Powdermill Bird Banding
Pictorial Highlights
Fall 2004
UPDATES FOR September 14-19
-
September typically is our peak
for diversity of species, and not until October, when large flocks of finches
and sparrows move through Powdermill, do we expect to possibly get a daily
banding total approaching 300 birds. So, it was certainly an unexpected,
but pleasant, surprise for us when quantity and quality combined on the
first banding day of this week. On Tuesday,
September 14th, we banded 291 birds of 47
species (including 19 species of wood warblers)--54 species total including
recaptures. Admist the checking of nets, rustling bags of birds,
and banding, we welcomed Deb Plotts,
a bander from Ohio, Gretchen Putonen,
a bander from Cape Cod, Mass., and
Fred and
Carol McCullough, residents of Pittsburgh
and banders at Allegheny Front Bird Observatory in Dolly Sods, WV.
What a way to kick off our first of two bander development workshops!
.
By the end of the workshop week,
with just one of day lost to rain associated with Hurrican Ivan, we banded
743 birds of 64 species, including 24 species of wood warblers. Top
ten species during workshop week were Magnolia Warbler (96 banded), Swainson's
Thrush (66), American Goldfinch (56), Red-eyed Vireo (52), Gray Catbird
(40), Scarlet Tanager (39), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (39), Common Yellowthroat
(26), Hooded Warbler (25), and, tied for tenth with 21 banded each, American
Redstart and Wood Thrush.
-
In addition to our workshoppers,
we had help from Bill Diehl, Randi Gerrish, David Leibmann, Annie Lindsay,
Felicity Newell, and David Norman. Thank You!
-
With all the birds banded on 9/14,
it is not surprising we added five new species to our season list on just
this one day (nine new species total were added to the season list over
the week)
-
First, this hatching year male Red-bellied
Woodpecker--note the brown (juvenile), rather than red (adult), eye color.
Note also, the barbed tongue, a feeding adaptation in woodpeckers that
enables them to grab the grubs whose tunnels they expose with their excavations.
Not only do woodpeckers' tongues have barbed tips, but also they can be
extended several times the length of the beak through a specialized hyoid
apparatus that wraps around the back of their skull.
-
Next, this HY female Hairy Woodpecker
-
Then, this HY Winter Wren (The
Wren, in Great Britain, David reminded us!)
-
Followed by this HY female "Western"
Palm Warbler (a plain brown warbler with a yellow undertail)
And, lastly, this HY female Yellow-rumped
Warbler (a plain brown warbler with a yellow overtail!)
-
Although
not a new species for the fall, this HY male Baltimore Oriole banded on
9/14 made the photo highlights by being comical! He spent the entire
time in hand trying to pry the photographers fingers apart! Orioles
and a few other species (notably, Vermivora warblers, including
Blue-winged and Golden-winged warblers) specialized for feeding on flower
nectar and probing for insects inside closed buds, have jaw muscles capable
of exerting stronger than usual reverse opening pressure with their beaks.
-
The very first of 131 birds banded
on 9/15, was this HY gray-phase Eastern Screech Owl, lured into a net in
the pre-dawn hour with a so-so imitation of it's call. The right
half of the photo below shows the fringed outer margin of the owl's outer
primaries, an adaptation that greatly reduces the noise made when it flaps
its wings, and which makes its nearly silent flight (surprising any unwary
prey) possible.
-
We banded three Black-and-white
Warblers on 9/15, including this beautifully marked AHY male (the adult
male loses its black throat patch in basic (i.e., fall) plumage.
-
Among 112 birds banded on 9/16,
was this HY White-throated Sparrow, our first of the fall.
-
Heavy rains associated with Hurrican
Ivan precluded banding all day on Friday, 9/17. A total of more than
five inches fell from Thursday night through Friday night, but the waters
receded fairly rapidly, and, amazingly, we were back to banding on Saturday
morning. Powdermill is located about 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh
(near the southeastern corner of the county to the east of the county containing
Pittsburgh).
Radar image from www.wunderground.com
-
Among 126 birds banded on 9/18 were
two very different Indigo Buntings--one, an adult (prob. ASY based on the
non-juvenile appearance of the alula and primary coverts) female that had
not even begun to molt (top photo below), and the other, an AHY male
(bottom photo below) that already had completed its prebasic molt!
-
On 9/19 we banded a pair of our
94th species of the fall--these HY Eastern Bluebirds (female, left; male,
right), still extensively in juvenal plumage
-
The last day of the first bander
development workshop also netted us four Connecticut Warblers, including
two adult males, one of which is pictured below.
-
It was a full week of banding and
a great week of banding (and ringing) camaraderie. Many thanks to
our good friend, admired colleague, and newly appointed Powdermill Research
Associate from Cheshire, England, Professor David Norman, who spent the
past three weeks with us and also lent his experience and expertise during
the first two days of our bander development workshop. Many thanks
also to Deb Plotts, Gretchen Putonen, and Carol and Fred McCullough, who
attended the workshop. Many birds were banded, much new information
was learned by all of us, and lots of valued acquaintances were made or
renewed in the process.
David Norman (right) has
time to enjoy one more bird (and one more species) before returning home
- our first Gray-cheeked Thrush
of the season - while Bob Mulvihill (with bird) discusses
ageing criteria in thrushes
with our workshop attendants
From left to right: Top - Carol and Fred McCullough,
Bob Mulvihill, David Norman and Gray-cheeked Thrush, Mike Lanzone, Deb
Plotts
Bottom - Adrienne Leppold, Puppy Mulvihill, Gretchen
Putonen, and Bob Leberman
< HOME >
Last Updated on 09/17/04
By Adrienne J. Leppold and
Robert S. Mulvihill