Minnesota Birdnerd

The Radar is Lit Up Tonight!

2011-10-14T03:06:00.000-05:00

My friend Sue alerted me to the fact that the radar is really active tonight (actually 3 am Friday). I usually see returns like this in the spring but it sure looks like a huge movement of birds southward tonight. Most of the concentration appears to be in the southern Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois area.

Based on what has been around here lately I'm guessing that most of what is moving are the late warblers, especially Yellow-rumps which have been here in big numbers for the last week and sparrows. I have seen reports of birders seeing flocks of migrating sparrows with multiple species.

The forecast for my area of Minnesota is for cooler temps but precipitation should stay away for the next couple of days so we'll see how birding is this weekend. I know that the big influx in my yard has been of Dark eyed Juncos. The ones here now will move on and the winter residents won't be here for a few weeks yet.

Time to get out birding!

2011-10-12T08:46:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when birds show up they show up in waves. Such was the case on Sunday when I opened my nets on a clear and warm day. The winds had been steadily out of the south for several days so I wasn't expecting lots of migrants but from the first net run it was obvious that there were birds everywhere. For the next 7 hours it was a bird bonanza. I hadn't had a day this good in a long time and there were so many birds in the nets I wished I had some help but alas I was a one man show. By the end of the session I had netted 54 individuals of 10 different species.

The most common species for the day were what I would expect in this area in early October. Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-throated Sparrows made up the bulk of the days catch. Yellow-rumps in the fall can be quite a challenge to age and sex but after seeing so many it became easier. Along with these species I banded 2 other warbler species and 3 other sparrow species. Below is a complete list for the day:
Nashville Warbler - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 29
Swamp Sparrow - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 16
Fox Sparrow - 1
Hairy Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
This weekend is the regular banding session at the Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park Reserve near Victoria, MN. The weather is supposed to hold until then with no big fronts coming through but a gradual decline in daily high temperatures. If you would like to come out and help band birds we start right at 9 am. See you there!

Banding Programs This Weekend

2011-09-16T14:37:00.001-05:00

Just a very short note to let folks know that this weekend we will be running 2 bird banding programs. On Saturday we will be holding the monthly program at Carver Park Reserve just outside of Victoria, MN from 9 - noon. This session is scheduled to be at the King Blind location down the road from the Auburn Lake boat launch.

On Sunday we will be holding the last fall banding session for the year at Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville, MN. This session runs from 9 - noon. Cost for participants 10+ is $2. Younger kids are free.

Come on out and say hi. Hopefully we will be very busy with southbound migrants.

September Migrants

2011-09-12T11:10:00.012-05:00

We held our second banding session of the fall at Ritter Farm Park near Lakeville, MN yesterday. For early September is was unusually hot. We started the day in the upper 50s but very quickly got up into the 80s and we weren't sure how that might affect the days catch. To put it simply the birds were very cooperative. This Brown Thrasher was just one of the highlights of the day.

A big aim of our programs is to introduce kids to birds and show them how science is done in the field. We encourage kids of all ages to come out to watch and have some of them help us let the birds go. The thrasher made this young fellows day when it just sat there for about 30 seconds until it figured out it was free. This picture is of a memory that I hope this kid never forgets. When we wonder how to bring more young people into birding nothing tops something like this.

We only ran 3 nets for the program but we were busy from the start. Many of the birds were obvious migrants with a good number of young birds. This Purple Finch is a young bird with the last bit of yellow gape (edging of mouth) still visible at the base of the bill. We see PUFIs in migration but they nest north of us. Besides the visible characteristics that identify Purple Finches, we can always distinguish them from House Finches because PUFIs really bite!

The Northern Waterthrushes have been moving through for a couple of weeks and this one was netted in classic habitat, right along the edge of a wetland, skulking along low in the bushes. I even predicted this species for the day.

Finally, a preview of the next birds to come through in big numbers, the sparrows. We caught 3 species of sparrow including Song Sparrow, Field Sparrow and this Swamp Sparrow. Swamp Sparrow and Field Sparrow were the most common sparrow catch of the day.

Below are the totals for the day. The weather prediction for the next week is for a drastic change in temperatures. We are going from upper 80s for highs to barely reaching 60 degrees. We have 2 programs next weekend - Saturday at the Lowry Nature Center and Sunday is the final program at Ritter Farm this fall. With the change in conditions we may see a real change in species. Ya gotta love migration!

Totals for Sunday:

American Redstart - 1
Field Sparrow - 3
Common Yellowthroat - 3
American Goldfinch - 2
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 3
Purple Finch - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Song Sparrow - 1
Gray Catbird - 3
Brown Thrasher - 1

Total Individuals = 20
Total Species = 11

New Bird Species Discovered

2011-09-09T09:46:00.004-05:00

I love the fact that the more we look at the world around us the more we see. This is something I try to impress on my students all the time. Well, someone has been looking more closely at a seabird from the Pacific and has found by appearance and by DNA analysis, there is a new species of shearwater called Bryan's Shearwater.

To read the whole story see the article from the Smithsonian's National Zoo press release.

Ya just gotta love science!

A Wave of Warblers

2011-08-30T21:05:00.019-05:00

I had a chance to spend some time at my banding site for four days last week (Thursday - Sunday) and while the numbers weren't high the variety was exciting. I also netted a couple of birds that prompted the "What's the heck is this one?" reaction. The photos below are a selection from the 4 days. See if you can guess # 2 and #3 before you look at the label!

#1 This is one of my favorite fall warblers to catch. The Chestnut-sided Warbler has such a different look in fall migration that if you didn't know better you might think it's something else. I've seen these birds flitting through the woods on gray, rainy fall days and the color they display almost glows.

#2 This was the first of two tough IDs I had. It took a while to key it out but I was quite pleased to have figured it out. In the hand are a couple of characteristics that you might not see easily in the field. First, there is no white on the underside of the bird. It has yellow undertail coverts and no white spots on the tail. It also does not have dark legs.

#2 The thing that threw me at first was the white eye ring. Adults of this species don't have an eye ring. As I walked up to the net I thought this was a Nashville Warbler but, in fact, it is a young Mourning Warbler! Not a species we handle much anyway but this youngster really was a challenge.

#3 This was the second bird that made me scratch my head. My friend Mark was with me this day and he immediately recognized it as one of three fall warblers that are really tough to ID. We both take a bit of a perverse pleasure in catching a bird that's is not easy to ID. Part of it is that we know we probably haven't handled the species before and it gives us a chance to learn some of the more subtle characteristics that are only apparent in the hand.

#3 This adult, female Bay-breasted Warbler was the first of that species I have ever handled.

#4 A more typical warbler to catch during migration is this Wilson's Warbler. Large black-cap with quite a bit of olive green edging is something to look for in the fall.

#5 Common in the area during both breeding season and migration is this American Redstart. The only trick to banding these in the fall is to know that young males of the year look like an adult female. The glossy black and bright red feathers of the adult male take a couple of years to develop.

#6 Not a warbler but a species that we catch at the same time as the warblers are moving through here is the Red-eyed Vireo. All the REVIs that I've caught so far are young with brown, not red eyes.

Here's hoping the next banding session is just as much fun as this one.

Fall Migration is Revving Up.

2011-08-22T10:15:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning found us at the Lowry Nature Center for our monthly banding session, but we were also anticipating the appearance of the first south bound migrants of the fall. Word from up in the northern part of the state was that the first flocks of warblers were showing up and with the winds out of the north we were hoping that some of those birds had made it this far already. Shorebirds have been moving for about a month now but seeing them is a matter of finding good habitat. It's been pretty dry the first part of this month.

