Memorial Day Banding

Strong winds were the order of the day but I was able to band from 7 - noon. It was quiet with only 8 birds caught. I did have a nice variety and the Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, below hit one of my nets before I was even done putting it up. A second bunting bounced out and didn't come back.


I finally caught my first Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, of the year. This is often a species that is near the top in numbers caught at my banding station.


This female Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater, will often evoke quite a bit of emotion with some birders. Because they are nest parasites many people would like to get rid of them. It's tough to see so many around when you know their lifestyle but they are native, they are protected by law and the reason they are so successful is because HUMANS have helped them by changing the landscape so much.


I did catch another Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum, but rather than him being upset he seems to be laughing at me. I'm pretty used to that....

Elderly Flycatcher

Another beautiful morning for banding. I was set by 7:30 am and had lots of activity around. However the numbers weren't as good as yesterday. On the other hand I had some real excitement.


This Great Crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus crinitus, would be a nice catch any day but this one was especially thrilling because it was banded! I don't handle many of this species at all so the possibility of a foreign retrap was there. When I checked the band, sure enough it was mine and the really cool part is that this bird was banded in 2004. It was an after hatch year bird then so he is at least 6 years old!

Apparently there are a couple of males with territories around my banding site because as I was processing this bird another one flew in overhead and began calling. Once I had all the measurements done I started to take photos of this wonderful individual when all of a sudden I got dive bombed by the other bird. In fact, I think he was diving on the bird I was holding and was not about to back down. I got the last couple of shots and let the bird go at which point the two birds went at it. The trouble only lasted a couple of seconds but it sure was something. I've never had a bird coming at me at eye level before. It can be rather disconcerting.


A second good catch for the day was this Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum. It was a gorgeous bird that many people don't have a chance to see close up.


That eye really stands out.


The only warbler for the day was another Tennessee Warbler. I'm afraid we may have been overflown by warblers this year. I'm not seeing hardly any in the area. I may go for a walk tonight to see if there are any in the woods nearby.

One more morning to band this weekend so I'm going to bed early.

More Confusing Birds

As I watched the weather radar this morning about 6 am I was afraid that the rain moving through might crimp my plans to band but luckily the front sagged south and the rain stopped. Interestingly, I watched the radar loop and could see migrants beginning to land about 5 am south of the front in central Iowa. This means more birds still on their way.



The last two days have been "flycatcher" days. The variety of flycatchers around is pretty impressive. Yesterday and today I have either caught or heard Least Flycatcher, Trail's Flycatcher (Willow/Alder complex), Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Eastern Wood Peewee. Talk about a tough group to ID!

This Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Empidonax flaviventris, (above) was a surprise. We don't usually catch these every year.



Also netted this morning was a Least Flycatcher, Empidonax minimus, which always impress me by how feisty they are.

The Great-crested Flycatcher that was all over the banding site never came down far enough to hit the net. Maybe next time.



Vireos have begun to show up in good numbers and this Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo olivaceus, was the first of the spring for me. This bird's eye is still brownish-red which is the color of a juvenile so that makes this a second year bird. It's eye should be brighter by fall.



I did catch one ratty looking Tennessee Warbler, Vermivora peregrina, that at a quick glance might fool people into thinking its a Red-eyed Vireo. The comparison here shows the contrasts. Compare the throat, the eye and the bill of the two birds.


Finally I caught 3 American Redstarts, Setophaga ruticilla, at the same time. Curiously, they were caught at the bottom of the net as if they were skulking along the ground. These are pretty numerous in this area as a breeder.

If the weather holds it's back to the nets tomorrow.

A Bird in the Hand...

With the winds finally subsiding and the temperatures cooling into the 70s I was able to take my Field Ornithology class out and really enjoy a morning of birding and banding. There were lots of new birds for the kids to see and they got a kick out of watching Caspian Terns, Sterna caspia, hunting over a shallow lake at Ritter Farm.


Since the weather was cooperating I put up a couple of nets and did some banding with the students. We only caught two birds in the little time we had but they provided a good lesson for the class. The flycatcher above is an nice example of a bird that is hard to ID even in the hand. This is an Eastern Wood Peewee. The lack of an eye-ring and the overall grayish back and white throat are the key to ID. It fooled me by being caught in a low tier of the net near a wetland. My first thought was Willow/Alder Flycatcher but lack of any yellow in the plumage didn't fit.


