We're Cuckoo for First-of-Seasons!

 Captain Sams:

Pleasant temperatures and calm winds ushered in some fabulous birds today at Captain Sam's! The station totaled 28 total birds today, 24 being new and 4 recaptures. Our first surprise came in warbler form, with the capture of two Northern Parulas. They were caught one after the other across two net runs, but both from the same net! The two birds differed in age, with one being a hatch year and the other an after-hatch year, but were both females. This allowed us to easily compare the plumage differences between ages, specifically the color present on the breast, primary coverts, and allulae.

  Hatch-year female Northern Parula 

After hatch-year female Northern Parula

Photo by Camille Blose

As the morning continued, we captured our second Yellow-billed Cuckoo and first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the season, the latter of which was not banded.  This was my first time holding a Hummingbird, and feeling the intense rumble of their rapidly beating heart was an incredible experience. Their tiny size, coupled with their fast flight speeds, leads to the need for a high metabolism to regain the high amounts of calories lost daily. To accommodate for this, Hummingbird hearts beat at a rate higher than all other birds, allowing for the speedy conversion from calories gained by eating to energy for flight!

After hatch-year female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Photo by Camille Blose

Our last net run of the day also yielded another species we have yet to catch this year, a new flycatcher! Similar to the Traill's Flycatchers we have caught this year, additional measurements were taken on our individual to determine its' exact species identification. Ranging from bill width to differences in length amongst certain primary feathers, our measurements concluded that our individual was a Least Flycatcher. This is a species I have seen from afar, but never in the hand, and seeing their small size and incredibly distinct eye ring up close was a pleasure.

After hatch-year Least Flycatcher

As we head into September, there's no doubt we will have many exciting things to come as we start seeing glimpses of the beginnings of Fall migration. In the meantime, we are looking forward to what the rest of the week has in store!

-Matt

Little Bear:

We had a pretty good day today, with a total of 26 birds! Our most frequent species was the Northern Waterthrush and a handful of other warblers including two Black-throated Blue Warblers, two American Redstarts, and a Black-and-White Warbler. We worked on repairing some mist-nets, and as always, are looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

-Brittany

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	3	-	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	3	7	-
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	5	-	5	-
American Redstart	2	-	2	-
Northern Parula	2	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	2	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	1	1	1	-
Painted Bunting	1	-	3	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	24	25	49
# of Recaptures	4	1	5
# of Species	13	11	16
Effort (net-hours)	150.4	106.25	256.65
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.6	24.5	21.0
# of Nets	32	25	55

2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	282	155	437
# of Recaptures	128	52	180
# of Species	29	24	35
Effort (net-hours)	2700.4	1114.85	3815.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.2	18.6	16.2
# of Days	19	10	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Brittany Holliker (LB)

Matt Hixson (CS)

Camille Blose (CS)

Wentao Yang (CS)

Natalie Miller (LB)

Aiden Given (CS)