Wednesday's Results: Banding cancelled

I had to cancel banding again today.  The wind was at the upper limits of what I consider it safe to band and it was expected to increase as the morning went on.   

 

It looks like we are finally going to get back out in the field tomorrow with the wind diminishing a bit after midnight.  It will be interesting to see what may be in store for us after being "grounded" for the last 5 days. 

Tuesday's Results: Cancelled again

Still too windy out there to band.

Monday's Results: Banding Cancelled

Had to cancel banding again today with sustained winds from 20-25mph gusting to 30mph.  The next two days are looking to be much of the same.  We may not get out again until Thursday.

Sunday's Results: Banding cancelled again

It was still too windy to band today.  I am hoping to get out tomorrow although it is not looking good.

Saturday's Results: Banding Cancelled

No banding occurred today due to rain and high winds from Hurricane Sandy.

Friday's Results: Red-breasted Nuthatch #2

We were able to get a couple hours of banding in before the wind got too strong to safely operate the nets.  As expected it was another slow morning with only 8 new birds and 2 recaptures of 8 different species.  The Bird-of-the-Day was our 2nd Red-breasted Nuthatch of the season!  So far, it has been a banner year for Red-breasted Nuthatches in the southeast, and I hope the trend will continue into the winter as well.  

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch



Red-breasted Nuthatches are sexually dimorphic with males generally supporting a much brighter orange breast than females.  In addition, males will have a distinct black cap compared to the female's gray cap as illustrated in the photos below. 

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch (male banded on 10-26-12:  note the black crown)

  

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch (female banded on 10-20-12: note the gray crown)



 

Hurricane Sandy is currently in the Bahamas and on a course that will take her north making landfall in the Northeastern U.S. around Tuesday.  Thankfully, we will be spared from a direct landfall, but we will sustain the peripheral effects of the storm.  We will undoubtedly get some rain on Saturday and very strong winds for several days as the storm makes it way north past South Carolina.  Banding will be cancelled this weekend unless conditions improve somehow, although I don't see that happening.  I am hoping to get back out on Monday but depending on the conditions it may be Wednesday by the time we can open nets again.  We will just have to wait and see.  It will be interesting to see what kind of birds will be around after the storm.

NEW BIRDS

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

1 Hermit Thrush

1 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

3 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Common Yellowthroat

 

RECAPTURES

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Song Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  8

# of Recaptures:  2

# of Species:  8

Effort:  33.9 net-hours

Capture Rate:  29.5 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  13 (we started closing some nets early and at the time of closing we only had 5 nets opened)

 

 

 

Thursday's Results

Another slow day of banding with only 14 new birds and 5 recaptures of 7 different species.  The highlight was another returning Yellow-rumped Warble!  This individual was originally banded on 11/13/11. 

 

The weather will be deteriorating over the next day as Hurricane Sandy makes its way up from Florida.  The storm is predicted to stay far offshore from South Carolina but will be getting rain and high winds for several days.  We will probably be forced to shut down KIBS for the weekend - maybe longer. 

 

NEW BIRDS

3 House Wren

1 Gray Catbird

7 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

2 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Song Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

2 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  14

# of Recaptures:  5

# of Species:  7

Effort:  70.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  26.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Wednesday's Results

We had an extremely slow day of banding with only 13 new birds and 10 recaptures of 10 different species. 

 

We banded 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets today - 1 male and 2 females.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be sexed by the presence or absence of red feathers in the crown with males having red and females without.  The red is oftentimes concealed and can only be seen when the bird gets agitated or excited.  



Ruby-crowned Kinglet (left: female, right: male)

  

NEW BIRDS

1 Mourning Dove

1 House Wren

3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Gray Catbird

4 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Song Sparrow

1 Indigo Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Carolina Wren

6 Gray Catbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  13

# of Recaptures:  10

# of Species:  10

Effort:  73.1 net-hours

Capture Rate:  31.5 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Tuesday's Results: More Returns!

We had a much slower day with 49 new birds and 7 recaptures of 10 different species.  Yellow-rumped Warblers dominated the nets with 38 being banded.  The most interesting birds today were all recaptures:

          1.  Our first returning House Wren of the fall.  This bird was banded

               last fall on 10/12/11 as a hatch-year and was recaptured numerous times

               (6) between October 2011 and February 2012. 