We set nets in the usual lanes and and had a steady but not overwhelming number of captures. The only birds we banded that may be migrants are a couple of Least Flycatchers. All the other species caught are known to breed in the area. Here is a full list of the days catch:

Eastern Phoebe - 2
Trail's Flycatcher - 1
Least Flycatcher - 2
American Goldfinch - 1 (in spite of lots being around the banding site)
Black-capped Chickadee - 3 new, one retrap
Field Sparrow - 1
American Redstart - 1 retrap originally banded in spring 2009
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1
Northern Cardinal - 1
Gray Catbird - 1 new, 1 retrap

Total species = 12
Total individuals = 18

This week I hope to get out to a different site and do some banding. I had a Wilson's Warbler and a Canada Warbler in my apple tree Saturday evening so there is good stuff around. Now they just need to find my net. I was going to go out this morning but I spent yesterday afternoon hand clearing my net lanes with a weed whip and had a hard time rolling out of bed this morning. Complaints of an aging bander!

Banding Program on Saturday

2011-08-19T11:00:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know that tomorrow, August 2oth is our regular banding session at the Lowry Nature Center located in Carver Park Reserve just outside Victoria, Minnesota. The program goes from 9 am until noon and there is a chance we'll be seeing some early southbound migrants in our nets.

Hope to see you there!

Mystery Solved

2011-08-11T12:29:00.012-05:00

Well I think my questions have been answered. After receiving a number of replies to my questions, the majority opinion was that the crow was suffering a case of avian pox. Some folks offered other possibilities and I am impressed by the depth of knowledge that people possess and are willing to share.

The bird reappeared this morning and the growth has disappeared. I was able to get a couple of shots that show an open wound where the growth was. Again, the bird seemed none the worse for this and was happily feeding with its sibling and parents.

Profiles from both sides show a sore that looks like it was centered just above the base of the upper bill.

The photo below has been enhanced a bit to brighten the image and is the best image I have of a frontal view of the wound. All in all a pretty interesting few days following this individual.

My sincerest thanks to all of the wonderful people who weighed in on this question. I continually learn from you and realize that I will never know enough to be satisfied so don't be surprised if you see a new question soon!

More Crow Pictures

2011-08-10T10:31:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I posted a couple of marginal pictures of a crow in my yard with a strange growth on its face. The responses I've gotten so far land on either an engorged tick of possibly avian pox. Luckily the bird returned and I was able to get much better shots of the growth in question. I'm now pretty sure it is not a tick.

The cooperative bird gave me views from both sides of its face and the structure of the growth is much more visible. I still don't have a clue to its origin but if anyone has a guess I'd love to hear it.

The bird still seems normal in all respects except for this object. I hope the bird will continue to hang around my yard so I track any changes in its behavior or in the growth itself. Meanwhile, I think it's time to start looking for migrants. Cheers!

Strange Growth on Crow

2011-08-09T11:16:00.013-05:00

For the past couple of weeks a family of American Crows (2 adults and 2 young) have been visiting my feeders everyday. The youngsters are VERY vocal and I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors think something is being attacked in my yard. I have a good time watching the kids beg for food and try to figure out how to get to the suet in the hanging feeder.

One day while watching the commotion in the yard I noticed what looked like an acorn stuck to the upper bill of one of the crows. I can't tell from the photo but it might be an engorged tick. Below are a couple of relatively poor photos taken through a window screen that show the growth close-up.

Anybody have a guess or has anyone seen something like this before. The object appears to be located right about where the base of the upper bill or perhaps just anterior to it. Is it just a tick or some other type of growth? I suppose if the family keeps coming around and the growth is gone it was probably a tick.

The bird appears to be healthy not displaying any symptoms of illness or injury, behavior is normal and feeding is unimpeded. So I'll leave it up to those of you who know a lot more than I do and wait to see if anyone can give me a definitive answer as to what I'm seeing. In the mean time the kids are back in the yard raising a ruckus. I think I'll go watch.

Puttting Bands on Purple Martins

2011-08-01T19:55:00.003-05:00

The month of July in Minnesota has been just oppressively hot and humid. Not a great combination for getting out into the field to do some birding. That's O.K. though because the first two weeks of each July are taken up with banding young Purple Martins before they can fledge. We work with several martin "landlords" in the Twin Cities metro area and this year have had a banner year for putting bands on young.

People wonder what the purpose of banding is and there are several things we're learning by doing this but in the case of Purple Martins, it is to find out more about their movements after they leave their colonies and how much movement there is between colonies of birds. After 3 years of marking birds with both federal USFWS silver bands and red alpha-numeric bands (showing a letter and numbers) we are starting to find out some cool stuff.

We head to the colonies when young birds are between 13 and 20 days old and pretty ugly. Old enough so that their legs are actually thinner than when they hatched. Baby birds have thick legs because they store fat along the bones. Bands won't fit well until the birds use some of that fat up. We put 2 bands on each bird, a silver band on their right leg and a special red band on their left leg. In Minnesota, all Purple Martins that are color marked get a red band with white letter and numbers. The 3 numbers on the red band match the last 3 numbers on the silver band so we can identify a bird without having to catch it again. Birds are placed back into the houses after they've had a good cleaning and then we just sit back and wait to see young birds soaring around eating mostly dragonflies.

In this photo you can see the bands on the birds legs. Once the birds fledge they leave the colony and head for what are called "pre-migratory" roosts before heading south for the winter. Here are some of the things we've learned so far:
-When young birds first start to fly, they will often return to a nest cavity in a martin house that is not the one they hatched in. Parent birds don't seem to care and will feed these intruders along with their own young.

-Purple Martins in Minnesota actually move north after they leave their colony and spend time in north-central Minnesota in huge flocks of up to 30,000 birds, roosting at night in cattails around the edges of large lakes.

-When arriving back in the spring, most Martins show up at the colony they were born in but some will go to a nearby colony and take up residence at a new site.

Anybody out birding and seeing Purple Martins should check their legs as they perch. We banded 535 young this year and now have over 1600 martins with bands flying around (we hope). Citizen science only requires a good pair of binoculars and some patience to help add to our understanding of Purple Martins and where they go.

So That's Why They're Called Waxwings

2011-07-27T14:39:00.007-05:00

It has been a while since I've had anything interesting to post about. This summer is proving to be hot, humid, stormy and not as "bird centric" as I would like but it has been busy. In a future post I'll talk about the Purple Martin banding that occupied the first 2 weeks of July. Hard work but a record year for us!

The great thing about our regular banding sessions is that we often catch birds that show us characteristics up close that you just wouldn't see from a distance. This Cedar Waxwing is an example.

Lots of the Cedar Waxwings we handle don't show their namesake waxy tips on the wing secondaries. This fellow however was in full display mode. I've personally been seeing and hearing more CEDWs lately than usual. There should be lots of young mixed in with any flocks that may be around. Look for waxwings with streaky fronts and raggedy crests.

A close up of the wing reveals the waxy tips to look like they were made from bright red crayons. They feel that way too.

An extreme close-up lets one see the point from which the tips are produced. An interesting tidbit about waxwings is that they extract the color chemicals for their feathers from their food and in some places waxwings have been found that have orange tipped tails instead of the expected yellow tipped tail feathers due to their diet.

If you'd like to have waxwings around your yard plant some berry bushes or trees and the waxwings will find them before you know it!

A Piece of Advice

2011-05-23T07:15:00.003-05:00

Rule #43 When you're out bird-banding and the storm rolls in faster than anticipated, don't go running through the fields carrying net poles.

Interesting Rose-breasted Grosbeak

2011-05-19T21:22:00.009-05:00

This past weekend found us banding at a program in Lakeville Minnesota where we have been banding for several years. The day was fantastic! We had so many birds around and in our nets we had to close the nets after less than an hour and ran out of bird bags. It was the kind of day we will tell stories about for years.

The bird that got us really excited was this Rose-breasted Grosbeak

If you look at the bird you can see lots of indications that this is a second year male. The brown edged feathers, brown primaries, etc. made the age of this bird a bit of a no-brainer but...

This bird was banded! We had banded this bird in 2009 and aged it as a second year bird at that time. If this had been an unbanded bird we wouldn't have thought twice about its age.

