Another Surprise Grosbeak

 CAPTAIN SAMS 

Very slow day at Captain Sam’s that ended in a rush only due to the threat of oncoming rain. In all we put out 10 new bands and had 3 recaptures for a total of 13 birds.

We had a great highlight in a hatch year female Blue Grosbeak. Given how seldom we capture this species it is a real treat to have two in the course of a season. 

Hatch-year female Blue Grosbeak

We have been having American Redstarts throughout the season, but this male was spectacular; truly earning the name "candelita",  or little torch as it is called in Cuba and other parts of Latin America. 

A few angles of a beautiful after-hatch-year American Redstart.

These dainty little warblers are known for their flycatching behavior, sallying forth from a branch or other perch to capture insects on the wing. As in typical aerial insectivores such as nighthawks, swallows, and members of the flycatcher family, American Redstarts sport a thick set of rictal bristles to aid in the safe capture and consumption of flying insects. The overlap with flycatchers can be so complete that some flycatchers will attempt to drive redstarts from territories that they have claimed.

With storms on the horizon we are currently braced for feast or famine depending on what the winds bring. Hopefully numbers will soon pick up.

-Jeremiah

LITTLE BEAR

We ended up getting a late start this morning due to lingering rain, and we also closed up early due to the incoming storms. In the few hours we were open, we banded 10 birds and had 8 recaptures. While it was another slow day, we had a decent amount of warbler diversity with 5 different warbler species banded. We even caught three Prairie Warblers, including this outstanding adult female. Her throat was so bright it looked like it had an orange glow, and she even had some chestnut on her back. Prairie Warblers will have varying amounts of chestnut streaking on their back, depending on their age and sex. Usually, we would expect no streaking on hatch year females, and a small amount of indistinct chestnut on adult females. In contrast, adult males will have a large amount of chestnut, with the chestnut extending to the feather's edge. In addition, the males will have a distinct eyeline and crescent on the cheek, as well as distinct black streaking on the sides. In the photos, you can see our bird has indistinct face markings and streaking, more signs that point toward female.

In many species, there are observations of females starting to show more male-like plumage characteristics. I have seen a few female adult Common Yellowthroats that have grown a few black feathers on their face and female Lazuli and Indigo Buntings that are almost as blue as the males. I think it's such an interesting phenomenon and would love to see it become the subject of more study one day. Perhaps since our warbler did have some slightly darker chestnut and overall rich color, she could be on the "mature" side.

-Liz

Prairie Warbler, After hatch year female
below: a closer look at the chestnut in the back feathers

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	1
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	2
Northern House Wren	-	1	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	2	1
American Redstart	3	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	1	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	3	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	1
Blue Grosbeak	1	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	-	1	1	3
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	10	10	20
# of Recaptures	3	8	11
# of Species	10	10	16
Effort (net-hours)	118.4	105	223.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	11.0	17.1	13.9
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,761	1,055	2,816
# of Recaptures	266	249	515
# of Species	54	49	63
Effort (net-hours)	6,411.2	4,331.8	10,624.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	27.5	30.1	31.4
# of Days	42	35

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (LB)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)

Amy Nickerson (CS)

Keegan Foster (CS) 

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