 

          2.  A returning Eastern Towhee.  This bird was also banded last fall

               on 10/28/11 as an after hatch-year male.  This is the first time he has been

               recaptured since.  Eastern Towhees are year-round residents a KIBS,

               however we also have migrants that come through during migration.  It is

               unclear whether this bird is a permanent resident or just passing

               through.  

          3.  An "old" Northern Cardinal.  This bird was the 8th Northern Cardinal

               ever banded at KIBS way back on 07/23/2009.  Incidentally, this was the

               first banding session ever conducted at KIBS!  He was an after hatch-year

               at the time of banding, which would make him at least 4 years old.  



Eastern Towhee (after hatch-year, male)

           

NEW BIRDS

1 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

4 Gray Catbird

38 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Song Sparrow

1 Swamp Sparrow

2 Northern Cardinal

 

RECAPTURES

1 House Wren (banded on 10/12/11 as a hatch-year)

2 Gray Catbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee (banded on 10/28/11 as an after hatch-year)

1 Northern Cardinal (banded on 7/23/2009 as an after hatch-year) 

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  49

# of Recaptures:  7

# of Species:  10

Effort:  85 net-hours

Capture Rate:  65.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Monday's Results: American Robin

We had another productive day with 81 birds banded and 10 more recaptured from 13 different species.  The Yellow-rumped Warblers have arrived!  Although we only banded 35 of them today, there were hundreds around KIBS.  Some were down low in the shrubs, while others were high in the tops of the pines.  Many were foraging in the dunes along the Kiawah River and lots were seen flying over KIBS in small flocks.  We will be getting lots more yellow-rumps as the days and weeks progress.  We had another Yellow-rumped Warbler return to KIBS after being banded last year on 11/12/11.

 

The Bird-of-the-Day was an American Robin - the first one banded this season! 

American Robin (after hatch-year, female)

NEW BIRDS

1 Eastern Phoebe

2 Golden-crowned Kinglet

5 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Hermit Thrush

1 American Robin

11 Gray Catbird

35 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

12 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

5 Song Sparrow

4 Swamp Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

1 Indigo Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Golden-crowned Kinglet

6 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Song Sparrow

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  81

# of Recaptures:  10

# of Species:  13

Effort:  85 net-hours

Capture Rate:  107.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Sunday's Results: Species Diversity!

We had a great day of banding with 133 new birds and 13 recaptures of 25 different species.  We had a wonderful mix of species making today one of the most species rich days of the fall.  We banded another Winter Wren and recaptured the one from yesterday.  It was a very good day for kinglets and phoebes with 8 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 6 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and 6 Eastern Phoebes.  We also banded our 5th Clay-colored Sparrow of the season.  

 

The Bird-of-the-Day goes to a Scarlet Tanager which was the first one of the season!  This bird was a hatch-year showing a distinct molt limit in the outer greater coverts.  We sexed this bird as a female based on the lack of black in the lesser and median coverts.     

Scarlet Tanager (hatch-year, female)

We banded two "Yellow" Palm Warblers today.  Palm Warblers breed across the boreal region of the US and Canada with "Yellow" Palm Warblers breeding in the eastern part of their range in Atlantic Canada and northeast New England.  The "Western" Palm Warblers is much more widespread and generally breeds west of the Hudson Bay region.  "Yellow" Palm Warbler are much brighter exhibiting mostly all yellow underparts and yellow in the eye stripe.  Additionally, they are usually a little larger than their western counterpart.            



"Yellow" Palm Warbler (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



North winds continue overnight, so hopefully we will have another good day tomorrow!      

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Mourning Dove

2 Common Ground-Dove

6 Eastern Phoebe

1 House Wren

1 Winter Wren

6 Golden-crowned Kinglet

8 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Swainson's Thrush

3 Hermit Thrush

13 Gray Catbird

3 Black-throated Blue Warbler

32 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

9 Palm Warbler (7 Western, 2 Eastern)

1 American Redstart

26 Common Yellowthroat

2 Eastern Towhee

1 Clay-colored Sparrow

10 Song Sparrow

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Scarlet Tanager

1 Northern Cardinal

1 Indigo Bunting

1 Painted Bunting

1 House Finch

 

RECAPTURES

3 Carolina Chickadee

1 Winter Wren

5 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - banded on 11/25/11

1 Common Yellowthroat

2 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  133

# of Recaptures:  13

# of Species:  25

Effort:  91.8 net-hours

Capture Rate:  159.0 birds/100 net-hours

Saturday's Results: Winter Birds are Here!

