Squeaky Black-and-white Warblers

Captain Sam's- 

We had a bit more activity at Captain Sam's this morning, with a much more respectable 45 birds. Common Yellowthroats were our most abundant species; we processed 19. Gray Catbirds were our second most abundant species; we processed 10. Some of the highlights of the day included two Western Palm Warblers, an Ovenbird, and a very handsome hatch year, male Black-and-white Warbler.

HY, male Black-and-white Warbler

A2 with separation between white tipping

We identified this Black-and-white warbler as a hatch year because of its A1 molt limit. However, the separation in the white tipping on its A2 is another indicator that this bird is a hatch year. If he was an an after hatch year, the white tipping on the A2 would be continuous.

Black-and-white warblers are unique compared to other warblers because they feed more like nuthatches- climbing up and down the trunks of trees searching for insects. Their song is frequently described as a squeaky wheel. To learn more about Black-and-white Warblers click here.

--Beth

Little Bear- 

The past couple days were highlighted by some resident species that are unusual captures, and with poor migration conditions again last night, we were unsure of what to expect this morning. Turned out that our run of surprising species in the nets came to an end, but we were a bit busier than I predicted. Over half of our 39 captures were Common Yellowthroats, and we enjoyed some diversity with 13 different species overall. The forecast for the next few nights looks much better for migration along the southeastern coast, so hopefully we have some exciting new birds to share over the course of the week.

--Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	4	-	1	-
House Wren	-	-	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	8	2	2	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	1
Ovenbird	1	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	-	1	-
Black-and-White Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	17	2	19	1
Yellow Warbler	1	-	3	-
Western Palm Warbler	2	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	3
Painted Bunting	1	-	2	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	37	33	70
# of Recaptures	8	6	14
# of Species	12	13	15
Effort (net-hours)	137.2	68	205.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	32.8	57.4	90.2
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,268	704	1,972
# of Recaptures	319	151	470
# of Species	53	46	65
Effort (net-hours)	4,950.45	1762.8	6,713.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	32.1	48.5	36.4
# of Days	39	30	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Bethany Darby (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Arcata Leavitt (LB)
Dave Sandahl (LB) 
Josh Lefever (LB)

Little Bear First: Loggerhead Shrike!

Captain Sam's:

The Carolina Bird Club came out to visit us at Captain Sam's this morning. Unfortunately, it was very windy and also very slow. We caught a total of 16 birds, 4 of which were recaps. My favorite birds of the day included a female, after hatch year Cape May Warbler and a hatch year Veery.

-Beth

Little Bear:

Well folks, if you recall my post from two days ago, I talked about a certain little bird we've been trying to catch out at Little Bear. I've got good news for you, after two weeks of waking up at 4:45 in the morning to get out to the station and set up the nets in the cover of darkness, we finally caught an Eastern Screech Owl!

Such a cutie! Eastern Screech Owl in Red Morph (Photo by: Dave Sandahl)

Dave with his first owl! (Photo by: Josh Lefever)

This was the first owl I've ever held and it was just a thrill for me because for a birder that primarily identifies birds by ear, the Eastern Screech Owl was the first bird I ever identified by sound!

We didn't get a ton more birds after the owl, but Arcata did extract and band a beautiful Black-Throated Blue Warbler today too!

Hatch Year Male Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Look at that male model! (Photos by: Dave Sandahl)

We can't wait for what the weekend holds, maybe we'll get a shrike?!

- Dave

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Screech Owl	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
House Wren	1	-	-	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	1	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	6	1	5	-
American Redstart	-	-	1	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	4	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	1	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	3	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	-	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	12	19	31
# of Recaptures	4	2	6
# of Species	9	10	19
Effort (net-hours)	122.8	47.5	170.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	13	44.2	57.2
# of Nets	28	19	47

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,223	651	1,874
# of Recaptures	304	140	444
# of Species	53	44	63
Effort (net-hours)	4,813.25	1,622.8	6,436.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	31.7	48.7	36.0
# of Days	37	28	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Bethany Darby (CS)
Arcata Leavitt (LB)
Dave Sandahl (LB) 
Josh Lefever (LB)