Interesting Catch of a Dominant Species

Captain Sam's
Despite closing a few nets early and coping with strong winds throughout the morning, we still managed to finish the day with 60 new birds and 19 recaps.  Interestingly, our 19 recaps included 13 different species, while the 60 new birds were only comprised of 11 species.

Our most interesting bird of the day was a hatch-year Acadian Flycatcher, a species of Empidonax flycatcher.  Empids are notoriously difficult to identify, even in hand.  The easiest way to distinguish an Acadian Flycatcher from a "Trail's" Flycatcher, which we catch many more of, is to examine the color of the bird's legs.  Acadian Flycatchers have a gray leg, while "Trail's" Flycatchers have a dark gray-to-black leg.  Like I said, notoriously difficult.

Hatch-year Acadian Flycatcher, Sex unknown. 
The feet still appear dark in this photo but the legs were significantly lighter in person.

-Brandon

Little Bear
Little Bear started out the day with all of the nets open. As the morning went on, the wind gradually picked up forcing us to close certain nets. By the ten o'clock hours most of the nets were being blown around, causing us to close early.

Little bear caught 49 new birds and 6 recaptures. We had 12 species of previously unbanded birds and 4 species of recaptures.

The highlight of the day was this leucistic Common Yellowthroat.

This was a hatch-year male. You can still see 

the cool looking A1 molt limit!

-Paul

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Common Ground-Dove	-	1	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Acadian Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	1
Red-eyed Vireo	5	1	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	1	1	-	-
House Wren	-	-	3	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Swainson's Thrush	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	8	4	2	-
Brown Thrasher	-	1	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	-	3	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	33	2	28	3
American Redstart	3	2	1	-
Cape May Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Parula	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	3	1	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	1	-	-
Palm Warbler (western)	2	-	6	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Indigo Bunitng	-	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	-	2	-	-

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	60	49	109
# of Recaptures	19	6	25
# of Species	18	15	25
Effort (net-hours)	117.6	61.4	178.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	67.2	89.6	75.0
# of Nets	26	20	46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (CS)
Paul Carroll (LB)
Hannah Conley (CS)
Ryan Donnelly (CS)

FOS: Blackpoll Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler

Captain Sam's

Compared to yesterday, today almost felt slow, despite still catching 108 new birds and 19 recaptures. We had good numbers of our usual species (Common Yellowthroats, Gray Catbirds, and Red-eyed Vireos), while also seeing an increase in Swainson's Thrushes and Western Palm Warblers. The weather has continued to be unseasonably warm, so we're looking forward to some cooler temperatures in the coming week.

-Hannah

Little Bear

Even though we had to close around 10:00AM again due to heat, we still exceeded our totals from yesterday with 184 new birds and 4 recaptures of 25 species. It was an even better morning for warblers with 16 species being caught at Little Bear alone. This included first-of-the seasons' Blackpoll, Nashville, and Blackburnian Warbler. We also caught 3 Tennessee Warblers and a Black-throated Green Warbler, which were both caught at Captain Sam's yesterday but are new for the season for Little Bear. Common Yellowthroats just barely beat out Palm Warblers, but the total of 57 Palm Warblers this morning already puts us ahead of the total number of Palm Warblers caught at Little Bear last year!

Black-throated Green Warbler (hatch-year, male)

Blackburnian Warbler (hatch-year, female)

Tennessee Warbler (hatch-year, sex unknown)

Nashville Warbler (hatch-year, male)

Magnolia Warbler (after-hatch-year, male)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	10	-	2	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	1	-
House wren	1	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	2	-	1
Veery	2	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	13	-	8	-
Gray Catbird	14	5	11	-
Brown Thrasher	-	1	1	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	4	-	2	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	1	2	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Tennessee Warbler	1	-	3	-
Nashville Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	28	3	62	2
American Redstart	4	4	2	-
Cape May Warbler	-	-	4	-
Northern Parula	-	-	1	-
Magnolia Warbler	1	-	1	-
Blackburnian Warbler	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	3	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1	-	-	-
Blackpoll Warbler	-	-	1	-
Black-throated blue Warbler	5	-	11	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	16	-	57	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	1	-
Black-throated Green Warbler	-	-	1	-
Indigo Bunting	-	-	2	-
Painted Bunting	-	1	-	-

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	127	180	307
# of Recaptures	19	4	23
# of Species	22	25	31
Effort (net-hours)	114.4	76.0	190.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	111.0	242.1	173.3
# of Nets	26	20	46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (CS)
Paul Carroll (LB)
Hannah Conley (CS)

Fall warblers everywhere!

Captain Sam's
Talk about a crazy day! Today takes the new record for total captures at Captain Sam's for the season! We caught 252 birds total! Despite the continuing rush of common yellowthroats we saw some great variety of warblers among other things today at Captain Sam's. First of season Chestnut-sided warbler, Gray-Cheeked Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, and Eastern Phoebe!

