CAPTAIN SAMS
Slow days are back and may stick around for another week until our next cold front. We captured 15 new birds and 2 recaptures of 8 species. It was great to have the Kiawah Island Naturalists visit the station today and see the work that we do throughout the fall. It also helped pass the time since it was a slower morning, and we hope they enjoyed their time and learned a lot about migratory birds and the challenges they face.
-Michael
LITTLE BEAR
Things were similarly slow at out at Little Bear and we ended the morning with 19 total captures of 11 species. Our highlight of the day was a first-of-season Indigo Bunting. This individual was a hatch-year which we determined by the presence of a molt limit (different generations of feathers) in its wing coverts. Although not as flashy and bright blue as adult male Indigo Buntings, this young one still had some blue feathers on its lesser coverts and tail.
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| Indigo Bunting (hatch-year, sex unknown) |
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| Indigo Bunting (hatch-year, sex unknown) |
We see many more Painted Buntings on Kiawah than Indigo, so it was fun to see a close relative of a bird we are very familiar with. More slow days on the horizon, but spirits are high!
-Olivia
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Mourning Dove | - | 1 | - | - |
Downy Woodpecker | - | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | - | 1 |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
Gray Catbird | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 1 | - | 2 | 1 |
Common Yellowthroat | 8 | - | 3 | - |
American Redstart | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Yellow Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Palm Warbler (Western) | 2 | - | - | - |
Prairie Warbler | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | - | 1 |
Indigo Bunting | - | - | 1 | - |
Painted Bunting | 1 | 1 | 4 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 15 | 14 | 29 |
| # of Recaptures | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| # of Species | 8 | 11 | 16 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 151.1 | 118.5 | 269.6 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 11.3 | 16.0 | 13.4 |
| # of Nets | 33 | 28 | 61 |
| 2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 798 | 454 | 1252 |
| # of Recaptures | 174 | 96 | 270 |
| # of Species | 39 | 41 | 49 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 4484.8 | 2692.6 | 7177.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 21.7 | 20.4 | 21.2 |
| # of Days | 33 | 26 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)