Captain Sam's
Today was once again a pretty busy day out at Captain Sam's ! Northwest winds brought us loads more Common Yellowthroats to band (119 to be exact)! Some other first of the seasons managed to squeeze in between all the common yellowthroats as well. Swainson's Thrush, Tufted Titmouse, and Acadian Flycatcher were all new for Captain Sam's this season. Another special bird did pay a visit and gave us a bit of a puzzle. She was very drab and her feathers were very worn which made it a little hard to identify at first.
Upon first glance this bird looks much like a bland looking brown-headed cowbird with no distinct field markings that jump out at you, which was my first guess. But after studying her wings a little closer we were able to see her true colors.
It appears that the median coverts were so worn and tattered that they had lost their white/rusty tipping. When held at an angle in the sunlight we were also able to see the faint hue of light blue edging on some of her lesser coverts on the shoulder. This indicated to us that we actually had a female Blue Grosbeak!
Little Bear
A busier day at both stations! At Little Bear, we ended the day with 106 new birds and 11 recaps of 19 different species. Today's highlights include another Hooded Warbler, two more Magnolia Warblers, and the FOS Swainson's Thrush. This is the second species of thrush that we've banded this year, with the first being the Veery.
-Brandon
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (LB)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
Today was once again a pretty busy day out at Captain Sam's ! Northwest winds brought us loads more Common Yellowthroats to band (119 to be exact)! Some other first of the seasons managed to squeeze in between all the common yellowthroats as well. Swainson's Thrush, Tufted Titmouse, and Acadian Flycatcher were all new for Captain Sam's this season. Another special bird did pay a visit and gave us a bit of a puzzle. She was very drab and her feathers were very worn which made it a little hard to identify at first.
 |
| "mystery" bird |
Upon first glance this bird looks much like a bland looking brown-headed cowbird with no distinct field markings that jump out at you, which was my first guess. But after studying her wings a little closer we were able to see her true colors.
"mystery" bird's right wing
It appears that the median coverts were so worn and tattered that they had lost their white/rusty tipping. When held at an angle in the sunlight we were also able to see the faint hue of light blue edging on some of her lesser coverts on the shoulder. This indicated to us that we actually had a female Blue Grosbeak!
|
|
 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird captured at KIBS in 2015 (Hatch-year, Male) |
Another characteristic that stood out was the bill. Though Brown-headed Cowbirds have fairly large beaks for a blackbird, the grosbeak's bill is much larger. It's much more obvious to see this difference when comparing the two directly as you can see in the pictures above.
As it turns out, Blue Grosbeaks are one of the few species where the adult birds will actually wait until they get to the wintering grounds to complete their pre-basic molt. This explains why the characteristic wing bars and blue shoulder coloration were virtually non-existent on this bird. She still has all the feathers that she molted in last year on her wintering grounds.
-Kristen
A busier day at both stations! At Little Bear, we ended the day with 106 new birds and 11 recaps of 19 different species. Today's highlights include another Hooded Warbler, two more Magnolia Warblers, and the FOS Swainson's Thrush. This is the second species of thrush that we've banded this year, with the first being the Veery.
 |
| A hatch-year Swainson's Thrush of unknown sex |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Downy Woodpecker
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Eastern Wood-Pewee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
"Traill's" Flycatcher
|
1
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Acadian Flycatcher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
White-eyed Vireo
|
2
|
-
|
4
|
1
|
Red-eyed Vireo
|
23
|
1
|
5
|
-
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Tufted Titmouse
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
Veery
|
5
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Swainson's Thrush
|
4
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
10
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
Brown Thrasher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Northern Waterthrush
|
2
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Black-and-White Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
119
|
3
|
64
|
3
|
Hooded Warbler
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
American Redstart
|
15
|
1
|
5
|
-
|
Northern Parula
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Magnolia Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Yellow Warbler
|
5
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Black-throated Blue Warbler
|
3
|
-
|
4
|
-
|
Palm Warbler (Western)
|
-
|
-
|
5
|
-
|
Prairie Warbler
|
6
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
1
|
Blue Grosbeak
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Painted Bunting
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
| |
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
203
|
106
|
309
|
| # of Recaptures |
9
|
11
|
20
|
| # of Species |
22
|
19
|
27
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
126.5
|
108
|
234.5
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
166.8
|
108.3
|
140.3
|
| # of Nets |
18-26
|
20
|
46
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (LB)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