(top left)Gray-cheeked Thrush, (top right) Tennessee Warbler
(Left) Chestnut-sided Warbler, Cape May Warbler, American Redstart, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Right)

I really enjoyed getting to see so many beautiful birds all in one day, but my favorite capture for the day has to go to the Grey-Cheeked Thrush! I love these birds and their extraordinary migrations! They are sometimes under appreciated because they seem to be a dull colored bird but have an exciting migration route. Some birds of this species migrate from as far west as Eastern Siberia and will travel to the eastern coast of Canada and the United states and then head south towards central and South America as far south as the northern portions of Peru and Brazil.

Gray-cheeked Thrush (Hatch Year, Sex unknown)

-Kristen


Little Bear 
It was an incredibly busy day at Little Bear this morning 167 new birds and 9 recaptures, representing 25 different species.  Unfortunately, we were forced to shut down early due to the extremely warm weather.  The 176 birds handled this morning were all captured within a less than 4 hours period, producing a record capture rate of 231 birds per 100 net hours.  Surprisingly, we did not have any first of the season but we captured 2 more Chestnut-sided Warblers, a Magnolia Warbler, and a handful of Cape May Warblers.  

Like most of the warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers can be aged by the presences or absences of a molt limit.  Hatch-year birds will most often have a molt limit within their alulas, where A1 is replaced and contrast with the retained A2 and A3.  In the example below, you can see A1 has black center and surrounded by bright green edging and contrast with the brown and worn A2, A3, and primary coverts.  On after hatch-year birds, the wing will lack any molt limits and all the coverts will have dark centers and will be relatively fresh.

Hatch-year Chestnut-sided Warbler with A1 molt limit

After hatch-year Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warblers can be sexed based on the amount of chestnut they have along their flanks.  After hatch-year males will have the extensive amount of chestnut along their flanks.  After hatch-year females can have a few hints of chestnut or can completely lack it.  Hatch-year birds with chestnut along their flanks can be sexed as males but birds without chestnut are better left as unknown because both males and females can completely lack chestnut.            

 

After hatch-year male -Mattie

Hatch-year male

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Eastern Wood-Pewee	2	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	2	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	4	1	3	1
Red-eyed Vireo	7	-	6	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Tufted Titmouse	1	-	-	-
House Wren	-	-	4	-
Carolina Wren	1	1	-	-
Veery	-	-	1	-
Gray-Cheeked Thrush	1	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	8	-	2	-
Gray Catbird	20	2	16	4
Brown Thrasher	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	1	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	4	-	1	1
Black-and-White Warbler	4	-	-	-
Tennessee Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	120	4	62	1
Hooded Warbler	-	-	1	-
American Redstart	20	2	16	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	6	-
Northern Parula	1	-	1	-
Magnolia Warbler	5	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	2	1	1	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1	-	2	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	11	-	6	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	13	-	31	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	5	-
Black-throated Green Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-
Indigo Bunting	3	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	-	1	1	2

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	236	167	403
# of Recaptures	15	9	24
# of Species	29	20	33
Effort (net-hours)	161.0	76.0	237.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	156.5	231.6	180.2
# of Nets	22-26	20	42-46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (CS)
Paul Carroll (LB)
David Mclean (CS)

FOS: Northern Flicker, Wilson's Warbler and Wood Thrush

Captain Sam's

We had another good day at Captain Sam's with 171 new birds and 16 recaptures of 24 different species.  We captured the first Northern Flicker (in fact we got two) and Wilson's Warbler of the season.  Northern Flickers are present around the banding station in the fall and winter but are seldom captured in the nets.  They are a large woodpecker, and because our nets are designed to capture smaller birds, they have a tendency to bounce out of the nets.

Northern Flicker (Second-year, female)

Woodpeckers have a complex molt strategy and can have multiple generations of feathers within the same feather tract.  Because of this, we are able to age most woodpeckers with a little more precision than other songbirds.  In the fall, second-year birds will have a mix of replaced and unreplaced primary coverts like in the photo below.  Notice that the outer two primary coverts are much darker than the inner ones.  In hatch-years, all the primary coverts would be uniform and brownish like the inner five feathers in the photo below.  Alternatively, if the feathers were uniformly dark, we would be able to age this bird as an after-second year, making it at least 3 years old.  

Northern Flicker wing (Second-year, female)

The winds have shifted a bit from the northwest (last night) to the west (tonight).  The current radar is showing good movements of birds along the coast and inland.  A westerly wind should bring us birds more birds that are migrating more inland as they will be pushed toward the coast.