So the question I'm throwing out there has two parts. First, has anyone else ever seen a case of a known age RGBR showing characteristics that didn't fit their actual age and second, am I correct to guess that this might be a case of a hormonal condition in this individual?

Nice to Get Some PR

2011-05-08T18:11:00.001-05:00

In spite of lousy weather last week, we had a reporter from the Star Tribune hang out with us at Ritter Farm while we banded. This morning there was a nice article in the paper about us. See it here.

Weekend Arrivals

2011-05-03T09:21:00.011-05:00

As May progresses I look out the window every morning hoping to see long absent birds at my feeders. Saturday morning was one of those mornings when it seems like birds have appeared by magic. Going from not much to large numbers of White-throated Sparrows and trees full of warblers is a birders fantasy.

Needless to say, I took the chance to throw some nets in my yard to see if I could put some "jewelry" on birds headed north. Lots of sparrows ended up in my hands. mostly White-thoated Sparrows. They showed quite a bit of variation from this brilliant fellow above to the drab tan-stripe individuals.

A local nester is the Chipping Sparrow. This one may be moving through or it may be on territory. All I know is that they have been singing in the neighborhood for a couple of weeks already.

Sunday was the first banding session for the spring at Ritter Farm Park. Cold, very windy and spitting snow was what we dealt with all morning. It was a trick just to find a place to set nets where they didn't look like spinnaker sails.In spite of the terrible conditions, there were birds everywhere. Mostly on the ground and along the edge of the nearby lake. It took a while but we did catch s few individuals for the day. Our first catch was this Palm Warbler, one of the early arrivers in the spring.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been here for a few weeks and are still flitting around like mad. We caught two females so no chance to show off the hidden crown patch.

Finally the biggest numbers of warblers were the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Lots of places reporting this species in numbers. They were almost all feeding on floating vegetation along the edge of the lake. There wasn't any insect activity on land and hopefully the birds were getting enough food to make it through the next couple of days.

Other warblers seen included:
Black and White Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Yellow Warbler

Also had first of the year House Wren, Eastern Towhee, Swamp Sparrow.

A Sunday Evening Surprise

2011-04-25T22:42:00.016-05:00

Before you go on see if you can guess what this bird is from this angle. I hate to admit it but sometimes this is the best look I get at a bird. If you don't want to play the game just scroll down and see what I stumbled onto.

After having a family get together on Sunday I got a couple of hours to myself to get out birding after a week of cold, drizzly weather. Sunday evening was gorgeous. No wind, warm and sunny. It couldn't have been better. As I was scanning birds at one of the best wetlands in the area, I looked down at the edge of the water just below my feet and saw a small bird skulking in the dead vegetation.

This Sora Rail was absolutely cavalier to my presence. I got out the camera and started shooting. I must have spent 20 minutes watching this bird and only stopped taking pictures when the light started to fade.

I was really taken aback by the colors of this bird. The blue edging on the back feathers was stunning.The markings on it's side and head were something I hadn't had a chance to study before. There was a point where I thought the bird might be sick or injured because it showed no reaction to me. I've decided it just had other priorities. It just kept hunting along the water's edge and from what I saw was finding plenty to eat.

There were other nice birds at the site like Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Vesper Sparrow, a nice variety of ducks and a singing Meadowlark on a power line. Water levels have finally risen in the area wetlands so there should be good habitat available for birds throughout the summer.

The weather is going to deteriorate the next 2 days so anything that is around will probably stick around for a while. It seems like spring will never arrive!

Bird Banding Video from Three Rivers Park District

2011-04-21T21:36:00.004-05:00

My friend Kirk M. posted this video that I had never seen on his blog. Surprised to see me tromping around catching birds.

With the lousy weather we've been having this video sure gives me hope!

Coastal Fallout?

2011-04-19T07:54:00.004-05:00

This morning I took a look at the radar images for the southern U.S. and saw what I think is a big movement of birds across the Gulf of Mexico. I am not as familiar with these sorts of images as I am with overland images so I'm looking for a little feedback. I'm especially interested in the area around Brownsville and southwest. It looks like some of the returns around Galveston might be weather related. Anybody along the Texas coast seeing a fallout or anything that might confirm that the image posted is of birds and not something else?

Up here in Minnesota we're bracing for a bit of April snow and wondering if spring will ever get here. Early migrants like Yellow-rumped Warblers and Fox Sparrows are here in good numbers but the warblers will have a hard time finding food the next couple of days. Hopefully things will turn around in time for Earth Day.

Another Big Movement of Birds

2011-04-14T21:57:00.010-05:00

Checking radar show another night of big movement in the eastern U.S.. The images below show the build-up of birds moving in Texas but the entire area east of the Great Plains shows lots of birds except near the low pressure system moving through Nebraska and the Dakotas.

I got a couple of comments from my last post I'd like to address. 1) The colors do represent the density of birds present. Green shows more density than blue. These patterns are pretty typical of spring movement.

2) One commenter cautioned about assuming these returns show birds. There have been decades of study done on tracking birds with radar during migration. The patterns we're seeing are literally millions of birds moving north. The suggestion that the images might be due to other atmospheric conditions is possible but the returns are too widespread and too consistent with what we underestand about radar ornithology to write these off to anomolies. A look at the information sites addressing radar ornithology such as Clemson University or this excellent primer by John Idzikowski should clarify how we interpret these radar images.

Long story short - Texas is hopping tonight!

Radar Series -April 10

2011-04-10T21:46:00.010-05:00

The following 3 screen images show the change in radar returns for the evening of Sunday April 10th as birds lift off at sunset and head north. In a live, looping image the change is impressive. Notice how the spaces between the radar locations fills in with color and how the center of each radar "donut" gets more green as time has elapsed. It looks like lots of birds moving in the southeast tonight. The shots cover approximately one hour of time.

Little Visitor

2011-04-05T08:32:00.004-05:00

With the change in weather things are starting to become much more active. This morning I heard my first of the year Eastern Phoebe singing away along with a Song Sparrow and a drumming Downy Woodpecker. It took everything I had to walk through the door to work. Today would be a good day to play hookey.

A friend at work has this little guy show up in his backyard and got this nice photo to share with me. He hasn't seen him in the last couple of days but if he shows up again I may try to sneak over and get some pictures myself.

Here in Minnesota the weather is supposed to improve with a string of warm days this week. A look at radar tonight may give a clue to where the birding is going to be good tomorrow.

More Radar Fun

2011-04-04T23:07:00.003-05:00

A check of Nexrad tonight showed a bit of migration along the east coast just ahead of the big storm moving through. Behind the front, little if any movement. A look at the radar in the Florida Keys shows some activity.

In this image the returns over the keys is actually a movement of birds that came out of Cuba and are headed to Florida. In the past there was a radar image in Cuba that was viewable but it was often not functioning and I haven't seen an image from there in a while.

Once this big storm system moves offshore and the winds switch around the movement of birds should resume. The next 2 nights should see birds headed north.

Movement in the Southeast

2011-04-03T21:18:00.005-05:00

From the posts on the local bird chats it appears that there was a good movement of birds into Minnesota and Wisconsin last night. Kinglets (both species), Eastern Phoebes, Killdeer and Hermit Thrushes have shown up in lots of places this morning.

A look at radar at 2100 (9:00 pm) shows lots of movement south of a front traveling across the upper midwest and Great Lakes.

Areas of heaviest migration seems to be northern Florida, Georgia, Alabama and just inching into South Carolina.

Most locations in the gulf area show good movement tonight. Storms are anticipated moving through the region the next 2 days so what arrives may hunker down for a bit.

Reports from a bird banding station near Vera Cruz Mexico is reporting lots of warblers moving with hundreds being caught and banded each day. I can't wait for them to get here!

Another Secret of Migration

2011-03-21T20:40:00.004-05:00

This is the time of year we are all itchy to watch the migrants moving through wherever it is we live. How these little dynamos do it has been a question that still doesn't have a complete answer.