The other bird we caught was a male Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus. The above photo is of a male caught a while ago that is your classic male Red-wing. However, the bird we caught is shown below and the kids had a good lesson in how birds can change their look over time. None of them knew that younger birds can be so different from adults.


A close-up of the birds epaulet shows the classic characteristics of a second year bird. This guy will look like the bird above it next year. Until then he'll just look scraggly.


With the three day weekend upon us, I'm hoping to band all three mornings and see if the migration is truly still in full swing. The warblers have been few and far between in my area this spring.

Just for Viewing Pleasure

It always seems to happen that, when I'm out banding birds, on days when things are slow the last run of the nets produces either a big number of birds or the "best" birds of the day. Sunday was no exception. After working hard all morning to catch the migrants that were around we decided to close up shop about 1 pm. Sure enough, the birds on the last run were the ones we had really hoped for.


This Blue-winged Warbler, Vermivora pinus, was one of the last birds caught but it was the one I had promised the crew we would get that day. I've always said I'd rather be lucky that good. Amber is not going to doubt me ever again!


A real surprise was this Blue-headed Vireo, Vireo solitarius. We hadn't seen any before this one ended up in our net along a small wetland area.


One of the common birds that I just can't get tired of is the male Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas, a bird of extraordinary beauty close up. They can sometimes be a pain to get out of a net because they are so small. It can be hard to know which side of the net they came in on.



This female Common Yellowthroat is well suited to hide in the shrubs on a nest but they just don't have the visual impact of their partner.

We've had high wind warnings today so no chance to band with my Field Ornithology class but I did do a little program for some elementary students yesterday (1st and 2nd grade) and was able to band a pair of Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, including a female with a brood patch.

Nothing hooks kids like a bird in the hand!

Bulk of Migrants Inching North

It appears from last night's nexrad images that the heaviest concentrations of migrants are out of the southern states and are now moving through the upper midwest. Places like Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and parts of Kansas and Nebraska are seeing the big moves north. That's not surprising with the strong southerly winds that have been almost constant since early last week.



Numbers at the banding station on Sunday would not have suggested that there was lots of movement into Minnesota, however the variety of species continues to increase. Numbers should be higher by the end of this week.

Still some early migrants hanging around like Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers. Many of the mid to late migrants can be found with enough effort. I'm still waiting for that morning when the trees are "dripping" with warblers!

More photos from Saturday

Besides the group of sparrows we had on Saturday, we caught some other pretty nice species including this Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus which is not a species we handle very often. What is great about having them in the hand is seeing things not ordinarily obvious in the field.


When this bird got upset, the red crown patch was clearly visible as it displayed. Lots of people don't even know that Eastern Kingbirds have such a patch. Getting a good look at characteristics like this just makes you want to look at birds closer in the field.


The bird with the strongest wing muscles and the stubbiest legs was this Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor. We used to catch lots of swallows when we had access to a nesting area at Carver Park but changes to the park trails has pretty much eliminated the nesting site. Many of the visitors to the banding program were impressed by the iridescent color of the head and back feathers.


Finally, we even caught a Palm Warbler, Dendroica palmarum, which is ordinarily already through this region by now. We seem to be a bit behind on the expected timing of migration. Even if birds are delayed in their movement north, they make up for lost time by spending less time courting and should pull off this years young right on time.

The fact that some of the early movers are still here will make my Field Ornithology class just that much more fun to teach!

Tomorrow - photos from banding at Ritter farm.

Wind and Sparrows - Banding on 5/16

The constantly blowing winds of the past 3 days did not make us feel as if the banding session on Saturday at Carver Park in Victoria, MN would be very productive. Just finding spots to put nets that were out of the wind proved to be frustrating. However sometimes you just have to do your best and Mark did manage to find "the spot". In spite of 2 of the nets being in the open, exposed to the wind and fully lit up by the sun, they were the best set of the day.


For the middle of May we had an unexpected number of sparrows and only one warbler. So today I'm going to show off the sparrows we handled like this nice Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii.


