Collectively, we banded 7,808 birds and had 2,017 recaptures
of 105 different species. Captain Sam's
had a small increase in the number of birds banded compared to last fall, while
Little Bear experience a substantial increase. Combined, that increase translated
into 8.5% more birds banded. August started off relatively slow with the typical
hot and humid weather. The heat and humidity continued through September but
that didn’t seem to slow down migration. Steady migration continued through October
before experiencing a sharp decline over most of November. For the second year
in a row, tropical weather did not affect the banding station.
CAPTAIN SAM'S
Nets were opened for a total of 103 days from 15 August - 30
November. There were only 5 days when
banding did not occur because of rain (9/9/, 9/20, 9/21, 11/6, 11/7). Unlike at
Little Bear, Captain Sam’s can operate during windy conditions as there are
some nets that are sheltered enough to open.
It is rare that wind alone will cause Captain Sam’s to completely shut
down.
We banded 4,704 new birds of 94 different species. The most commonly banded species were Common
Yellowthroats (1,077), Gray Catbirds (959), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (688). Those three species combined made up 58% of
all the birds banded this season. After
a down year last year, Common Yellowthroats regained the number one spot this
year after exhibiting a 22.4% increase from last fall. However, Common Yellowthroats were still down
4.4% compared to the 10-year average. Gray Catbirds increased 6.9% from last
year, and 24.8% over the 10-year average.
The 959 Gray Catbirds banded this year was the second highest total over
the past 13 years. After several years of steady declines in Yellow-rumped
Warbler numbers, they rebounded nicely with a 35.2% increase from last
year. However, their numbers were still
down 7.8% over the last 10 years.
Several species exhibited record high numbers this
season: Mourning Dove (9), Eastern
Screech-Owl (4), Tree Swallow (62), Tufted Titmouse (6), House Finch (20),
Savannah Sparrow (4), Canada Warbler (2), and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (3). Alternatively,
we had a few species that had record low numbers: Magnolia Warbler (4) and Northern Cardinal
(20).
The overall effort increased from 13,734.0 net-hours in 2020
to 15,023.9 net-hours this year despite banding on one less day. The more favorable weather we experienced over the course of the season allowed us to keep our nets open longer each day. We
banded 138 more birds this year compared to last year, and 138 birds more than
the average for the previous 10 years.
Interestingly, the 10-year average is the same as the total number of
birds banded last year. The overall capture rate was 40.7 birds/100 net-hours. The
capture rate decreased slightly by 0.9 birds/100 net-hours compared to last
year but was 8.7 birds/100 net-hours lower than the 10-year average of 49.5
birds/100 net-hours. Our capture rate
has decreased every year starting in 2012 with exception to 2017 and 2019 when
we experienced small increases from the previous year. The capture rate of recaptures is very
consistent from year to year; therefore, all decreases in the total capture
rate can be attributed to new birds. The
capture rate of recaptures this fall was 9.5 birds/100 net-hours.
We had 1,418 recaptures which is much higher compared to the
1,166 recaptures from last year.
Recaptures can be divided into 3 categories: repeats (birds recaptured in the same season
in which they were banded), returns (birds recaptured in a different season in
which they were banded), and foreign recaptures (birds recaptured that were
banded elsewhere). We had 1,191 repeats, 238 returns, and 1 foreign
recapture. The foreign recapture was a
Tree Swallow that was originally banded as a nestling in Ontario, Canada on
6/10/2021. We also had a recovery of a young
Mourning Dove that we banded on 8/22.
This bird was shot by a hunter on 9/16 in Grover, SC which is about 45
miles north of Kiawah Island.
There were 13 days this fall when over 100 birds were banded
compared to only 9 days last fall. The
best day of the season was on 24 September when we banded 196 birds and had 10
recaptures. The next two busiest days
occurred 10 and 17 September when 180 and 144 birds were banded, respectively. Because
of the lack of strong, fast moving cold fronts, we never experienced any extremely busy days like we do in most years. Instead, favorable winds associated with
smaller low-pressure systems (“cold fronts”) created good migration conditions
spread over a longer period of time.
