Exciting Recaptures

 CAPTAIN SAMS

The tides were high again today. We donned our leaky boots and waders and flushed some marsh sparrows into mist nets. We processed 3 Saltmarsh Sparrows recaptures from previous seasons. One of them was banded back in 2021 as an after hatch year. In other words, this bird is at least 6 years old.

We also caught a hatch year male Cooper's Hawk this morning. This bird was not banded on Kiawah Island, so it will be interesting to see where it was originally banded once data becomes available in the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory database. Foreign recaptures are generally rare at banding stations, and foreign recaptures of raptors even more so.

I also took a picture of this Song Sparrow with an eccentric molt. Below, I highlighted the outer primaries and inner secondaries that are replaced (in green) and are retained (in red). Replaced feathers are darker, longer and less worn than retained juvenile ones. The rachis (i.e. feather shaft) is thicker and darker as well on replaced feathers.

Song Sparrow (hatch year, unknown)

Thank you Abby and Erin for helping out and spending the day with us!

— Jasmine

LITTLE BEAR

There isn't anything new or exciting today to report from Little Bear today. We are still wading through thigh deep water for a few birds per net run. We had 15 new birds and 8 recaps of 10 species today. Our exciting recapture from today was a returning Myrtle Warbler that was banded in 2024. He was captured alongside an after hatch year female, so we are able to show a comparison between adult males and females. The bird on the right is the male, with brighter black flight feathers, white edges on the greater and median coverts, and bright blue-gray feathers on the shoulder. The female on the left is more brown overall. The flight feathers are still a dark dusky gray with nice quality and sheen, but the tips of the coverts are more brown and the edging on the scapular feathers is not as bright blue. 

Myrtle Warblers (left: after hatch year female, right: after hatch year male)

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Cooper's Hawk	-	1	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	-	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Northern House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	4	1	2	3
Gray-cheeked Thrush	-	-	1	-
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
Seaside Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Saltmarsh Sparrow	3	3	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	2	-
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	1	-	-	-
Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler	1	-	3	2
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	-	5	-
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	19	15	34
# of Recaptures	7	8	15
# of Species	16	10	21
Effort (net-hours)	139.1	132.3	271.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.7	17.4	18.1
# of Nets	33	28	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,285	2,526	6,811
# of Recaptures	630	412	1,042
# of Species	84	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	10,889.9	7,700.1	18,590
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	45.1	38.2	42.2
# of Days	72	65

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (CS)

Aiden Gifford (LB)

Abby Burke (CS)

Erin Rogers (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.