|
|
THIS WEEK |
THIS FALL |
2006 TOTAL |
SITE TOTAL |
|
# birds (and species) banded |
332 (33) |
1762 (67) |
2697 (80) |
7750 (96) |
|
# birds (and species) repeat |
29 (12) |
249 (31) |
486 (38) |
1364 (52) |
|
# birds (and species) return |
-- |
21 (9) |
118 (22) |
187 (26) |
|
# species observed |
78 |
122 |
159 |
180 |
|
# net hours |
175.3 |
3045.1 |
6156.9 |
12579.0 |
|
# birds banded / 100 net hours |
189.3 |
57.9 |
43.8 |
61.6 |
|
|
Note: table does not include nocturnal banding (owls) |
Banders-in-charge:
Marie-Anne Hudson, Barbara Frei
Assistants: Martin Bowman, Sophie Cauchon, Alejandro del
Peral, Jean Demers, Val Francella, Helen Garland, Gay Gruner, Bana
Hamze, Barbara MacDuff, Don MacDuff, Sarah Marteinson, Poonam Maskeri,
Mike Mayerhofer, Betsy McFarlane, Chris Murphy, Daniel Oyama,
Annie-Claude Paradis, André Pelletier, Katleen Robert, Clémence Soulard,
Katie Sullivan, Sandra Warren, Marie-Claude, Josée
Notes:
For
those of you who had any doubts as to what time of year it is, let us
assure you, it’s migration time! Despite the cooler mornings
(don’t worry, it’s cozy inside the banding station thanks to our wood
stove), bird activity is incredible! The low number of net hours
for the week hints at the week we’ve had: nets had to be closed early on
most days since there were not enough extractors to deal with the number
of birds caught! The guilty parties were mostly the ubiquitous Yellow-rumped
Warblers that seem to be absolutely everywhere. A new net line, H2, was
installed this week and broke records when it caught 49 birds within 25
minutes Monday morning. It was a sight to see, as warblers lay side by
side calmly waiting to be extracted.
Other
birds of note were the season’s first banded and seen Golden-crowned
Kinglet, and Eastern White-crowned Sparrow. As well, four Scarlet
Tanagers – always a nice bird to see up close instead of flitting in the
treetops – were caught side-by-side on Sunday morning… in H2 of course.
|
We had two candidates for the new ‘oddities’ page that we are
putting together, which displays the strange things that can be
encountered while banding. These ‘cross-billed’
individuals – a Common Yellowthroat and White-throated Sparrow –
were both fat and seemingly healthy adults! They seem to
have survived well despite their challenges - or perhaps have
even found a way to benefit from them.
(Photos by Barbara Frei)
. |
This
week's top 10 [last week's rank in
brackets]
|
# individuals banded |
mean # individuals
observed daily |
|
Yellow-rumped
Warbler (163) [1] |
American Crow (244) [1] |
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (42) [3] |
Canada
Goose (156) [-] |
|
Magnolia Warbler (15) [5] |
Common
Grackle (84) [2] |
|
Nashville Warbler (15) [2] |
Yellow-rumped
Warbler (75) [7] |
|
White-throated Sparrow (14)
[6] |
American Robin (32) [8] |
|
Black-throated Green Warbler (11)
[-] |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (30)
[10] |
|
Song
Sparrow (10) [7] |
Rusty
Blackbird (24) [-] |
|
Common
Yellowthroat (6) [8] |
Blue
Jay (24) [4] |
|
Lincoln’s Sparrow (5) [-] |
Red-winged Blackbird (20) [-] |
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet (4) [-]
|
White-throated Sparrow (18)
[9] |
|
Out of
the top ten species banded, there are 5 warbler species, both species of
kinglets and 3 species of sparrows. No surprise to anyone who has been
out this week! We are fairly certain that most of our student
volunteers can now confidently recognize, and it many cases sex our top
2 species – Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets – as they
had plenty of opportunity to see them up close. As for the daily
observations, American Crows still gathered and streamed by in
impressive numbers, making them the top species observed. The coming
fall has been echoed every morning with the sounds of the growing flocks
of Canada Geese making their way towards warmer weather. As well,
blackbird migration is taking place, the most exciting being Rusty
Blackbird sightings on multiple days this week. And of course, the
energetic Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers are dripping
from every bush – delighting everyone with their presence. The top
10 species alone accounted for an average of over 700 birds observed
each day this week!
|
A bird in the hand may be worth two in the bush – but I don’t
know – there were a LOT of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the bushes
around MBO! With 49 caught Friday, 27 Sunday, and 48 Monday
(with very few recaptures) you have to wonder – how many are out
there? Well, since they are one of our target boreal birds, the
more the merrier!
(Photo by Barbara Frei)
. |
