CAPTAIN SAMS
Birds are still moving through Kiawah Island in big numbers and it was another birdy day at Captain Sams with 336 newly banded birds and 25 recaptures. Species diversity was up from yesterday as we captured 32 different species today! Some highlights include several first of season birds: Yellow-throated Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We also caught the 6th Philadelphia Vireo ever captured at KIBS. The last one was captured 7 years ago, so it was very exciting to see this fella in a net. I was especially excited for the Yellow-throated Warbler as well because I'd never seen one in the hand.
We send a big thank you to Ann and David McLean and Nancy Raginski for helping us out during the last few busy days. Volunteer help is huge in making processing large numbers of birds a smooth and efficient operation. Also thanks to Liz for the delicious cookies that powered us through net runs.
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| Yellow-throated Warbler (after hatch year, male) |
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| Philadelphia Vireo (hatch year, unknown sex) |
-Olivia
LITTLE BEAR
We had slightly less volume today at Little Bear, but we still ended up with over 100 birds! We banded 114 new birds and had 7 recaps of 28 species. Despite the slight slow down, we had some really high-quality birds today, including a few more first of seasons. We caught our first Eastern Phoebe, first Wood Thrush and we had 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoos! Now that's cuckoo. Since it was a beautifully calm morning on the beach we decided to open the pond net and it did not disappoint. Returning from one of our net runs, I was surprised to see Aiden and Jasmine sitting at the table with a Tricolored Heron! As Aiden was going past the pond, he spied a couple of herons hanging out (probably feasting on the schools of fish now stranded in the pond). He expertly corralled them to move closer to the net and ran to secure one when it flew in. We determined this bird is a hatch year based on the plumage and eye color. The rusty patches on the head and throughout the back and wings indicate juvenile plumage vs uniform slate gray-blue in an adult. Young birds also have a light yellow eye compared to the orange or reddish eye of an adult. We took measurements of the bill and tarsus to determine that this is a male.
The recent large tides have flooded Little Bear and brought fish into the net lanes so our fingers are crossed for more herons in the near future.
-Liz
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | - | 4 | - |
Tricolored Heron | - | - | 1 | - |
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Wood-pewee | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Acadian Flycatcher | 1 | - | - | - |
Traill's Flycatcher | 2 | - | - | - |
Eastern Phoebe | - | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 3 | 2 | 5 | - |
Philadelphia Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 13 | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | - | 1 |
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern House Wren | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
Gray Catbird | 70 | 11 | 26 | 2 |
Brown Thrasher | - | - | 2 | - |
Northern Mockingbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Veery | 1 | - | 2 | - |
Swainson's Thrush | 7 | - | 1 | - |
Wood Thrush | - | - | 1 | - |
Yellow-breasted Chat | - | - | 1 | - |
Baltimore Oriole | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 4 | - | 2 | 1 |
Black-and-White Warbler | 4 | - | 1 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 170 | 8 | 40 | - |
Hooded Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
American Redstart | 22 | 3 | 11 | - |
| Cape May Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
| Northern Parula | - | - | 2 | - |
| Magnolia Warbler | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Northern Yellow Warbler | 2 | - | 4 | - |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 4 | - | 1 | - |
| Western Palm Warbler | 12 | - | 2 | - |
| Pine Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
| Yellow-throated Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
| Prairie Warbler | 2 | - | - | - |
| Scarlet Tanager | 1 | - | - | - |
| Northern Cardinal | 2 | - | - | 1 |
| Indigo Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Painted Bunting | 2 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 336 | 114 | 450 |
| # of Recaptures | 25 | 7 | 32 |
| # of Species | 32 | 28 | 41 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 237.2 | 168 | 405.2 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 151.8 | 72 | 119 |
| # of Nets | 33 | 28 | - |
| 2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 1,935 | 1,152 | 3,087 |
| # of Recaptures | 237 | 136 | 373 |
| # of Species | 49 | 54 | 64 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 6,005.4 | 4,009.1 | 10,014.5 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 36.2 | 32.1 | 34.5 |
| # of Days | 43 | 36 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)