A report in New Scientist describes a paper that sheds a new piece of information on part of the answer. This is a very important paper and should lead to a whole new study of migration from a molecular level.

On a more personal level this may lead to me understanding why my spouse is so bad at understanding directions....

...just kidding dear!

House Finch

2011-03-19T15:06:00.010-05:00

We had great hopes for the banding program on Saturday morning but apparently the birds had a different idea. We did hit double digits for individuals caught but had about 5 times that number of visitors so we talked a lot about just a few birds.

The final bird of the day was this second year House Finch. I can remember the first HOFI we caught years ago and we were very excited to see House Finches just getting to Minnesota from the east. Now they are pretty ubiquitous. Surprisingly we don't catch that many in our banding areas. We only catch them in sets near the nature center building.

One of the up close details we got to look at was the emargination on some of the primary feathers. Primaries are numbered from from nearest the body outward so the farthest wing feather out in House Finches is number 9. In the photo above you can see primaries number 8, 7, and 6 are emarginated on the leading edge. In other words, the feather shows an uneven leading edge. I don't know that this is important in identifying House Finches but in some species the shape of some of the primaries can actually be diagnostic for identification. In this case I think it just looks cool.

Totals for the day were 10 birds of 4 species, Black-capped Chickadee (6), Dark-eyed Junco (1), White-breasted Nuthatch (2), and House Finch (1).

I'm looking forward to things picking up!

March Bird Banding

2011-03-18T07:15:00.004-05:00

Just a quick note to remind everyone that if you are in the Twin Cities area we will be having the March bird banding program at the Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park Reserve tomorrow, Saturday the 19th from 9:00 am until noon. The park is located just west of Victoria, MN.

With the warm weather and the early migrants moving in we might have a chance at catching some birds that are on their way north. On the other hand we might be aging and sexing a lot of Juncos.

Come visit if you're in the area!

Migration Tonight

2011-03-16T22:32:00.007-05:00

A quick peek at radar tonight shows an increase in migration in the midwest. Radar returns in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and the rest of the Ohio River Valley show significant movement.

The forecast for the next 5 days in Minnesota is high temps in the 50s. The warm weather appears to be promoting the move north of early spring migrants. Waterfowl numbers in Minnesota continue to increase even though most lakes are still frozen. First of the year birds such as Killdeer, Sandhill Cranes and Red-winged Blackbirds are showing up in many places. With continued melting of snow cover in the upper midwest the excitement of migration is tempered by the threat of significant flooding in many locations.

The next week to ten days should be good for birding. Lucky for me it occurs just in time for our March banding program on Saturday and my week off for spring break. If the weather holds out I hope to log lots of field time.

If you would like to check out the radar a link is provided here.

"Oregon" Junco Visits Minnesota

2011-03-13T11:58:00.009-05:00

I love when birding is as easy as looking out the window from my rocking chair (boy does that make me sound old). It's doubly fun when something unusual shows up like it did this morning.

This "Oregon" race individual of the Dark-eyed Junco has been visiting my feeders off and on most of the winter. I've been trying to get a good photo of it but hadn't any luck until this morning. Interestingly, my backyard hasn't been very busy all winter. With all the snow cover we have I thought I'd have more of a concentration of birds taking advantage of the free meals.

I have heard the Juncos starting to sing as they chase each other around the pine trees in my yard. The American Goldfinches are starting to show some yellow molting in and the Great Horned Owl nest I've been watching has young as of this week. On the other hand, all the reports I've been hearing from just south of us makes me expect to see some Red-winged Blackbirds, Grackles and maybe even a Killdeer any day now. I'm surprised they're not here yet.
A warm front is predicted for the middle of the week so it may be time to put on the boots and slosh through some trails and see what's around.

How Smart Are Crows?

2011-03-05T21:51:00.004-06:00

Another really cool video from Science Friday shows tool use in the New Caledonian Crow. They even put a small camera on a crow for some video footage.

This makes me wonder what the crows in our woods are doing that has never been observed.

Banding Totals From 2010

2011-03-01T21:59:00.008-06:00

Since today is officially "meteorological spring" and that means the 2011 bird banding season is right around the corner I thought I'd post the totals from my banding efforts of 2010. When I look at my numbers they sure don't reflect the amount of banding I actually did. When I'm working the programs at Carver Park in Victoria, MN or Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville, MN the bands are not mine so are not reflected on my records. The following list is just those birds I banded at my own locations.

Totals are 196 individuals of 42 species. I'm really hoping to bring those numbers up this year if the weather cooperates.

Top 5 species banded were:

Black-capped Chickadee
Purple Martin
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-breasted Nuthatch

The complete list in alphabetical order is as follows:

American Goldfinch
American Robin
Baltimore Oriole
Black and White Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Bobolink
Clay-colored Sparrow
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Yellowthroat
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Tufted Titmouse
Fox Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Nashville Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Ovenbird
Pine Warbler
Purple Martin
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-eyed Vireo
Savannah Sparrow
Sedge Wren
Song Sparrow
Swainson's Thrush
Traill's Flycatcher
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wilson's Warbler
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow Warbler

The common consensus around these parts is that last springs migration was one of the worst in recent memory. Hopefully it will improve this year and the nets will be busy. Keep checking back to see when we start to catch birds!

Ground Truthing

2011-02-28T20:37:00.010-06:00

Yesterday I posted a couple of screen shots from National Weather Service radar showing what appeared to be migratory movement in both Florida and Texas. I love how the kind folks who read this blog are willing to send along their observations which help us understand what is going on in far away places.

Steve Hawkins from San Antonio, Texas wrote to say that migrating geese had been observed on the 26th of Feb. in two locations around San Antonio. He knows they are migratory because geese are only reported from his county during migration.

Jeff Bouton in Port Charlotte, Florida sent a summary of some of the signs of spring in his region. Purple Martins have returned to colonies as of late January. Great Crested Flycatchers have become more vocal as they move onto territories. Chuck-Wills-Widow have started to sing just this week and Jeff also heard singing Northern Parula and Pine Warblers for the first time this spring.

Even locally there has been a noticeable change in the backyard. Northern Cardinals are becoming very vocal in spite of the cold weather and the Downy Woodpeckers are drumming away as they stake out territories for the spring. In the countryside there is an increase in the occurrence of species like Horned Larks and the American Goldfinches are just beginning to show the yellow of their Alternate (breeding) plumage.

The bird activity will only get better as time goes on. It is what keeps some of us going when it's snowing and cold in the backyard.

Keep looking up!

The Beginnings of Migration in Fla. and Texas

2011-02-27T20:30:00.005-06:00

The days get longer and spring progresses in spite of the weather in some locations. A quick peek at the radar for Sunday night shows the telltale signs of migrants moving north.

The composition of these flocks is unknown but the obvious candidates are waterfowl, blackbirds and some of the early songbird migrants. Is anyone down in Florida or Texas seeing any indication of birds moving?

With time, these radar signatures will become stronger (larger and different in color) and they will appear further north. What you should look for if you are checking the radar are what look like colored rings around every Doppler radar station where birds are moving. For those of us in the north this is just a tease for what we'll be seeing locally in a month or six weeks.

Keep looking up!

Northern Birds

2011-02-23T15:26:00.006-06:00

The snow storm last week reminds us that it's long way to spring in these parts some years. There's talk of another "event" this weekend but we'll see. What the snow always reminds me of is being up north in the pines. A couple of birds that are real indicators that you are in a different habitat are the Boreal Chickadee and the Pine Grosbeak.

Last time I was up in Sax-Zim Bog I was lucky enough to see these species up close. Using our van as a rolling blind I got to watch these birds at a feeding station. Their colors just popped against the dull background of snow and gray sky.