Species notably absent this year included: Common Ground Dove, Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher, American Goldfinch, Swainson’s Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler,
Yellow-throated Warbler, and Wilson’s Warbler. After a record high of 19 last
fall, no Blackpoll Warbler were captured.
This is only the 2nd fall since 2012 where that has occurred.
Top 10 Species Banded at Captain Sam's
1. Common
Yellowthroat (1,077)
2. Gray Catbird (959)
3. Yellow-rumped
Warbler (688)
4. American Redstart
(202)
5. Red-eyed Vireo (195)
6. Palm Warbler (142)
7. Black-throated
Blue Warbler (124)
8. Painted Bunting
(116)
9. Northern
Waterthrush (113)
10. Ruby-crowned
Kinglet (101)
LITTLE BEAR
Nets were opened for a total of 78 days from 21 August - 15
November. Little Bear opened three days earlier
than lasts year but only one day earlier than normal. There were 9 days cancelled due to bad weather
(rain and/or wind). Because the habitat
at Little Bear is more open than at Captain Sam’s, wind has a much bigger
effect on the operation of the nets there.
As a result, 3 days were cancelled due to wind alone (10/29, 11/4, 11/5) at Little Bear this
year with the other 6 due to rain (9/9, 9/20, 9/21, 10/25, 11/6, 11/7).
We banded 3,104 new birds of 79 different species. The most commonly banded species were Gray
Catbirds (752), Common Yellowthroat (645), and Palm Warblers (249). Those three species combined made up 53% of
all the birds banded this season. Gray
Catbird numbers exhibited a 32.4% increase compared to last fall and 16.2%
increase over the last 6 years. Common
Yellowthroat were up by 21.5% compared to last year but slightly down (0.9%) compared
to the average of the last 6 years. After
a down year in 2020, Palm Warblers made a big comeback with a 70.5% increase
from last fall. This year’s numbers were
also up 19.1% over the 6-year average. Yellow-rumped
Warblers increased by 12.8% this year compared to last but are still down 23%
over the last 6 years. At Little Bear, the long-term negative trend
for Yellow-rumped Warblers can partly be attributed to saltwater intrusion that
killed many of the mature wax myrtles in 2015 and 2016. It’s encouraging to see Yellow-rumped Warbler
number continue to increase over the last couple of years. Hopefully, this is a sign that the wax
myrtles are beginning to rebound.
Several species exhibited record high numbers this
season: Green Heron (3), Copper’s Hawk
(2), Downy Woodpecker (7), Eastern Kingbird (7), House Wren (97), Bobolink (2),
Worm-eating Warbler (5), Prothonotary Warbler (9), Black-and-white Warbler
(20), and Pine Warbler (3). Species that
had record low numbers included: Eastern
Screech-Owl (1), “Traill’s” Flycatcher (12), Swainson’s Thrush (15), Northern
Mockingbird (6), and Song Sparrow (16).
We logged 8,332.6 net-hours out at Little Bear this fall – a moderate increase from the 7836.82 net-hours in 2020. More favorable weather conditions this fall allowed the nets to be kept open longer each day. Last year, excessive heat and/or wind caused the nets to be shut down earlier in the morning. This was also the first full season with the three new nets that were added in September last year.
We banded 470 more birds this year compared to last year and 95.5 birds more than the 6-year average. Little Bear’s capture rate increased 10.5% from 40.1 birds/100 net-hours in 2020 to 44.3 in 2021. Alternatively, the capture rate decreased 21.2% compared to the 6-year average. Again, the wax myrtle die off due to saltwater intrusion after 2017 appears to have severely affected capture rates and maybe the uptick in capture rate this year means the habitat is starting to recovery a bit.
There were 5 days when over 100 birds were banded. The best day of the season was on 10 October when we banded 140 birds and had 9 recaptures. The next two busiest days occurred 17 October and 24 September when 123 and 112 birds were banded, respectively.
We captured five species never banded at Little Bear during
the fall: Barn Swallow (1), Red-bellied Woodpecker (2), Merlin (1), Great Crested Flycatcher (1), Brown Creeper (2). Barn Swallow, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and
Merlin have never been banded at either site during the fall before. I was
surprised to see that Little Bear had never captured a Great Crested Flycatcher
before considering Captain Sam’s has banded 55 of them.
