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WINTER
POPULATION MONITORING |
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Week 8: Feb 21 - Feb 27, 2005 |
Welcome
to the McGill Bird Observatory weekly report. Click
here for a complete listing of our archives. Comments or questions are welcome at mbo@migrationresearch.org.
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PICTURE OF
THE WEEK: |
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February 22,
2005: This Northern Shrike was only the second of its kind
banded
at MBO. Note the sharp hooked beak, and the notches on the
upper mandible.
The brownish tone to the plumage indicates it is a second-year
bird; this was further
confirmed by the distinct molt limits on the wings. Another
two photos of this individual
are posted in the Northern
Shrike
section of the website. (Photo by Marcel Gahbauer)
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THIS
WEEK |
WINTER
TOTAL |
YEAR
TOTAL |
SITE
TOTAL |
| #
birds (and species) banded |
7
(6) |
220
(13) |
26
(8) |
944
(48) |
| #
birds (and species) repeat |
10
(2) |
96
(9) |
21
(2) |
199
(17) |
| #
birds (and species) return |
1
(1) |
2
(2) |
2
(2) |
4
(3) |
| #
species observed |
13 |
31 |
20 |
137 |
| #
net hours |
10.0 |
75.0 |
23.0 |
997.5 |
| #
birds banded / net hour |
70.0 |
292.0 |
113.0 |
94.5 |
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Note: table does
not include nocturnal banding (owls) |
Bander-in-charge:
Marcel Gahbauer
Banding assistants: Mélisa Brunet, Isabel Julian, Noemie
Laplante, Barbara Macduff, Arnaud Tarroux
Notes:
Banding this week took place on Tuesday, as the final flurries from
the latest day-long snowfall were tapering off. Things started off
slowly with just a trickle of Black-capped Chickadees. Midway
through the session, we caught an interesting Hairy
Woodpecker, with a few orange feathers in the rear of the crown.
Most likely it was an old female with a diet that caused the feathers to
appear orange rather than red. We
thought that would be the highlight of the day, but on our final net round
it was surpassed by a second-year Northern Shrike, presumably the one
which has been seen (and heard) in the area regularly this winter.
As is normal for shrikes, this one knew all too well how to use its beak,
and the two of us who handled it each lost some flesh and blood in the
process! We ended up with a relatively small number of birds banded
today, but a nice variety, also including a House Finch, House Sparrow,
and American Tree Sparrow; our lone return was a Slate-coloured Junco
banded here in October.
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