-Aaron
   


Little Bear

Another busy day at Little Bear brought us 109 new birds and just 4 recaptures of 22 species. Common Yellowthroats continue to be abundant, but we also had a surprising number of White-eyed Vireos and our first-of-season Wood Thrush. Among the other usual species, we also caught one Worm-eating Warbler, and one very drab hatch-year Cape May Warbler, two species we had earlier in the season but haven't seen in a few weeks.

Wood Thrush (hatch-year, sex unknown)

A comparison of eye color on these two White-eyed Vireos. The hatch-year (left) has a dull, gray eye, while the after hatch-year (right) has the bright "white" eye that gives this species its name.

-Hannah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Common Ground-Dove	-	1	-	-
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)	2	-	-	-
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	10	-	17	-
Red-eyed Vireo	10	1	2	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	1
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	1	-
House Wren	2	-	5	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Veery	2	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	4	-	3	-
Wood Thrush	-	-	1	-
Gray Catbird	17	4	8	-
Baltimore Oriole	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	4	1	-	-
Worm-eating Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	1
Black-and-white Warbler	3	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	86	1	42	1
American Redstart	16	3	7	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	1	-
Northern Parula	1	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	-	1	1	-
Magnolia Warbler	2	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	5	-	3	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	-	-	9	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	4	-
Wilson's Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	-
Indigo Bunting Painted Bunting	- -	- 1	1 -	- -

                                                 

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	171	109	280
# of Recaptures	16	4	20
# of Species	24	22	31
Effort (net-hours)	150.8	110.0	260.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	124.0	102.7	115.0
# of Nets	26	20	46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (CS)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)

FOS: Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Philadelphia Vireo

Captain Sam's
It was quite a busy morning at Captain Sam's!  We finished the day with 139 new birds and 10 recaptures of 21 different species.  In addition to our usual abundance of Common Yellowthroats, we also had decent numbers of American Redstarts and Black-throated Blue Warblers.  The best bird of the day, however, was a hatch-year Philadelphia Vireo!  We've only caught a few of these birds since the station opened.  The majority of this species migrate further west along the Mississippi flyway.

Hatch-year Philadelphia Vireo! One way to distinguish this vireo from similar species (Bell's and Warbling Vireo) is to examine the P10 feather, the outermost primary flight feather.  The P10 is a vestigial feather, meaning that it is a now functionless remnant of an ancestral species. The P10 is especially small on a Philadelphia Vireo. Also, a big Thank You to the members of the Master Naturalists course who came out to Captain Sam's today! -Brandon Little Bear We continued our busy mornings out at Little Bear with 121 new birds and 10 recaptures of 19 different species. Common Yellowthroats led the way, but Palm Warblers were not that far behind with 29 banded today. Palm Warblers enjoy areas with low vegetation and a scattering of shrubs and trees, which explains why we see so many Palm Warbler flocks moving through throughout the morning and ending up in our nets. The highlight of the morning came in the first net run when we caught a first-of-the season Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We will get many more as we start to get into October, but it was a nice surprise on a day that still felt like a hot, summer afternoon. The conditions will be pretty similar tomorrow so hopefully this busy run will continue! Ruby-crowned Kinglet (after hatch-year, female) -Michael   Species Captain Sam's Little Bear New Recaps New Recaps White-eyed Vireo 2 - 4 - Philadelphia Vireo 1 - - - Red-eyed Vireo 3 1 3 - House Wren 1 - - - Marsh Wren 1 - - - Carolina Wren - - - 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - - 2 - Ruby-crowned Kinglet - - 1 - Veery 3 - - - Swainson's Thrush 1 - 1 - Gray Catbird 9 - 9 3 Baltimore Oriole 1 - 1 - Ovenbird - - 1 - Northern Waterthrush - - 2 1 Black-and-white Warbler 1 - 2 - Common Yellowthroat 78 4 44 3 American Redstart 17 - 8 - Cape May Warbler 1 - - - Northern Parula 1 - 2 - Yellow Warbler - - - 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler 9 - 3 - Palm Warbler (Western) 5 - 29 - Prairie Warbler 1 - 9 - Eastern Towhee - 1 - - Northern Cardinal 1 1 - 1 Indigo Bunting 2 - - - Painted Bunting 1 2 - -  Banding Stats Captain Sam's Little Bear TOTAL # Birds Banded 139 121 260 # of Recaptures 9 10 19 # of Species 20 19 27 Effort (net-hours) 145.6 108.0 253.6 Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) 101.6 121.3 110.0 # of Nets 26 20 46 Banding Staff Aaron Given (CS) Mattie VandenBoom (LB) Michael Gamble (LB) Kristen Oliver (CS) Brandon Connare (CS) Paul Carroll (CS) Hannah Conley (LB) David McLean (CS)

And it's a Tie...