We did much better than I had expected with 58 new birds and 21 recaptures of 15 different species.  Species that migrant to the tropics for the "winter" have started to peter out over that last couple of weeks and have been replaced by species that migrate to the southern portions of North America to spend the non-breeding season.   Most of what we captured today are species that are commonly thought of as "our winter birds".       

 

We banded our first ever Red-breasted Nuthatch and Winter Wren today!  We have been hearing (and seeing) 1 or 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches around the banding station but never thought we would ever get one in the net because they spend most of their time way up in the pine trees.  Last year we had a Winter Wren that hung around the banding table for a day, so I was hopeful that we might get one this year.  I had a prior commitment to attend to this morning and unfortunately missed them both.    



Red-breasted Nuthatch (after hatch-year, female)




Winter Wren (after hatch-year, sex unknown)
Photo by DeeAnne Meliopoulos

We had two more interesting recaptures today as well.  The first was a Gray Catbird that was originally banded two years ago on 11/01/10.  The other was a Yellow-rumped Warbler that was banded on 11/18/10 and recaptured again last fall on 11/29/11 making this its 3rd fall in-a-row that it has been captured at KIBS.                  

NEW BIRDS

1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

2 House Wren

1 Winter Wren

16 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

11 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

10 Palm Warbler (Western)

8 Common Yellowthroat

1 Clay-colored Sparrow

2 Song Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

1 Indigo Bunting

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

19 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  58

# of Recaptures:  21

# of Species:  15

Effort:  86.7 net-hours

Capture Rate:  91.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Friday's Results

It was a super slow banding day with only 11 new birds and 10 recaptures of 12 different species.  It was quite windy most of the morning and the winds had increased enough by 10:30am that we had to shut down early.  The highlight of the day was another recaptured Yellow-rumped Warbler.  This bird was banded on 3/14/11 during our winter banding season and has not been recaptured since! 

 

I am guessing that tomorrow will be slow again but there is a cold front coming on Saturday night so I have high hopes for Sunday and Monday.

NEW BIRDS

1 Eastern Phoebe

1 White-eyed Vireo

4 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

2 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Carolina Wren

3 Gray Catbird

1 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - banded on 3/13/11

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

1 Indigo Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  11

# of Recaptures:  10

# of Species:  12

Effort:  64.5 net-hours

Capture Rate:  32.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Thursday's Results: 3rd Clay-colored Sparrow!

We banded 28 new birds and had 12 recaptures of 12 different species.  We banded another Clay-colored Sparrow (the 3rd of the season)!  The Clay-colored Sparrow is a bird of the Great Plains and is not typically associated with the Atlantic Coast.  To see their distribution based on ebird submissions, check out this link from ebird.  However, Clay-colored Sparrows are nearly an annual occurrence on Kiawah Island and a few of them are seen along the coast of South Carolina each fall.  This year appears to be a banner year for them as they have been widely reported all along the coast of the Carolinas this fall.  



Clay-colored Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Although the Clay-colored Sparrow may have my choice for the Bird-of-the-Day, DeeAnne had another idea as you can see by her reaction when see discovered a Blue Jay in the bird bag.  She has been waiting almost 2 months to see one up close, and today was her day. 

 





                                                                    Photo montage by William Oakley

The special thing about this Blue Jay, other than the fact that this was the first one captured this fall, was that it was already banded!  After looking up the band number, I discovered that it was originally banded on October 28, 2010 at KIBS and had been recaptured one other time on April 25, 2011.



Blue Jay (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



Sparrows can be very difficult to age because the differences between plumage generations can be extremely subtle.  Molt limits are hard to detect and oftentimes we have to rely on shape, wear, and relative color of the primary coverts which also can show a lot of variation.  This Swamp Sparrow, however, was a little easier due to the fact that it had replaced its central rectrices (R1).  You can see the obvious difference (molt limit) between the fresher, darker, and rounded replaced central rectrices compared to the more worn, paler, and pointed unreplaced outer rectrices.  Not all Swamp Sparrows will replace the central rectrices but if they do, we should be able to age them as hatch-years (juveniles) in the fall.  By late winter and spring, the rectrices will have become much more worn and the differences may not be so obvious.  