The most common species for the day was the Pine Grosbeak. Every feeder we looked at and every flock sitting in the tops of the spruces turned out to be grosbeaks. We did see an Evening Grosbeak here and there but they are not nearly as common as they used to be.

Soon we'll be talking about Red-winged Blackbirds and Sandhill Cranes but for now I'll enjoy the winter residents.

Burrowing Owl Video

2011-02-20T15:54:00.003-06:00

Well we're surviving the recent snow storm as well as can be expected. The kids are upset because we have the day off for President's Day instead of getting a snow day. Best numbers I can find say that we got around 15" of snow between 9:30 am on the 20th and 10:30 this morning and it's still snowing! To take our minds off of the weather I found a nice little piece to post.

This is a video from Science Friday and is just wonderful. Not the stodgy "science" film you might expect. Just some fun with a beautiful bird on a beautiful summer day.

Northern Saw-whet Owl

2011-02-19T19:38:00.009-06:00

Today was our monthly bird banding program at the Lowry Nature Center located in Carver Park Reserve near Victoria, Minnesota which is just west of the Twin Cities. The morning was cold and we just used Potter traps on the feeder stations but had a good session.

The totals were 20 birds of 3 species - Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch and Red-bellied Woodpecker. However the big surprise of the day was a very cooperative Northern Saw-whet Owl just down a trail from the nature center. A couple of the volunteers got to take some very nice photos without disturbing the little fellow. One volunteer also collected 6 pellets to see if she could figure out what the bird was feeding on.

From the number of pellets present and the amount of whitewash on the perching tree it is obvious the bird has been around for a while. It was in a classic location, sitting about 6 feet up in an Eastern Red Cedar along the edge of a hiking trail. I watched several people walk past the bird without having a clue it was there.

The last week around here was quite pleasant with temps in the 40s and lots of melting. We lost about 40% of our snow cover but it caused the surface of the snow to crust over. The owl must still be able to hunt even though I could walk on the surface of the snow and not break through (and I'm not the smallest person around, trust me).

We're going to remember this spot so that if we try to band migrating Saw-whets we will probably set up in this location. There is a winter storm warning out for tomorrow and Monday with a prediction of 8-14" of snow before it's over. Hopefully the little owl will hunker down and be just fine.

Biological Spring

2011-01-24T10:34:00.002-06:00

Last Friday morning it was -27 degrees F as I drove to work. We have had quite the run of cold weather and lots of people make their hate of winter the main topic of conversation. However in the natural world it is already "spring". We have gained about a half hour of daylight since late December and that is causing lots of bird activity. This morning I heard the first Northern Cardinal singing it's spring song in spite of it being 12 degrees and barely light. Great Horned Owls are dueting in the woods and here in Minnesota the first nests with females on eggs should happen very soon. Black-capped Chickadees will be doing their territorial call before we know it.

It will still be a while until our local winter visitors decide to head north but movement of some of the earliest migrants is probably underway. Horned Larks come to mind as early movers. If there is a desire to see Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls in the bogs of northern Minnesota there is still time but in a month they'll be getting restless for their move to the spruce swamps of Canada. And while it will be months before we have a warbler wave move through the backyard, in the tropics our northern breeders will be gone from the wintering grounds by March.

So as you look out the window at home and see the snow drifting across the driveway and the thermometer reminds you why you spent so much on a winter parka, take solace in knowing that spring is here. It just doesn't seem that way sometimes.

Birding highlighted on NPR

2010-11-28T14:32:00.004-06:00

It's always fun to see birds and birdwatching promoted on sites that have a broader audience than a birder specific source. On National Public Radio Scott Simon interviewed Don and Lilian Stokes about their new bird guide. While I personally don't think of this large volume as a field guide it is done well and includes a nice CD of vocalizations.

The radio piece is about 9 minutes long and along with the interview NPR has placed a little bird quiz that asks you to match calls to pictures on it's site. I think this would be fun for beginners and especially great for kids to try.

The quiz is found here.

With winter setting in this is the time to work on learning those calls so that next spring you're ready to go.

Banding Shorebirds in Deleware

2010-11-15T13:05:00.004-06:00

Even though the migration is done in my area for now, I found a really good video explaining the process of catching and banding shorebirds along the ocean. This video is from out east where migrant shorebirds stop to feed on mostly horseshoe crab eggs for energy on their travels. What's really cool is the scene of the canon netting on the beach and processing the birds. Someday maybe I'll get a chance to band shorebirds!

Back from the IBBA

2010-11-02T06:34:00.010-05:00

I arrived home from Ohio and the annual IBBA meeting last night. It was an experience I wish more people could have shared. It was both fun and informative. Getting to rub elbows with folks you mostly know from signature lines on e-mails is pretty cool.

Mark Shieldcastle took a group out to the BSBO banding station at Navarre on Sunday morning. I had hoped to get to see some shorebird banding but the winds off the lake didn't allow that. Instead we went onto the site of a nuclear powerplant that has a banding site on its property. With the winds I wasn't sure how banding would be but with big numbers of migrants moving up and down the lakeshore we were not disappointed.

I did get to see some birds in the hand that I've never handled. This American Woodcock was one of the earlier catches in the day. Talk about a handful for a bander!

Mark demonstrated the flexible upper bill that the woodcock uses to probe for food in the soil. This was a young "timberdoodle" and was pretty cooperative.

The local made fun of me when I got all excited about this Carolina Wren. For a guy from up north this is a pretty cool bird. I guess in Ohio it's the common wren and is not a big deal. If I saw one up here I'd put it on the birder hotline.

Had a nice close up of this Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted). It didn't behave like most of the woodpeckers I've handled in that it didn't try to drill its way out of the banders hand. Often, getting pictures of woodpeckers in the hand means somebody bleeds.

We were all heartened to see some students from Northern Michigan University at the meeting with their professor. He's going to start a banding program in the UP of Michigan and brought some interested students to the meeting for a little hands on training. We need more young folks to step into the banding world if we want to see it continue and even expand in scope. These kids were really interested and serious about getting it right. Good luck to them!

The weather here at home might allow some banding this week if I can find the time, otherwise it is getting close to the end of our season in the field and we will do out winter banding around feeder stations. Maybe my backyard will give up a good bird or two yet this fall.

Annual IBBA Meeting

2010-10-30T16:40:00.013-05:00

Hello from Port Clinton, Ohio! This weekend is the annual meeting of the Inland Bird Banding Association and this year we're being hosted by Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

The morning was at the observatory banding migrants that are moving along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Being significantly south of my home means I can see some birds here that haven't been around home for a while. Turkey Vultures were soaring over head and the woods were full of White-throated Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

While staring down at the birds in hand we had a flock of 27 Snow Geese fly over along with a Peregrine Falcon and 3 Bald Eagles. The wind was pretty brisk but the numbers were consistent. The volunteers ended up banding 10 species while we watched.

To help us warm up, there was a bird aging and sexing quiz using museum specimens inside the observatory building. If you think birds in the hand can be tough you should try stiff, stuffed birds that have their labels covered.

It was great to have a chance to stand around and watch all these very experienced people teach each other the little hints on aging and sexing that only come with handling thousands of birds as a bander. One of the banders here has banded in excess of 250,000 birds! and I was excited when I passed 1000...

The afternoon was the paper session and with the breadth of the presentations I was kept busy taking notes. The research that is going on out there is really impressive.

Tomorrow morning is a trip out to the lake front to do some shorebird banding. Hopefully I'll have more cool photos tomorrow.

Birds moving in the eastern U.S.

2010-10-29T21:18:00.003-05:00

I was checking to see what might be going on with migration now that the big low pressure system has moved through and thing are getting back to normal. Well it looks like there is a lot of movement in the eastern U.S. south of the Great Lakes. The middle of the country is pretty quiet.

This image from CONUS shows lots of birds taking advantage of winds out of the north/northwest. It warmed up a bit today in places that had a hard freeze last night. I'm in Ohio for the annual Inland Bird Banders Association meeting and this movement might bode well for the banding demos tomorrow morning at Black Swamp Bird Observatory. I'm really excited about the possibility of seeing some shorebird banding on Sunday.

