November 10, 2014 Towhee's Ticks

This morning we caught 35 birds from 6 species, 26 of which were new and 9 that were recaptures. As these are wild animals, we sometimes catch birds with a variety of maladies, such as pox, deformities, and recently, a Gray Catbird with a twig embedded in its abdomen. This morning we caught a female Eastern Towhee that had two enormous, engorged ticks on her head. We released her in good condition after relieving her of the two hitchhikers. 

Yikes! Two large ticks on the scalp of an Eastern Towhee

NEW BIRDS

3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Gray Catbird

21 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Eastern Towhee

RECAPTURES

1 Carolina Chickadee

1 House Wren

5 Gray Catbird

2 Yellow-rumped Warbler

BANDING STATS

# of New Birds: 26

# of Recaptures: 9 

# of Species: 6

Effort: 134.55 net-hours

Capture Rate: 26.01 birds/100 net-hours

# of Nets: 23

BANDING STAFF

Aaron Given

William Oakely

Matt Zak

Libby Natola