Today we banded 23 new birds and had 11 recaptures of 13 species. We got three first-of-the-seasons today: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ovenbird, and American Goldfinch. The goldfinch was actually quite unusual as we don't catch them every year and when we do it is usually toward the end of the season. We have never captured one in August before and it is quite uncommon to encounter them along coast this time of year. In fact the earliest date we have ever captured an American Goldfinch is November 10th. The bird today was an adult female with a brood patch indicating that she might have bred nearby. American Goldfinches are late nesters and time their nesting season to coincide with the blooming of thistle plants. They use the downy-like seed head as nesting material and for feeding themselves and their young. This year, thistles are abundant around the banding station and are growing along most of the net lanes.
Kristin came down a few days early to give me a hand until the rest of the crew shows up. This is Kristin's third fall banding season at KIBS and I am happy to have her returning!
-Aaron
 |
| American Goldfinch (after hatch-year, female) |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | - | - | - |
Downy Woodpecker | 1 | - | - | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | 1 | - | - |
Carolina Wren | - | 2 | - | - |
Northern Mockingbird | - | 1 | - | - |
American Goldfinch | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Waterhrush | 4 | - | - | - |
American Redstart | 1 | - | - | - |
Prairie Warbler | 3 | - | - | - |
Northern Cardinal | 1 | 4 | - | - |
Painted Bunting | 9 | 3 | - | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 23 | - | - |
| # of Recaptures | 11 | - | - |
| # of Species | 13 | - | - |
| Effort (net-hours) | 139.2 | - | - |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 24.4 | - | - |
| # of Nets | 29 | - | - |
| 2020 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 155 | - | - |
| # of Recaptures | 49 | - | - |
| # of Species | 24 | - | - |
| Effort (net-hours) | 623.55 | - | - |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 32.7 | - | - |
| # of Days | 5 | - | - |