Captain Sam's
Captain Sam's captured a total of 99 birds, 78 new birds and 21 recaptures of 12 different species. The weather was mild, making for a pleasant morning.  The American Crows were present, chasing around birds of prey all morning. This short clip is of a Red-tailed hawk just after a mob of crows finished harassing it in the top of a pine tree.

Two American Kestrels flew over the station today, showing off their acrobatic flying ability while chasing each other.

-Paul

Little Bear 

Little Bear also had a total of 99 birds which was comprised of 85 new birds and 14 recaptures, representing 14 species.  Common Yellowthroats and Palm Warblers kept us busy for most of the morning.  The weather pattern seems to be holding steady for the next few days and will hopefully continue to produce these better than average days.     

Mixed among the yellowthroats and palms today were several Black-and-white Warblers.  Black-and-white Warblers have a nifty trick that can be used to age them quickly.  Like most warblers, Black-and-white hatch-years will have an alula molt limit with A1 being replaced and contrasting with the unreplaced A2.  The quick trick is to look at A2 and see how much white there is.  On hatch-years, typically there will be white spots on either side of the feather shaft that are unconnected.  On after hatch-year birds, the white will connect creating a white U at the tip of the feather.

Hatch-year Black-and-white Warbler with A1 molt limit

After hatch-year Black-and-white Warbler with no molt limit

Black-and-white Warblers can also be sexed easily too.  By looking at the extent of the black streaking along their flanks, their sex can be determined quickly.  Males will have heavy, black, and distinct streaking along their flanks.  On the other hand, females will have black streaking that is blurred and less distinct.             

Male

Female

-Mattie

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	2
Red-eyed Vireo	2	3	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	2	-	1
House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	3
Gray Catbird	8	1	6	1
Brown Thrasher	1	1	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	-	-
Ovenbird	2	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	1
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	3	-
Common Yellowthroat	43	6	44	3
American Redstart	6	1	1	-
Yellow Warbler	4	1	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	4	-	2	-
Palm Warbler (western)	5	-	24	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	2	3	2

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	78	85	163
# of Recaptures	21	14	35
# of Species	17	14	20
Effort (net-hours)	140.4	113.0	253.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	70.5	87.6	78.1
# of Nets	26	20	46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
Ryan Donnelly (CS)
David McLean (CS)

More and more Common Yellowthroats

Captain Sam's

It was another busy day out at Captain Sam's with 130 new birds and 11 recaptures of 20 different species. Common Yellowthroats made up most of the captures again with 95. This makes 645 Common Yellowthroats banded in the last 10 days at Captain Sam's alone! At this rate, it could be a record breaking year for this species at KIBS. The highlight of the day was a first-of-the season Common Ground-Dove for Captain Sam's. It seems they have declined at Captain Sam's over the years, but there is still a pretty good population out at Little Bear where they have already caught a few.

Over the past few days, we have also noticed the movement of resident species as they disperse from where they spent the breeding season on Kiawah. We are catching a few more new Downy Woodpeckers, Brown Thrashers, and Northern Cardinals along with old Northern Cardinal recaptures returning to the spit. Below is a picture comparing a hatch-year Brown Thrasher and an after hatch-year we caught earlier in the week. Young Brown Thrashers have a yellowish-gray eye whereas the adults usually have a yellowish-orange eye.

Brown Thrashers (hatch-year on left, after hatch-year on right)

-Michael


Little Bear

Blustery northeast winds blew in a decent number of birds today, with 77 new and 11 recaptured, for 88 total captures of 18 species. 50 new Common Yellowthroats again made up the majority of captures. Some interesting birds included a Baltimore Oriole, a Yellow-breasted Chat, a Tufted Titmouse, a handful of House Wrens, and two Black-and-white Warblers. Like Captain Sam's, we have been catching some new unbanded individuals of resident species in the last few days, like Brown Thrashers and Northern Cardinals.

Baltimore Oriole (hatch-year, sex unknown)

A fetching after hatch-year male Black-and-white Warbler

-Hannah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Common Ground-Dove	1	-	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	1	1	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	2	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	1	1
Red-eyed Vireo	5	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	1	-	-	1
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	1	-
House wren	-	-	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	3
Gray Catbird	4	-	6	1
Brown Thrasher	1	-	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Baltimore Oriole	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	-	-	-	1
Northern Waterthrush	2	1	1	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	95	2	50	2
Hooded Warbler	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	3	1	1	-
Yellow Warbler	3	1	2	-
Black-throat Blue Warbler	2	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	3	-	5	-
Prairie Wabler	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	1	4	1	-
Painted Bunting	2	-	3	-

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	130	77	207
# of Recaptures	11	11	22
# of Species	20	18	26
Effort (net-hours)	158.6	100.9	259.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	88.9	87.2	88.2
# of Nets	26	20	46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
Chris Snook (LB)