Some other rare and notable species banded included: Green Heron (3; 2 previous), Least Flycatcher
(1; 5 previous), Tufted Titmouse (18; 31 previous), Blue Jay (1; 1 previous),
Lincoln’s Sparrow (2; 5 previous), Bobolink (2, 3 previous), Louisiana
Waterthrush (1, 1 previous), Swainson’s Warbler (1, 3 previous), Mourning
Warbler (1, 3 previous), and Wilson’s Warbler (1, 1 previous).
Species notably absent: Marsh Wren. After banding 2 each of Chuck-will’s-widow
and Eastern Whip-poor-will last year, neither species was captured even though
both were present around the banding the site.
Top 10 Species Banded at Little Bear
1. Gray Catbird (752)
2. Common
Yellowthroat (645)
3. Palm Warbler (249)
4. Yellow-rumped Warbler
(194)
5. Painted Bunting
(142)
5. American Redstart (115)
7. House Wren (97)
8. Red-eyed Vireo
(89)
9. Northern
Waterthrush (83)
10. Prairie Warbler (69)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the cooperation of many people and entities, this
work would not be possible. The success
of this project relies on their commitment, and I am in a debt of gratitude to
everyone involved.
First, I'd like to thank my awesome team of banding assistants (Kristin Attinger, Josh Lefever, Kandace Glanville, Ben Stalheim, and Nate Watkins). Their hard work over the course of this long season was outstanding. It was a great season, and I would like to wish them all the very best of luck in the future.
 |
| From left to right: Ben Stalheim, Kandace Glanville, Kristin Attinger, Josh Lefever, Nate Watkins, Aaron Given |
Next, I'd like to acknowledge the Town of Kiawah Island for providing funding for equipment and banding assistant stipends, the Kiawah Island Conservancy for providing funding for the housing of the banding assistants, and the Kiawah Partners and the Bear Island Holding Trust for allowing access to their property for banding.
Volunteers were welcomed back to the banding station this year, albeit to a much lesser degree. David McLean, Chris Snook, Cathy Miller, Michael Gamble, Nancy Raginski, Alex Sharp, Brendan Wang, Amy Given, and Aidan Given all donated a considerable amount of their time (more than 10 hours each) to help out. We also had several others that came out for just the day. I’d like to thank all the volunteers that made it out this year. Because of their help, we can operate a more efficient banding station.
|
Species |
Captain Sam's |
Little Bear |
||
|
New |
Recapture |
New |
Recapture |
|
|
Mourning Dove |
9 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
17 |
1 |
26 |
- |
|
Black-billed Cuckoo |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Green Heron |
- |
- |
3 |
- |
|
White Ibis |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Chuck-will's-widow |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Eastern Whip-poor-will |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Clapper Rail |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
4 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
Cooper's Hawk |
1 |
- |
2 |
1 |
|
Red-shouldered Hawk |
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Eastern Screech-Owl |
4 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
8 |
7 |
2 |
- |
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
8 |
35 |
7 |
8 |
|
Northern Flicker |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Merlin |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Eastern Wood-Pewee |
11 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Acadian Flycatcher |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
"Traill's" Flycatcher |
18 |
1 |
12 |
3 |
|
Least Flycatcher |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Eastern Phoebe |
43 |
- |
32 |
1 |
|
Great Crested Flycatcher |
5 |
4 |
1 |
- |
|
Eastern Kingbird |
1 |
- |
7 |
- |
|
White-eyed Vireo |
47 |
38 |
31 |
9 |
|
Blue-headed vireo |
2 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Red-eyed Vireo |
195 |
8 |
89 |
1 |
|
Blue Jay |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Carolina Chickadee |
6 |
30 |
7 |
8 |
|
Tufted Titmouse |
6 |
- |
18 |
2 |
|
Barn Swallow |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Tree Swallow |
62 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet |
14 |
1 |
6 |
- |
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
101 |
31 |
52 |