Swamp Sparrow (hatch-year):  Note the molt limit in the rectrices

  

NEW BIRDS

10 Gray Catbird

2 Black-throated Blue Warbler

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Clay-colored Sparrow

3 Swamp Sparrow

 

RECAPTURES

1 Blue Jay (return:  10/28/10)

2 Carolina Chickadee

5 Gray Catbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Song Sparrow (return:  11/13/11)

1 Indigo Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  28

# of Recaptures:  12

# of SPecies:  12

Effort:  85 net-hours

Capture Rate:  47.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Wednesday's Results: Kinglets

We had a very good day of banding with 78 new birds and 15 recaptures of 21 different species.  There were several highlights today including a our first Golden-crowned Kinglet, our 2nd Least Flycatcher, 3rd Eastern Wood-Pewee, and our 3rd Mourning Dove of the season.  Additionally, Yellow-rumped Warblers numbers are starting to increase with 10 banded.  We also recaptured a Yellow-rumped Warbler that had a band number that I did not recognize.  I was hoping that it would be a bird that was banded elsewhere, but it turned out to be a bird that was banded last fall on October 22nd at KIBS.  Unlike the returning Gray Catbird from a few days ago, this is the first time it has been recaptured since it was banded.  

Golden-crowned Kinglet (after hatch-year, male)

Golden-crowned Kinglets can be sexed by the presence or absence of orange in the crown.  Males will have orange in the crown and females will lack orange.  This may not be obvious in the field as the orange can be somewhat concealed behind the yellow and black stripes on the head.   




Golden-crowned Kinglet (male)

 

This Eastern Wood-Pewee can be aged as an after hatch-year by the white edged primary and secondary coverts.  Hatch-years birds will have buffy edged wing coverts. 



Eastern Wood-Pewee (after hatch-year, sex unknkown)



NEW BIRDS

1 Mourning Dove

1 Eastern Wood-Pewee

1 Least Flycatcher

1 Red-eyed Vireo

2 House Wren

1 Goden-crowned Kinglet

6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

25 Gray Catbird

2 Northern Parula

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

7 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 American Redstart

11 Common Yellowthroat

1 Song Sparrow

1 Swamp Sparrow

6 Indigo Bunting

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

9 Gray Catbird

2 Northern Mockingbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (return from 10/22/11)

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  78

# of Recaptures:  15

# of Species:  21

Effort:  88.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  105.2 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 

Tuesday's Results: Song Sparrow (FOS)

Blustery conditions made it tough to band today.  We started off the morning with all of the nets open, but almost immediately had to close a few because the wind was too strong.  Every net round a couple more nets were closed and I finally decided to shut down all of the nets at 10:30am.  

 

We banded 35 new birds and 9 recaptures of 14 different species.  Today brought us our first Song Sparrows of the fall with 2 banded.  We also banded our 2nd Gray-cheeked Thrush and Marsh Wren of the fall.

Song Sparrow (hatch-year, unknown sex)

Swamp Sparrow (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



Marsh Wren (after hatch-year, sex unknown)



NEW BIRDS

4 Eastern Phoebe

1 Marsh Wren

1 Gray-cheeked Thrush

9 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

3 Black-throated Blue Warbler

2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

6 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Ovenbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

2 Song Sparrow

2 Swamp Sparrow

2 Indigo Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

7 Gray Catbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  35

# of Recaptures:  9

# of Species:  14

Effort:  43.1 net-hours

Capture Rate:  102.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17     

Monday's Results: Red Birds

As expected, we had a very slow day of banding with only 17 new birds and 18 recaptures of 8 different species.  I think this is the first time this fall that recaptures actually outnumbered new birds!  Most of what we have been catching lately is Gray Catbirds.  There is no shortage of catbirds at KIBS right now!  

 

I am hoping things will turn around for tomorrow as the winds are supposed to shift to the north sometime after midnight.  Hopefully that will help refresh KIBS with some new birds.

 

The following picture is for all the St. Louis Cardinal fans out there.  I am a die hard Chicago Cubs fan but since they weren't even close to making the playoffs, I guess I'll have to root for their biggest rival.  Go Cards!      

Northern Cardinal (after hatch-year, male)



House Finch (hatch-year, male)



NEW BIRDS

3 House Wren

10 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 Common Yellowthroat (yes, that is correct - only 1!)