The soft buzz buzz of the Clay-colored Sparrow, Spizella pallida alerted us to the presence of this fellow.


The most numerous sparrow of the day was the Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina. We banded 11 of these guys and they can be heard giving their "sewing machine" call just about everywhere.


Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla was the 4th species on the sparrow list today. I love that pink bill and when I have students in the field they get a kick out of the Field Sparrow's call which sounds like a ping-pong ball bouncing on a table top. That descending whistle is easy to ID.


Sparrows weren't the only birds we caught but I'm saving a couple of cool surprises for later. Tomorrow it's back out into the field for another day of banding. This time it's to Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville, MN. where there is a special event day put on by the city. Maybe tomorrow will be a "warbler day".

Heaviest Migration Yet

Weather systems south of Minnesota have kept our winds out of the south and very strong for the past several days. The movement of birds has appeared to be the heaviest of the season. The images below show the concentration of migrants over Minneapolis from about midnight to about 9 am on Friday May 15th. Note that at midnight the radar returns over the Twin Cities were in the range of 25dbz. This is near the maximum we see in this area.


Heavy movement continued through the night the image below is from approx. 2 am.


By 6 am the birds are starting to land as the sun comes up. However it looks like there is still some movement into mid-morning.

The last image show a bit of movement still going on at 7 am. I would expect a significant difference in species present from just a few days ago, maybe even from just yesterday.

Not the best way to start the day

It all started as my oldest son Jamie was headed out the door to catch the bus to school. He looked out the window by the front door and I heard him say "Poor bird". That's never a good phrase and as I looked down, there sat a gorgeous White-throated Sparrow that had apparently hit a window.

The bird was on its feet and didn't look to have any obvious injuries, so I opened the door and was able to pick it up without a struggle - another bad sign. However, I looked at its eyes and they were open and clear and the bird would react to some movement. I decided to put the bird in a cardboard box for a while to see if it would recover.

After a short time I could hear it moving around and fluttering in the box which is a good sign. Figuring the bird would have a good chance at recovery, I decided to band it before I let it go. Unfortunately my banding equipment was at my school. No problem, I'll take the bird to school (about a mile away), band it and let it go there.

This is where it gets complicated. I have the box containing the bird with me in school and all my equipment is in my office but as I go to get the banding box, the bird is able to squeeze out of the box and fly up to sit on top of one of the ventilation ducts. To say that my students were surprised is an understatement. What to do?

I immediately got kids to cover our big windows with sheets of paper and I threw open the back door. The bird didn't make a break for it right away so I turned out the lights to try and get to move toward the door. Well, the obvious escape route was not obvious to the bird. It flew back toward the door but landed on the ledge of a small window near the door instead.

This was my chance, I jumped up on a students desk and without much effort was able to grab the escapee and safely get it outside. This is where the story gets better. Once the bird was under control the kids were able to get a very close up look at one of our beautiful native sparrows. That produced lots of questions and eventually a group was able to watch me band and measure the sparrow before letting it go.

What could have been a bad start to the day turned out to be a great teachable moment and the kids are already talking about making the White-throated Sparrow our class mascot.

Why They're Called Waxwings

Saturday morning found me out at Carver Park doing some banding for the first Minnesota Youth Bird Festival. As we set nets there was a lot of activity all around us so we had hopes for a good day and we were not disappointed. We had our first 3 birds pretty quickly and while we were processing the 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers (Dendroica coronata) and 1 Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum) that were our first catches, we watched bird after bird hit one of our nets which was just down the trail from our banding table.


When we got to the net it was full of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). All told we had a dozen birds in our one net. We speculate that the first bird in the net may have given some sort of distress call which lured all the other birds into the net. We got great looks at what I consider one of the prettiest birds around.


If you've never seen a waxwing close up you may not understand the origin of their name. The male pictured above shows classic waxy tips on the ends of 8 of his secondary and tertial wing feathers.


This was the only bird of the 12 that had the waxy tips. As far as I can recall I've never personally seen a bird with more wax tipped feathers than this one. It's not every day when Cedar Waxwings are our most numerous catch on a banding day!