2 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Brown Creeper |
2 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
1 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
House Wren |
67 |
30 |
97 |
25 |
|
Winter Wren |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Marsh Wren |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Carolina Wren |
13 |
44 |
14 |
36 |
|
Gray Catbird |
959 |
638 |
752 |
233 |
|
Brown Thrasher |
8 |
12 |
9 |
1 |
|
Northern Mockingbird |
15 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
|
Eastern Bluebird |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Veery |
16 |
- |
5 |
- |
|
Gray-cheeked Thrush |
7 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Swainson's Thrush |
38 |
- |
15 |
- |
|
Hermit Thrush |
49 |
29 |
6 |
1 |
|
Wood Thrush |
4 |
- |
3 |
- |
|
American Robin |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
House Finch |
20 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Chipping Sparrow |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Clay-colored Sparrow |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Field Sparrow |
4 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Fox Sparrow |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
White-crowned Sparrow |
1 |
- |
2 |
1 |
|
White-throated Sparrow |
10 |
4 |
3 |
- |
|
Saltmarsh Sparrow |
5 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Savannah Sparrow |
4 |
2 |
3 |
- |
|
Song Sparrow |
35 |
23 |
16 |
8 |
|
Lincoln's Sparrow |
1 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Swamp Sparrow |
36 |
27 |
44 |
10 |
|
Eastern Towhee |
9 |
9 |
10 |
2 |
|
Yellow-breasted Chat |
9 |
2 |
7 |
3 |
|
Bobolink |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Baltimore Oriole |
2 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Red-winged Blackbird |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Ovenbird |
31 |
9 |
23 |
7 |
|
Worm-eating Warbler |
3 |
- |
5 |
- |
|
Louisiana Waterthrush |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Northern Waterthrush |
113 |
6 |
83 |
6 |
|
Black-and-white Warbler |
39 |
- |
20 |
1 |
|
Prothonotary Warbler |
8 |
- |
9 |
- |
|
Swainson's Warbler |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Tennessee Warbler |
1 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Orange-crowned Warbler |
13 |
17 |
10 |
- |
|
Nashville Warbler |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Mourning Warbler |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Common Yellowthroat |
1077 |
58 |
645 |
65 |
|
Hooded Warbler |
7 |
- |
2 |
- |
|
American Redstart |
202 |
10 |
115 |
7 |
|
Cape May Warbler |
18 |
1 |
19 |
2 |
|
Northern Parula |
25 |
- |
17 |
- |
|
Magnolia Warbler |
4 |
1 |
3 |
- |
|
Bay-breasted Warbler |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Yellow Warbler |
28 |
- |
47 |
1 |
|
Chestnut-sided Warbler |
3 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Blackpoll Warbler |
- |
- |
4 |
1 |
|
Black-throated Blue Warbler |
124 |
3 |
51 |
2 |
|
Palm Warbler |
142 |
2 |
249 |
1 |
|
Pine Warbler |
2 |
2 |
3 |
- |
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) |
688 |
197 |
194 |
13 |
|
Yellow-throated Warbler |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Prairie Warbler |
97 |
3 |
69 |
- |
|
Black-throated Green Warbler |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Canada Warbler |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Wilson's Warbler |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Summer Tanager |
3 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Scarlet Tanager |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Northern Cardinal |
20 |
58 |
42 |
65 |
|
Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Blue Grosbeak |
2 |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
Indigo Bunting |
27 |
- |
25 |
2 |
|
Painted Bunting |
116 |
60 |
142 |
59 |
|
BANDING STATISTICS |
CAPTAIN SAM'S |
LITTLE BEAR |
TOTAL |
|
# of Birds Banded |
4,704 |
3,104 |
7,808 |
|
# of Recaptures |
1,418 |
588 |
2,006 |
|
# of Species |
94 |
79 |
105 |
|
Effort (net-hours) |
15,023.9 |
8,332.6 |
23,356.5 |
|
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
40.7 |
44.3 |
42.0 |
|
# of Nets |
30 |
23 |
53 |
|
# of Days Operated |
103 |
78 |
- |
|
Dates of Operation |
8/15-11/30 |
8/21-11/15 |
- |
