Molty Molty Cardinals

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Not much activity at Captain Sam's today, but we were welcomed by a noticeably cooler morning. Today broke the hot streak, with the high only reaching 88°. It was nice to not be drenched in sweat while closing nets for the first day all season!

Today we only caught 18 birds, but we were lucky enough to see some cool species around the station. Some Purple Martins and a Roseate Spoonbill decided to fly by, and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen escaping from the net! The audacity tsk tsk. The North American Cuckoos (Black and Yellow-billed) are some pretty cool birds. They specialize in eating those fuzzy caterpillars that are covered in little spines and hairs. Those spines get stuck in the inner wall of the bird's stomach and build up over time. Once the spines and hairs block digestion these birds will shed their stomach lining, coughing it up much like owls do with owl pellets, and then grow a new lining! Pretty metal if you ask me. KIBS usually catches some Yellow-billed Cuckoos every year so stay tuned!

-Aiden

 LITTLE BEAR

Little Bear is officially open for the 2026 banding season! We caught several Northern Cardinals that were molting feathers. 

Banders are usually able to tell the age of birds using molt limits: generational differences between feathers. However, Northern Cardinals can do a complete preformative molt shortly after they hatch, and then they do a complete prebasic molt every year thereafter. This means that molt limits may not be present, and a few months later, we may not be able to discern age through plumage.

However, today, we were still able to age these male birds as HY and AHY, as they have not replaced all of their feathers yet.

Northern Cardinal (hatch year, male)
The presence of brown juvenile feathers allowed us to age this bird HY. Red feathers freshly molting on the face indicates that this bird is male.

Northern Cardinal (hatch year, male)
Same individual as above. There were brownish juvenile flight feathers (highlighted blue) that were not replaced yet. These grew in the nest simultaneously, hence the low quality. The feathers highlighted yellow have been replaced as a part of the preformative molt. If you look closely you can see one of the primaries (p4) growing in.

Northern Cardinal (after hatch year, male)
In contrast to the hatch year male above, the worn, unreplaced feathers are red and non-juvenal. This bird is currently doing its prebasic molt. s9, p1 to p3 have been freshly molted. p4 is a pin feather, so not visible from the photo. The bird has also started molting s1 (the shorter feather in the middle of the wing).

-- Jasmine

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	1	-	-	-
Great-crested Flycatcher	-	1	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	3	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	2	3	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	4	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	2	-
Northern Cardinal	1	-	5	4
Painted Bunting	2	1	3	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	9	19	28
# of Recaptures	9	4	13
# of Species	11	7	12
Effort (net-hours)	123.75	100.5	224.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.2	22.9	-
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	163	19	182
# of Recaptures	71	4	75
# of Species	22	7	22
Effort (net-hours)	1095.9	100.5	1196.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.35	22.9	21.48
# of Days	8	1	8

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (CS)

Jasmine Fu (LB)

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.