1 House Finch

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

13 Gray Catbird

2 Northern Mockingbird

2 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Bird Banded:  17

# of Recaptures:  18

# of Species:  8

Effort:  88.4 net-hours

Capture Rate:  39.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17     

Sunday's Results

Bird activity was way down today.  We only banded 33 new birds and had 21 recaptures of 14 different species.  Gray Catbirds were still around in relatively high numbers (17 new, 13 recaps).  South winds are predicted for overnight, so I do not have high hopes for a good banding day tomorrow either.     

 

NEW BIRDS

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Carolina Chickadee

17 Gray Catbird

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Black-and-White Warbler

8 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

2 House Finch

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

13 Gray Catbird

2 Northern Mockingbird

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

2 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  33

# of Recaptures:  21

# of Species:  13

Effort:  86.7 net-hours

Capture Rate:  62.3

# of Nets:  17

Saturday's Results: Brown Creeper!

Windy, windy, windy.  The nets were open for 4.5 hours today until we had to close down early because the wind just got too strong to band.  We still managed to band 71 new birds with 9 recaptures of 14 different species.  The Bird-of-the-Day goes to a BROWN CREEPER.  We have never banded a Brown Creeper before at KIBS!  Brown Creepers are regular winter visitors to South Carolina but are rarely seen on Kiawah Island, so it was a real treat to see one in the hand. 

 

Brown Creepers are notoriously difficult to age after they have completed their first prebasic molt.  Some banders have hypothesized that the amount of white at the tips of the primary coverts could indicate age.  Small white spots would indicate hatch-year, while large white spots would be an after hatch-year.  The jury is still out on this but if it is correct than this bird would have been a hatch-year (as seen in the last photo). 

 

I also found an old paper from North American Bird Bander (Jan.-Mar. 1976) that said a wing chord less than 62mm would indicate female and a wing chord greater than 65mm would indicate a male.  This bird had a wing of 61.5 mm, so it may be a female.    



Brown Creeper (hatch-year?, female?)

 

Brown Creeper (back)



Brown Creeper (tail)




Brown Creeper (wing)



NEW BIRDS

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Brown Creeper

1 House Wren

25 Gray Catbird

1 Black-throated Blue Warbler

2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

1 Prairie Warbler

5 Palm Warbler (Western)

1 American Redstart

31 Common Yellowthroat

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Indigo Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

6 Gray Catbird

1 Black-and-White Warbler

1 American Redstart

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  71

# of Recaptures:  9

# of Species:  14

Effort:  72.0 net-hours

Capture Rate:  138.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16     

Friday's Results: Winter Birds Arriving

We banded 164 news birds and had 14 recaptures of 26 different species.  Mid-October is a really fun time of the year for banding.  Although many of the "early" migrating species are gone, we still have lots of warblers, vireos, thrushes, and buntings plus we are starting to see the "late" migrating warblers and sparrows.  Mid-October is one of the most productive and diverse periods during the entire fall migration season.  

 

Gray Catbirds were out in force today with 84 of the banded.  Common Yellowthroats are still hanging around in good numbers with 50 banded.  We banded our first Orange-crowned Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) of the fall season!  In addition, we banded a Marsh Wren, which is also the first of the season, and will most likely be the only one banded this fall.  Some other highlights included:  Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Black-and-White Warbler (4), Eastern Phoebe (2), Swamp Sparrow (1).  



Marsh Wren (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Orange-crowned Warbler (hatch-year, female)

 

We banded a Common Yellowthroat with some interesting white feathers.  On the right wing, this bird had a solid white primary covert and on the left wing it had a white primary feather. 




Common Yellowthroat (white primary feather)



Common Yellowthroat (white primary covet)

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BIRDS

2 Eastern Phoebe

2 Red-eyed Vireo

1 House Wren

1 Marsh Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

84 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Orange-crowned Warbler

1 Yellow Warbler

1 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

3 Palm Warbler (Western)

4 Black-and-White Warbler

4 American Redstart

1 Northern Waterthrush

50 Common Yellowthroat

1 Swamp Sparrow

4 Indigo Bunting

1 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 Carolina Chickadee

6 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Brown Thrasher

1 Cape May Warbler

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  164

# of Recaptures:  14

# of Species:  26

Effort:  95.2 net-hours

Capture Rate:  187.0 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17 

Thursday's Results: 4 new species!

Another windy day prevented us from opening all of the nets (we left one net closed and had to close two others early).  Despite the wind, we still had a very good day with 107 birds banded and 2 recaptures of 21different species.  We had several highlights including 4 new species for the 2012 fall season:  Tennessee Warbler, Pine Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, and Hermit Thrush!  In addition, we banded another Nashville Warbler, the 2nd of the season and 2nd ever banded at KIBS.

