Today we banded 61 new birds and had 22 recaptures of 16 different species. Yellow-rumped Warblers were once again the most abundant species with 35 banded. It was also a very good day for sparrows with 5 different species being banded. The Bird-of-the-Day was a VESPER SPARROW! This is the first time a Vesper Sparrow has ever been banded at KIBS. Additionally, it is the first one I have ever seen on Kiawah Island! We also banded 2 "first-of-the-season" White-throated Sparrows!
We had some interesting recaptures today as well - 4 more Yellow-rumped Warblers have returned to KIBS after being banded in previous years. The original banding dates are as follows: 01/15/2010, 11/09/11, 12/09/11, and 01/24/12.
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| Vesper Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown) |
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| White-throated Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown) |
Eastern Towhees can be aged by comparing the greater covert with the primary coverts. In hatch-year (juvenile) birds, the replaced greater coverts will be glossy black contrasting with the duller unreplaced primary coverts.
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| Eastern Towhee (Hatch-year, male) |
Eye color is a characteristic that can be used to determine the age of Eastern Towhees. Generally, adults will have a red eye and hatch-years will have a brown eye. Caution should be used when using eye color to age Eastern Towhees after late fall as some hatch-years have already attained a red eye.
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| Eastern Towhee (hatch-year, male) 11-3-12 Note the brown eye |
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| Eastern Towhee (after hatch-year, male) 10-23-12 Note the red eye |
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