The weather sounds like it should cooperate. If the birds cooperate, I'll post some photos!

Migration in South Texas?

2010-10-26T23:34:00.004-05:00

A quick peek at the radar tonight (11:35 pm CST) shows what appears to be a lot of migratory activity in south Texas down into Mexico. Anyone down that way seeing lots of birds?

The extremely strong low pressure system moving across the middle of the country has winds gusting locally (Minnesota) in the 50+ mph category. This might cause some unusual birds to show up in unusual places. Take a look around after a strong front passes and you'll never know what might turn up.

Late Migrants

2010-10-20T09:23:00.010-05:00

We had great hopes for the banding session held on Saturday Oct.16th and the start was not disappointing. A clear sky and cool temperatures were perfect for the morning. We set just 2 nets until we were sure how many volunteers would be there and the first net check found 14 birds in one net. A flock of Dark-eyed Juncos kept us busy and we thought we'd have a banner day until...the wind started.

Our net lanes were out in exposed areas and they looked like the spinnaker on a sailboat. Fortunately we did catch a few more birds like this beautiful Fox Sparrow. A really "chunky" bird it was big even for a Fox Sparrow.

We also had our first American Tree Sparrow of the fall. It was hanging out with the flock of juncos that hit the nets early. This is one of our favorite birds during our winter banding sessions. The numbers we catch each year has declined over the years. I don't know if it is habitat loss or habitat change but we have noticed this drop in birds present for a few years now.

This ATSP was a young bird and showed a really nice molt limit on its wings. Notice the nice bright greater coverts and the contrast with the primary coverts and the median coverts. It's not always this obvious but it was nice to be able to show this characteristic to all the visitors.

In spite of the quick decline in conditions we still totaled 18 birds and 4 species. We'll keep putting nets out this month as much as we can but the weather in October is unpredictable. We may keep banding into November if things are nice and the birds are around.

You Guys are Good

2010-10-08T08:02:00.004-05:00

Young sparrows can be tough but this one seems to be a pretty typical hatch year Swamp Sparrow. It's always a treat to walk up to the net and see something that makes you say hmmm. What a fun time of year to learn how to ID some of those birds that we don't see all the time.

As the weather stays unseasonably warm and dry the migration might stall out until the next cold front. Middle of next week we should have a whole new set of birds without "bracelets".

Sparrow Time

2010-10-07T08:31:00.004-05:00

Late September and early October are the transition time in this area between the warbler migration and the sparrow influx. We'll have some of the late warblers for a while yet such as Yellow-rumped Warblers but the main group we will deal with for the next few weeks are the "little brown birds". The fellow below was caught on Oct 3rd and caused us to scratch our heads a bit.

We did finally figure out what we had but it took putting all of our heads together and then we still spent a lot of time proposing possibilities. Before I label this individual I'd like to see what everyone else thinks.

I'll be banding again this weekend and the weather looks like it will cooperate. The banding season is getting down to the last month so every weekend is important.

Finally - Migrants!

2010-09-19T18:19:00.008-05:00

I have been looking forward to this weekends banding since last weekend. I figured a week of cold fronts moving through should shake things up a bit and I was happy to see new species showing up finally.

The first bird of the day was a Lincoln's Sparrow and we took that as a good sign for the rest of the morning. I really like native sparrows and this species is a real gem. A skulker who is not seen as often as some sparrows we do catch a few every year as they pass through.

Another surprise was this Northern Waterthrush. A larger member of the warbler group and a bird usually seen around water, this individual was nice to examine in the hand.

Our smallest catch of the day was this Ruby crowned Kinglet. Manipulating this little female with my thick fingers was an adventure. We should have kinglets around for most of the fall and once in a while we'll have a few overwinter. Kinglets act as if they've had too much coffee. Getting them to sit still long enough for a good look is not easy.

The most colorful catch of the weekend was a male Nashville Warbler. The yellow almost glowed in the sunlight. We have not seen many of the later warblers like Yellow-rumps and only a couple of Palms but the Nashville Warblers and the Tennessee Warblers have been around in numbers for a while.

Dull fall Tennessee Warblers can be tricky sometimes. This species can show a lot of variability especially at this time of year and it often takes a second look to know exactly what you have in your hand. Young fall warblers are a test of every banders skills.

Bags o' Birds

2010-09-13T16:57:00.007-05:00

Sunday showed a bit of an increase in activity while I was out banding but I'm still not seeing the warblers in the numbers I would expect. The bird of the day was American Robin. Lots of flocks moving around and eating dogwood berries. Had one group move through around 11:00 and ended up with a line full of bird bags.

Along with the robins I caught this young Swainson's Thrush. The pose with wings out lets you see something that is not often apparent on thrushes - the light stripes on the underside of the wing. Very cool to see in the hand.

Red-eyed Vireos are still around. This juvenile will show it's red eye next year. I'm waiting to catch my first Philadelphia Vireo of the season.

Another thing you don't always get to see is the different stages of molt that some of the migrants are showing. This Nashville warbler is molting in a new set of greater coverts on it's wing. If you look close you can see the feathers just emerging from their sheaths. Some of the robins I caught were looking pretty ragged because of molting.

Totals for the day were as follows:
Nashville Warbler - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 3
Swainson's Thrush - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
American Robin - 5

If the weather stays warm I suspect things will slow down for a couple of days but the winds up around Duluth suggests there could be a good hawk movement today. Wish I was on "the ridge".

Labor Day Visitors

2010-09-06T21:16:00.007-05:00

The thing I like about long weekends is that I have a chance to get into the field on consecutive days and get to see the changes that happen even over a short time period. The last 3 days I've set nets and the activity around the banding site has diminished each day. The mornings were very quiet but I was able to catch a couple of cool migrants. The total numbers for the weekend weren't impressive but the diversity was nice.

This male Wilson's Warbler was a nice bird to handle. I don't net them every year but they are not uncommon. This fellow was so bright he almost glowed.

Another bird that is common here is the Red-eyed Vireo. They are nesters in the area but this one was a migrant that was just packed with fat. I suspect it will be gone tomorrow.

The last bird caught this weekend was this Gray Catbird that was in full molt. Pin feathers everywhere! Molting birds are sometimes a real pain to get out of the net but this one was no trouble. It does look pretty raggedy compared to the other two birds.

The species moving through the area will gradually change over the next month. By the end of September the warblers will be winding down and the sparrows will be showing up in force. I think I have banding plans every weekend until the end of October. Keep checking for new results!

Comic for Birders

2010-09-04T23:04:00.002-05:00

I thought this was "birder appropriate". Click on image.

After The Coldfront (apologies to Neil Young)

2010-09-04T20:00:00.006-05:00

With a cold front that passed through yesterday leaving temperatures in the low 50s this morning, I headed out to my banding site hoping to hit the jackpot. There were birds around but not as many as I'd have expected. No warblers and only a few other migrants. The most noticeable species present in numbers was American Robin.

Being an optimist up went the nets. I didn't catch a lot but the diversity was pretty good. This Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Empidonax flaviventris, was a good catch. I only catch one or two a year and always around Labor Day. The photo doesn't really show off the yellow on this bird.

This young American Robin, Turdus migratorious, was in heavy molt and from the back was doing an impressive imitation of a vulture!

Totals for the day are:

Black-capped Chickadee - 2
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1
Ovenbird - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
American Robin - 2

The winds have continued out of the northwest all day so birds should continue to move and I will be back at the nets Sunday morning.

Tuesday Night Radar

2010-08-31T22:24:00.005-05:00

As predicted, the front now moving through Minnesota and Wisconsin is bringing behind it northerly winds and apparently lots of birds. In the radar image from 10:30 CST the radar returns in most of Minnesota, the Dakotas and Nebraska look like the kinds of returns we see in the spring. Should be birds moving all night.