Tennessee Warbler (hatch-year, sex unknown)

Pine Warbler (hatch-year, female)

Hermit Thrush (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Nashville Warbler

  

NEW BIRDS

1"Traill's" Flycatcher

3 Eastern Phoebe

3 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

2 Swainson's Thrush

1 Hermit Thrush

44 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Mockingbird

1 Tennessee Warbler

1 Nashville Warbler

1 Northern Parula

5 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Pine Warbler

1 Prairie Warbler

10 Palm Warbler (9 Western, 1 Eastern)

6 American Redstart

15 Common Yellowthroat

2 Swamp Sparrow

2 Northern Cardinal

5 Indigo Bunting

1 House Finch

 

RECAPTURES

2 Gray Catbird

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  107

# of Recaptures:  2

# of Species:  21

Effort:  87.8 net-hours

Capture Rate:  124.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  16 (one net left closed and two nets closed early due to wind)

Wednesday's Results: Return of an Old "Friend"

It seems the big wave of migrants is over . . . for now.  We captured 31 new birds and had 20 recaptures of 12 different species.  The Bird-of-the-Day was a bird that I didn't even know about until I got home and looked at the data sheets.  It was a Gray Catbird!!!  Why am I so excited about a Gray Catbird, a species that we have already banded 277 individuals?  Well, this particular Gray Catbird was originally banded on 01/28/11 during our 2010-2011 winter banding season!  And it seems that this birds has sort of a history at KIBS being recaptured 6 more times between its original banding date and today:  02/17/11, 04/03/11, 04/13/11, 11/12/11, 02/04/12, 02/15/12.  This bird has returned to KIBS 3 years in a row after breeding in places farther north.  It will be interesting to see how many more times we capture this bird as the fall season progresses and if it will stay to spend its 3rd winter at KIBS.   



Black-and-White Warbler (hatch-year, female)



Another trick I learned at the Powdermill Avian Research Center is one used to age Black-and-White Warblers.  In addition to the usual molt limit within the alulas, we can look at the amount of white on A2.  On hatch-years (juveniles), the black center of the feather will extend all the way to the tip showing two white spots on each side.  However, if the the white wraps around the entire tip of the feather, it will be an after hatch-year (adult).   



Black-and-White Warbler (molt limit within the alula feathers)



NEW BIRDS

1 Common Ground-Dove

2 Swainson's Thrush

20 Gray Catbird

1 Northern Parula

1 Prairie Warbler

1 Black-and-White Warbler

2 American Redstart

2 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

RECAPTURES

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 House Wren

10 Gray Catbird

1 American Redstart

5 Common Yellowthroat

1 Northern Cardinal

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  31

# of Recaptures:  20

# of Species:  12

Effort:  95.2 net-hours

Capture Rate:  32.6 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17

Tuesday's Results: Tree Swallows Galore!

This morning's cooler temperature and 12 mph winds were less than ideal for banding birds.  We waited an extra 30 minutes before opening nets so that the birds were not exposed to the cooler temps and the wind any longer than they needed to be.  We also only open the nets that were the most sheltered from the wind.  Because the wind was from the north all of the nets along the Kiawah River were not opened as these nets can be highly affected by north winds.  Combine that with a temperature of 55 degrees, and the smaller birds have the potential to become highly stressed.  Bird safety is our number 1 priority at KIBS, so we took no chances.  

 

Despite the wind and having 7 less nets opened for a majority of the day, we banded 84 new birds and had 16 recaptures of 19 different species.  Highlights of the day include Blackpoll Warbler (2), Cape May Warbler (2), and Tree Swallow (4; the first banding records for this species at KIBS!).  



Blackpoll Warbler (hatch-year, male)



Cape May Warbler (hatch-year, male)

Around 9:00 am hundreds of Tree Swallows descended onto KIBS like a scene out the Alfred Hitchcock movie - The Birds.  We watched them get closer and closer and soon they were practically right on top of us.  We watched in amazement as all of these birds attempted to land on a small group of wax myrtles right next to one of our CLOSED mist nets.  Just as weight of the birds caused the wax myrtle branches to bend towards the ground, they all took off into the sky only to repeat this process over and over again.   I have witnessed this behavior several times over the years in the fall and the winter.  Swallows are insectivores, but they will also feed on berries, especially those of the wax myrtle.  Tree Swallows are one of only a handful of species that are able to digest the waxy cuticle of the wax myrtle fruit.  Their ability to shift their diet to berries during the fall and winter may explain why Tree Swallows winter farther north than any other North American swallow.  Although we have seen large groups of swallows already this fall, this is the first time we have seen this type of behavior this season.  I suspect the overcast conditions coupled with the cooler temperatures and wind prevented the insects from becoming active, in turn the Tree Swallows took advantage of the large crop wax myrtle berries.

