Banding at ACBO 17-19 May

During the week of 17–19 May my class and I spent our time banding at the Alma College Bird Observatory in Vestaburg.  Monday we ran the ten nets around the bog. Tuesday we ran the ten nets out in the field but had to close early on account of rain.  Wednesday we ran the bog nets and the field nets simultaneously.  The weather was so-so with morning temps in the high forties and finishing in the low sixties, but the wind was consistently moderate which is never a good thing.

For the three days we had a total of 58 captures of 23 species of which 40 were new, 13 were recaps and five were unbanded.  The species list was still dominated by year round residents and returning summer residents.  Our only definite passage migrants were two Swainson’s Thrush, a Gray-cheeked Thrush and two Magnolia Warblers.

The unbanded birds were mostly the three female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  While I’m not licensed to band them, I do clip a corner of one of their rectrices (tail feathers) so I can identify them if they are captured again throughout the summer.  The other two unbanded birds were a Wood Thrush and an Indigo Bunting that escaped my students’ best efforts to extract them from the net.

A large percentage of the birds caught exhibited breeding condition.  So, many females were sporting brood patches indicating they were laying, incubating or keeping naked young warm.  These included the Blue Jay, Brown Creeper, Black-capped Chickadee, Wood Thrush, American Robin, Northern Cardinal, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Among the many recaptures were a few birds of notable age.  These included a three year old Black-capped Chickadee, an at-least-five year old Veery, and at-least-six year old Black-capped Chickadee, a six year old Brown Creeper.  And the winner was a nine year old Veery!  That’s sixteen trips across the Gulf of Mexico on his way to the Amazonian rain forest and back each year!

Finally, the nesting Eastern Phoebe’s babies were about a week away from fledging.  So, we took advantage of this to band the youngsters.  They were very fuzzy-headed and sleepy as we banded and measured them.  Mom waited patiently until we returned them and then continued the chore of bringing them a steady supply of bugs.  For those of you who don’t already know, songbirds have a very poor sense of smell.  Handling baby birds will NOT cause the parents to abandon them.  Don’t hesitate to return naked or unflighted youngsters to a known nest.  Young birds on the ground that can fly should be left alone as mom and dad are watching out for them and feeding them there.

Here the catch:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  3 U

Hairy Woodpecker  2 N

Eastern Phoebe  2 L

Black-capped Chickadee  4 R

Brown Creeper 1 N, 1 R

White-breasted Nuthatch  1 N

House Wren  2 N

Veery  2 N,  3 R

Swainson’s Thrush  2 N

Gray-cheeked Thrush  1 N

Wood Thrush  4 N,  2 R,  1 U

American Robin 1 N,  1 R

Gray Catbird  5 N,  2 R

Brown Thrasher  1 N

Nashville Warbler  1 N

Magnolia Warbler  2 N

Ovenbird  1 N

Northern Waterthrush  1 N

American Redstart  3 N

Field Sparrow  3 N

Northern Cardinal  2 N

Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1 N

Indigo Bunting  3 N,  1 U