What's in your backyard?

"Ricebird", "Skunk Bird", Bobolink

2010-08-30T23:29:00.006-05:00

This is the view we often get of a bobolink if we're lucky. Maybe even a look at one sitting in a low shrub out in the middle of a prairie. Males are easy to ID from a distance because of their unique color pattern. The white on the back gave it the name "skunk bird" years ago. The huge flocks that were found out in grain fields as they migrated to South America gave it the name "ricebird" but nowadays we know it as the Bobolink.

Every once in a while we are lucky to net one or two on their breeding territories, especially if we are able to put a net up near a males favorite perch. This summer we have handled 3 or 4 and they are strikingly beautiful in the hand. They are a member of the Blackbird family (Icteridae) and, like many grassland birds, are showing a serious decline in their numbers.

They are a true neotropical migrant and make a long journey from the prairies of the Great Plains to the pampas of South America and back every year. Their fidelity to their breeding territory is amazing. A male banded by my friend Mark in 2008 was caught in 2009 on the same little hill in a grassland almost exactly one year to the day of its first capture.

A wonderful bird to both see and hear every spring in the prairies of Minnesota.

Windy, Hot and Buggy

2010-08-29T12:39:00.007-05:00

Weather once again got in the way of catching lots of birds on Saturday. The winds were quite strong for using nets and in the places where the wind was blocked the mosquitoes were aggressive. In spite of these trials and tribulations I did handle a couple of nice individuals.

Young Northern Cardinals are easy to age due to the overall plumage seen and the dark bill. Some young male birds can be sexed if they have any red feathers starting to molt in on their body but this individual showed no red.

I don't know the sex of this bird but I do believe it may have been from a later or possibly second brood to still have this dark bill although you can see the edges beginning to lighten.

The first Ovenbird of the fall migration was the last bird caught for the day. I really like these birds for their crisp plumage and long legs (makes banding easy!).

I did have a funny thing happen during banding with a flycatcher we caught. While checking one of the nets we found a Traill's Flycatcher in one and as we extracted it the bird seemed stressed and possibly in trouble. Not moving, eyes closed, etc.. We got it out and took it back to the banding table where we gave it a bit of water and decided we would release it without banding so as not to stress it any more. Well as soon as I opened my hand the little faker jumped out and flew off as strong as any normal healthy bird would. I think I got fooled by a bird "playing possum"! The even funnier part is that we went to check the nets again and there was the little faker in the net closest to the banding table. This time the bird got his band and we got our data!

Next chance to band will be next weekend and the weather is supposed to cool by then. Hopefully the warblers being reported up north will make their way down here.

Warblers 2-Common Residents of Minnesota

2010-08-27T14:27:00.013-05:00

Below are pictures of a few of the more common species out of the 32 types of warblers found in Minnesota. Species like the American Redstart and the Yellow Warbler are found across most of the state. Other species are only seen in migration around my location so it is exciting to await their visits in May and September. This year was an especially poor year for the spring warbler migration. However it appears that numbers on the breeding grounds were normal so we suspect the warbler waves just overflew us on their way north. Spring weather patterns may have had something to do with this.

The Yellow Warbler is usually abundant around wetlands and other bodies of water. The scientific name of this bird , D. petechia, uses the same Latin root as the medical term for a rash. This refers to the rusty red streaking on the birds chest.

A less seen warbler that we were lucky enough to catch last May is the Blackburnian Warbler. Often seen high up in the canopy this female was caught as she was skulking through some low shrubs near a wetland. The female is not as bright as the male but is beautiful none the less.

A common breeding species locally is the American Redstart. It is probably one of the easiest species to identify by sound because of its harsh call. Usually this is a species that is not hard to find even when other birds are hiding.

The gray head and bright eye-ring are the key to identifying this Nashville Warbler. One of the earlier spring migrants, it is also one of the first returning migrants in the fall. Late August is already seeing this species in good numbers.

Often seen migrating at the same time as the Nashville is the Tennessee Warbler. This can be a tough bird to age and sex while banding because of the overall less vibrant fall coloration. When this species moves through an area it is often the most numerous bird around. At one banding session we caught 18 Tennessee Warblers in just 3 hours.

As a group, warblers are one of the most sought after birds on any spring excursion. Lots of birders will talk of a 15 or 20+ warbler day in May in Minnesota. The fall can provide just as much variety but it takes a bit more effort and skill to ID these "confusing fall warblers".

Warblers 1 Male vs Female

2010-08-26T22:57:00.007-05:00

Roger Tory Peterson didn't call fall warblers confusing for nothing. As these colorful birds head south for the winter we get to see them in a plumage that is often much more drab than in the spring. To top it off, in many species males and females wear different looks even in the breeding season. Below are two examples of spring warblers that show a sexual dimorphism that is especially important to understand in the autumn. First fall males can sometimes look like adult females and can be a real challenge.

This spring male Black and White Warbler is certainly striking with its bold feather pattern. Easy to distinguish even at a distance.

This spring female Black and White Warbler still sports the basic feather pattern of the male but is much less bright and bold in her markings.

A familiar warbler of the wetlands is the Common Yellowthroat. The males are just gorgeous and easy to ID. However its mate is different enough that it might be thought to be a different species altogether.

This female Common Yellowthroat is built for hiding in the cattails and willows, not for displaying to the neighbors.

With young of the year moving through, fall banding requires paying attention to detail and sometimes the willingness to say "I don't know".

Pictures from this Summer - Sparrows

2010-08-25T11:09:00.011-05:00

I'm trying to catch up on posting the photos from all of the banding I did this spring and summer and I thought I'd do it a few photos at a time. This post will center on sparrows, those little brown birds that most people don't notice or even know exist.

The Song Sparrow is one of the most common sparrows in the area. It's call is a real harbinger of spring and they are just beautiful up close.

This summer saw me band more Savannah Sparrows than I ever have before (which was a grand total of - none). Thanks to having access to an open field north of Duluth for a couple of days I got to know this species pretty well. The subtle beauty of this birds is something to see.

A sparrow that I hear much more than I see is the Field Sparrow. The "ping pong ball" call is one of the easier calls for a new birder to learn. The overall plain coloration of the bird with that bright pink bill is an eye opener for lots of first time viewers.

Finally, a true sparrow of the grasslands in Minnesota. The Clay-colored Sparrow is surprisingly abundant in local areas. A soft, low buzzing call can be overlooked if you're not careful.

Lots of people I talk to are surprised to find out that Minnesota has 19 species of sparrow that can be found regularly in the state. However, these birds are under the pressure of loss of grassland habitat just like other species that are losing their habitat. Check out a local hay field or pasture and you might be amazed at what you find.

Migration Picks Up Behind Storm Front

2010-08-24T00:06:00.005-05:00

With a large storm front moving ahead of cold air moving in from the north, radar is showing what appears to be significant movement in the Dakotas and Nebraska. Birds are probably taking advantage of the southward air flow. Movement ahead of the front is affected by the winds out of the south bringing in the warm, humid air that is causing these storms to fire up.

There should be new migrants showing up in yards Tuesday morning.

As Summer Fades, Migrants Appear

2010-08-22T14:43:00.012-05:00

After a long summer of not getting out much and obviously not posting anything here, yesterday was the first banding session of the fall where we had a number of obvious migrants moving through the area. This Canada Warbler was just one of 5 warbler species we banded.

The morning started off like a bad B-horror movie with thick fog everywhere. For banding though that's not so bad. It means there is little if any wind and the birds tend to stay lower in the vegetation. We hoped for a good day and we got it.

A feisty Rose-breasted Grosbeak always leads to an arguement over who gets to take it out of the net. This female was everything a grosbeak is supposed to be like - loud, mean and looking for any opportunity to try and draw blood. She is beautiful though. The bright yellow underwings almost glowed.