  

                                                             Video by William Oakley

In between one of these Tree Swallow feasting events, DeeAnne and I snuck over to the mist net and opened it up.  Just as we got the net opened, 4 Tree Swallow flew in and as we were extracting them from the net we noticed that one of the birds still had a couple of wax myrtle berries in its bill.  I am sort of glad the net was not opened before the swarm of swallows arrive.  If it had been, no telling how many birds would have been captured. 

Tree Swallow



NEW BIRDS

5 White-eyed Vireo

5 Red-eyed Vireo

4 Tree Swallow

1 Swainson's Thrush

15 Gray Catbird

1 Brown Thrasher

2 Northern Parula

1 Magnolia Warbler

2 Cape May Warbler

3 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Palm Warbler (Western)

2 Blackpoll Warbler

1 Black-and-White Warbler

7 American Redstart

26 Common Yellowthroat

8 Indigo Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Downy Woodpecker

2 Carolina Chickadee

5 Gray Catbird

1 Brown Thrasher

6 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Banded Birds:  84

# of Recaptures:  16

# of Species:  19

Effort:  72.5 net-hours

Capture Rate:  137.9 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  13 (3 of which were opened late)

  

Monday's Results: Record Day!

Wow, what a day!  We did not get out of the field until about 3 pm.  We banded 272 new birds and had 16 recaptures of 26 different species.  Common Yellowthroats were well represented with 131 of them banded.  That put them over the 1000 mark for the 2012 fall season.  We also had surprisingly high numbers of Northern Parulas (19) and Magnolia Warblers (10).  We banded more Northern Parulas and Magnolia Warblers today than the previous 3 years combined!  Cape May Warblers were also banded in much higher numbers than any other single day with 5.   

Northern Parula (after hatch-year, male)

We only got one new species for fall season but it was one that I had been waiting for - a GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH.

Gray-cheeked Thrush (hatch-year, sex unknown)



Black-and-White Warbler (hatch-year, male)



Indigo Buntings appeared to be on the move with 12 of them banded today.  All of the Indigo Buntings today were hatch-year birds, expect one (see photo below).  Male Indigo Buntings molt out of their brilliant blue plumage after the breeding season and look more like females.  A good way to age Indigo Buntings at this time of year when they are all in their brown basic plumage is to look at the wings.  Adult males will have blue edging on the flight feathers (primaries, secondaries, rectrices) and all of their primary coverts.  Adult females will have a mix of blue and brown edged primary coverts while hatch-years of both sexes will have primary coverts edged in brown.         



Indigo Bunting (after hatch-year, male)



Indigo Bunting (after hatch-year, male)



Thanks to my banding team for another great day!  Additionally, I would like to thank Julie and David for all of their hard work!

NEW BIRDS

1 Common Ground-Dove

1 "Traill's" Flycatcher

1 Eastern Phoebe

3 White-eyed Vireo

5 Red-eyed Vireo

1 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Veery

1 Gray-cheeked Thrush

1 Swainson's Thrush

30 Gray Catbird

19 Northern Parula

1 Yellow Warbler

10 Magnolia Warbler

5 Cape May Warbler

14 Black-throated Blue Warbler

1 Prairie Warbler

13 Palm Warbler (Western)

2 Black-and-White Warbler

13 American Redstart

1 Northern Waterthrush

131 Common Yellowthroat

12 Indigo Bunting

4 Painted Bunting

 

RECAPTURES

1 Common Ground-Dove

3 White-eyed Vireo

1 Carolina Chickadee

5 Gray Catbird

1 Black-throated Blue Warbler

2 American Redstart

2 Common Yellowthroat

1 Painted Bunting

 

BANDING STATS

# of Birds Banded:  272

# of Recaptures:  16

# of Species:  26

Effort:  115.6 net-hours

Capture Rate:  249.1 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets:  17