Oh Canada

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today was the biggest day of the season with a total of 235 birds! Naturally Common Yellowthroats were our most captured species with 191 individuals. With less impressive numbers Yellow Warblers came in second with 10, and American Redstarts in third with 7. 

As we opened nets, we could hear dozens of warblers chirping, our first sign that it was going to be a busy day! In our first net run, we had over 100 yellowthroats as well as half a dozen other species including Yellow Warblers and a Chestnut-sided Warbler. While Yellowthroats may have stolen the show due to sheer volume, the crew's favorite was a bright red Summer Tanager! As hatch years, males may begin to get hints of red or orange in their plumage but only adults will be a bright red. 

After Hatch Year Male Summer Tanager 

-Arden 

LITTLE BEAR

While not nearly so prolific as Captain Sam's, Little Bear started the day with a nice push of birds that kept us busy for the first couple of runs up until just before the day turned hot.

One lovely bird we got was a gorgeous after-hatch-year Canada Warbler. This was our first of the season and a truly spectacular specimen with large black spots adorning his crown beautifully. 

A couple angles a beautiful after-hatch-year Canada Warbler. Note the strong necklace and heavy spotting on the crown.

  

Canada Warblers range across the northeast of the continent in a vague arrowhead where the broad tip rests upon the northeastern United States and eastern Canadian provinces and one edge runs across the Northwoods to all the way into British Columbia and the other follows the Appalachians into northern Georgia. Where I worked this summer in northeastern Alberta near Fort McKay these were one of the most abundant warbler species and closer to us in South Carolina birds nesting in the Appalachians have an affinity for rhododendron and laurel thickets in dense woodlands.

In the course of the incubation period male Canada Warblers may engage in a behavior called "anticipatory feeding" where they bring food to the nest before hatching. The provisioning instinct in birds can be incredibly strong, I have been told of a Black-and-White Warbler in Texas that would feed Golden-cheeked Warbler chicks as it had none of its own and there is documentation of Cardinals shoveling food items into the mouths of Koi (presumably the large, colorful mouths are reminiscent of a begging chick). In the case of Canada Warblers this at least occasionally manifests itself as offering food to their young even before they have left the confines of the egg. 

Nice look at the eye-ring

Canada Warblers winter principally in and along the east side of the Andes Mountains from the western edge of Venezuela to deep into Peru. While there they specialize on foraging for insects on the underside of low-growing leaves. This helps them minimize competition with other insectivorous birds and can give them access to a large quantity of food when insects are driven under the leaves due to rain.

While we can't say for sure where our friend spent his summer. These warblers exhibit high fidelity to their breeding grounds so it is likely that after winter he will return to the area he bred this year.

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	1
Acadian Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	1
Red-eyed Vireo	5	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	2
Gray Catbird	2	-	2	-
Brown Thrasher	1	-	-	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	-	-	1
Black-and-white Warbler	2	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	189	2	45	3
American Redstart	6	1	1	-
Northern Parula	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	10	-	4	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	6	-
Prairie Warbler	6	-	1	-
Canada Warbler	-	-	1	-
Summer Tanager	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	-	3	-
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	231	66	297
# of Recaptures	4	9	13
# of Species	17	16	24
Effort (net-hours)	179.2	148.4	327.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	128.9	50.5	90.7
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,592	909	2,501
# of Recaptures	222	201	423
# of Species	50	47	60
Effort (net-hours)	5,180.5	3,596.8	8,777.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	35.0	30.9	33.3
# of Days	36	29

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Amy Nickerson (CS)

Adam Wolf (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.