
|
Wood Thrush |
6 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
American Robin |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
House Finch |
5 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Grasshopper Sparrow |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Chipping Sparrow |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Clay-colored Sparrow |
1 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Field Sparrow |
4 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Dark-eyed Junco |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
White-crowned Sparrow |
3 |
1 |
3 |
- |
|
White-throated Sparrow |
21 |
3 |
16 |
- |
|
Vesper Sparrow |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Seaside Sparrow |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Saltmarsh Sparrow |
2 |
2 |
1 |
- |
|
Savannah Sparrow |
4 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Song Sparrow |
70 |
10 |
35 |
- |
|
Lincoln's Sparrow |
4 |
2 |
1 |
- |
|
Swamp Sparrow |
87 |
15 |
43 |
9 |
|
Eastern Towhee |
2 |
- |
3 |
4 |
|
Yellow-breasted Chat |
10 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
|
Bobolink |
- |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Baltimore Oriole |
6 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Red-winged Blackbird |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Brown-headed Cowbird |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Ovenbird |
35 |
13 |
26 |
5 |
|
Worm-eating Warbler |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
|
Northern Waterthrush |
184 |
40 |
122 |
28 |
|
Blue-winged Warbler |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Black-and-white Warbler |
55 |
4 |
23 |
2 |
|
Prothonotary Warbler |
10 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Swainson's Warbler |
1 |
6 |
1 |
- |
|
Tennessee Warbler |
6 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Orange-crowned Warbler |
21 |
4 |
13 |
- |
|
Nashville Warbler |
4 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Connecticut Warbler |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Kentucky Warbler |
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Common Yellowthroat |
1,560 |
135 |
974 |
106 |
|
Hooded Warbler |
5 |
6 |
2 |
- |
|
American Redstart |
347 |
31 |
175 |
23 |
|
Cape May Warbler |
68 |
- |
33 |
- |
|
Northern Parula |
47 |
1 |
37 |
- |
|
Magnolia Warbler |
11 |
- |
10 |
- |
|
Bay-breasted Warbler |
6 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Blackburnian Warbler |
2 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Yellow Warbler |
35 |
- |
34 |
1 |
|
Chestnut-sided Warbler |
6 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Blackpoll Warbler |
10 |
- |
9 |
- |
|
Black-throated Blue
Warbler |
92 |
2 |
38 |
- |
|
Palm Warbler |
137 |
- |
257 |
2 |
|
Pine Warbler |
5 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler
(Myrtle) |
540 |
130 |
98 |
11 |
|
Yellow-throated Warbler |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Prairie Warbler |
99 |
13 |
76 |
4 |
|
Black-throated Green
Warbler |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Canada Warber |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Wilson's Warbler |
2 |
- |
2 |
2 |
|
Summer Tanager |
4 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Scarlet Tanager |
1 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Northern Cardinal |
24 |
64 |
33 |
100 |
|
Blue Grosbeak |
3 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Indigo Bunting |
38 |
2 |
29 |
- |
|
Painted Bunting |
185 |
132 |
194 |
122 |
|
Dickcissel |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
