Tree Swallows Galore and a Cuckoo Comparison

 CAPTAIN SAMS

A welcome windy chill (chill is being used loosely here) fell over us and our 16 recaps and 163 newly banded birds! We have the Tree Swallows to thank for that large number with a whopping 86 new Tree Swallows today! In addition to our Dorito-shaped friends, we had a decent showing of warblers along with the regulars. Also a huge thank you to Chris, Will, and Heather for coming out today and helping us with the TRES Fiesta!

Tree Swallow (Hatch year, female)

Great day of banding despite knowing LSU would beat Miss. State after work (football not birds) :(

- Van

LITTLE BEAR

Although a little chilly and pretty windy, it was a fairly busy day out at Little Bear with 65 newly banded birds and 20 recaptures. We had decent numbers of Cape May Warblers and Black-throated Blue Warblers which was a treat. The highlight of the day was capturing 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoos. To our delight we caught two in the same net run and they happened to be different ages which was cause for a fun comparison photoshoot. In the first two photos below note the difference in mouth lining color in each bird. Having your finger munched isn't usually very helpful while banding, but mouth color is one characteristic we used to age these cuckoos, so we were thankful for the bites. The after hatch year bird has a blackish mouth lining and tongue (pretty metal if you ask me) while the hatch year has a pink mouth lining and tongue. Another difference seen in these photos is in eye color. Although more subtle, if you look closely you can see the older bird has a darker eye while the youngster has a lighter brown eye. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo comparison (top: after hatch year, bottom: hatch year)

Yellow-billed Cuckoo mouth color (left: after hatch year, right: hatch year)

We often used molt limits to separate out young birds from older birds and this hatch year cuckoo happened to have a molt limit in its greater coverts, which was cool to see in comparison to the uniformity of the older bird's wing on the left. Note how the older bird's flight feathers are richer in color as well. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo wing (left: after hatch year, right: hatch year)

Another characteristic we use to age Yellow-billed Cuckoos is tail shape and pattern. Notice how the older bird on the right has broader, more rounded outer tail feathers while the hatch year has more pointy and tapered outer tail feathers? Also see how the white patches contrast distinctly with the darker parts of the feather on the AHY? White spots on juvenile outer tail feathers tend to blend into the darker color of the feather and show less distinct contrast. The black on the outer tail feathers of the adult is also more bold than the youngster. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo tail (left: hatch year, right: after hatch year)

-Olivia

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	2	-	4	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	1
Eastern Wood-Pewee	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Tree Swallow	86	-	-	-
Marsh Wren	-	-	1	-
Gray Catbird	5	8	3	3
Brown Thrasher	-	1	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	-	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	-	1
Northern Waterthrush	-	1	1	4
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	4	2	5	6
American Redstart	1	1	1	1
Cape May Warbler	5	-	13	-
Northern Parula	3	-	5	-
Northern Yellow Warbler	-	-	2	-
Blackpoll Warbler	1	-	-	1
Black-throated Blue Warbler	9	-	11	-
Western Palm Warbler	3	-	12	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	3	-	2	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	-	1	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	123	65	188
# of Recaptures	16	20	36
# of Species	17	21	25
Effort (net-hours)	168.3	137.6	305.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	82.6	61.8	72.2
# of Nets	35	27	62

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3831	2218	6049
# of Recaptures	531	301	832
# of Species	77	67	89
Effort (net-hours)	9150.2	6286.95	15437.15
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	47.0	40.1	43.55
# of Days	61	54

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (LB)

Aiden Gifford (CS)

Van Truong (CS)

Chris Snook (CS)

William Oakley (CS)

Heather LePage (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.