Captivating Cardinals

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was another hot and muggy day at Captain Sams and we ended the morning with a total of 20 birds, 10 newly banded and 10 recaptures. 7 out of those 10 recaptured birds were Northern Cardinals, a resident bird that breeds on Kiawah Island. These birds are known for being pretty feisty in the hand and banders must take some precaution as to not get bitten by their sizable bills. All of the Northern Cardinals captured today were in heavy molt, replacing all their feathers as part of the annual molt cycle songbirds undergo in the fall. Cardinals are resident birds in South Carolina, meaning they don't fly south for the winter and will instead spend their winter days foraging on seeds and will commonly visit bird feeders. Most cardinals will spend their entire lives within a few miles of where they were hatched. In fact, 2 of our cardinals from today were banded in previous years at Captain Sams, one in 2020 and one in 2023. 

Half the crew spent the morning finishing setting up nets at Little Bear where we will begin banding soon. We are excited to see what the first days at Little Bear will bring.

Olivia

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	4	-	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	7	-	-
Painted Bunting	-	2	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	10	-	-
# of Recaptures	10	-	-
# of Species	9	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	124.6	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.1	-	-
# of Nets	33	-	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	146	-	-
# of Recaptures	54	-	-
# of Species	22	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	836.9	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	23.9	-	-
# of Days	6	-

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Olivia DeMarchi (CS)

Aiden Gifford (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.