FOS: American Robin

Today we banded a total of 94 birds, 81 new birds and 13 recaptures. The majority of our birds were Yellow-rumped warblers with 69 of them banded. Several waves of Yellow-rumped Warblers (300-500 in a loosely formed flock) were seen flying over the banding station early in the morning. They appeared to have come from the main part of Kiawah and were traveling west towards Seabrook Island.  It was quite frustrating to watch 3000-5000 Yellow-rumps completely over fly the banding station.  

We also banded our first American Robin of the year. The American Robin is the largest thrush species found in North America. During the spring and summer, they feed mainly on the ground searching for terrestrial invertebrates, and switch to berries and fruits during the fall and winter.  They have even been observed using a twig as a tool to sweep away leaves while foraging.

American Robin (after hatch year, male)

The black head and bright orange breast is indicative of an adult male.

NEW BIRDS
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 American Robin
2 Hermit Thrush
69 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Eastern Towhee
2 Song Sparrow

1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Painted Bunting

RECAPTURES
5 Gray Catbird
4 Yellow-rumped Warbler
2 Song Sparrow
2 Northern Cardinal

BANDING STATS
# of New Birds:  81
# of Recaptures:  13
# of Species:  10
Effort:  129.2 net-hours
Capture Rate:  72.8 birds/100 net-hours
# of Nets:  23 (1 net was opened late because it was replaced)

BANDING STAFF
Aaron Given
Libby Natola
Matt Zak
Mattie VandenBoom