One of my favorite fall warblers is the Chestnut-sided Warbler because it looks like a completely different bird than the ones we saw in May. This one kept flashing it's tail while we took pictures before letting her go.

All in all it was a very busy day. We started the session a little before 0800 and didn't finish up until 1330. The last run of the nets brought 18 birds into the station at once so lunch was a bit later than normal.

The totals are as follows:

Tennessee Warbler - 6
American Redstart - 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 1
Nashville Warbler - 1
American Goldfinch - 16
Black-capped Chickadee - 10
Canada Warbler - 1
Eastern Wood Peewee - 1
House Wren - 1
Indigo Bunting - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 4
Gray Catbird - 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1
American Robin - 1 (missing it's left foot)

Total species = 14
Total Individuals = 47

A busy, busy day...

Busy Birding Week

2010-05-28T22:41:00.003-05:00

I've been very busy this week teaching my Field Ornithology class and having a great time doing it. Trouble is I come home just knackered at the end of the day.

I'm headed to the north shore of Lake Superior in the morning to see if I can catch up to some of the birds that have already passed through my neck of the woods.

Thought I'd give you one photo as a tease for all the rest I promise to post when I get home from up north. Until then...keep looking up!

Migrants Still on Their Way

2010-05-22T22:08:00.009-05:00

The radar images from Saturday night show that there are still many migrants on the move especially in the lower Great Lakes all the way into places like Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. For all of you despairing that the migration might be over, the only place that looks like they're into summer is the far south. Movement there is pretty quiet.

The storm system that has affected the midwest for the last few days has finally moved on an that means the floodgates might be open, that's what we hope for anyway. Banding tomorrow should tell us whether we still have birds arriving in Minnesota.

Banding Programs This Weekend

2010-05-14T10:40:00.002-05:00

There will be 2 programs this weekend for bird banding in the Twin Cities area.

Saturday we will be banding at the Lowry Nature Center located in Carver Park Reserve just west of Victoria, Minnesota from 8 - noon.

Sunday we will be banding at Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville, Minnesota from 9 - 1 as part of their celebration of nature event.

Both programs are free and open to the public. If you come out to visit make sure you bring your camera. I think it should be a good weekend for birding!

Weekend Banding Totals

2010-05-11T08:28:00.007-05:00

Saturday was so much fun that I dragged myself out of bed again on Sunday and went up to school to see if I could add to my totals for the weekend. The weather was considerably better with lots of sun and a light wind. This is how banding should be.

The birds were around but I didn't catch as many as the day before. I did have a couple of "good" birds for the year. The first bird of the day was a Swamp Sparrow on his way through but the really exciting bird was the little girl pictured above. This is my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ever. They are incredibly small and their legs are like toothpicks. We've been hearing a lot of these birds around but they're usually up in the tops of trees, not anywhere near my nets.

May banding is off to a nice start. For the weekend I had 38 individuals of 15 species. The list is as follows:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1)
Chipping Sparrow (4)
Black-capped Chickadee (3 new, 2 retraps)
American Goldfinch (2 new, 1 retrap)
House Wren (1)
Pine Warbler (1)
Swamp Sparrow (1)
Downy Woodpecker (1 new, 1 retrap)
White-breasted Nuthatch (3 new, 2 retrap)
White-throated Sparrow (4)
Northern Cardinal (1 retrap)
Hairy Woodpecker (2 new, 1 retrap)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (2 new, 1 retrap)
American Robin (2)

Next weekend we will be doing 2 programs. Saturday we will be at Carver Park Reserve near Victoria, Minnesota doing our monthly banding program for the public and on Sunday we will be at Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville, Minnesota doing a banding program during the cities spring nature festival.

Drop by and say hello if you can!

Banding in Wisconsin

2010-05-10T09:19:00.010-05:00

I have a chance every so often to head over to a site in Wisconsin with Birdchick and another friend to do some banding at a great piece of habitat not far from Menomonie, Wisconsin. With the beginning of migration finally picking up I was excited to put out some nets until it started to snow on the drive over. Low overcast with wind and rain/snow is probably the worst when it comes to banding. However, with the chance that the front would come through and clear the sky we persevered and had nets up by 8 am. The rain held off for the most part and the wind varied so we stuck with it and were rewarded with 31 birds of 12 species.

There were several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Pheucticus ludovicianus, coming to a feeder station and we caught 2 beautiful males. It was worth it despite the finger numbing bites these fellows can inflict.

A brush pile turned out to be a great spot for a net and there were still some White-throated Sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, hanging around. We heard them all morning but didn't catch any until later in the afternoon.

One of the better catches of the day was this Pine Warbler, Dendroica pinus, and we might not have caught it if Birdchick hadn't set up a warbler chip call recording near the net. It was pretty effective in drawing the bird in quickly.

By the time we took down our nets the sky was clearing and the temps were rising. We can always count on working hard when we band at this site but it is always worth it.

Storm Fronts Slow Migrants

2010-05-01T20:47:00.005-05:00

Two strong storm fronts moving across the eastern U.S. have slowed migration pretty much everywhere behind the fronts. Good movement is indicated ahead of the storms, particularly in the far southeastern U.S.

As these fronts pass migrants should be grounded after not having moved a great distance. Any migration behind the fronts should be light.

This is Gonna be Bad

2010-04-30T09:27:00.006-05:00

As more and more information becomes available about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the gravity of the situation is really becoming obvious. To compound the worries, this is the peak of cross gulf migration and the radar maps from this morning showed what appeared to be a pretty heavy landfall along the coast.

This is a NASA satellite photo of the spill as it sits off the coast.

This radar image from CONUS shows heavy returns along the coast this morning and and a look at the loop image indicates movement inland. Hopefully, most migrants will land far enough away from the coast as to be unaffected but right now lots of breeding coastal birds are in for a tough time.

The New York Times has a good article that discusses the potential (inevitable?) impact on wildlife along the coast.

I would be curious to hear from birders along the coast as to the arrival of migrants today along the Gulf Coast.

Bird Banding Bust

2010-04-26T07:31:00.002-05:00

The weather really did us in yesterday. A constant rain and wind combined with cool temperatures resulted in no birds caught during our program!

None

Nada

Zilch

Bupkus

sigh......

However I have great hopes for the weather changing later this week and starting those migrants moving again. It is, after all, still April.

First Banding Session of the Year at Ritter Farm

2010-04-23T07:26:00.002-05:00

We will be holding the first of 3 banding sessions at Ritter Farm Park in Lakeville this Sunday if the weather isn't terrible. Hopefully the predicted rain for Saturday will be over by the time we need to set nets. If it's just misty we will go ahead with the banding. The program is sponsored by the city of Lakeville and there is a $2 fee for adults, kids are free.

Anyone interested will find us down in the Gazebo by the lower parking lot. Directions to the park are a bit tricky. If you are coming to the session this should get you there:

From the Twin Cities -
South on Interstate 35 to 185th St exit.
After exiting turn left (under highway) and go to next stoplight.
Turn right at stoplight onto frontage road.
Follow road to 195th street (bridge)
Turn right (back across highway) and turn right on gravel road into park.
Where road splits, go to lower parking lot.

From South -
Take Interstate 35 north
Exit at highway 70 (the famous McStop)
Turn right and go to stopsign for the frontage road.
Turn left and go to 195th St
Turn left across the bridge and then right onto gravel road into park
Where road splits, go to lower parking lot.

Hope we see you there.

Happy 40th Earth Day

2010-04-22T08:16:00.002-05:00

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day by getting outside and leaving as much of the human world behind as possible. Yes, I am advocating blowing off work today!

A Quiet Sunday Morning

2010-04-19T08:43:00.014-05:00

After having so much fun on Saturday, I decided to head over to my local banding site and see what might be around. Amber B. came out to lend a hand. It wasn't as "birdy" as I had hoped but there was enough to keep me interested. The catch of the day was 2 Hermit Thrushes, Catharus guttatus.

The contrast of the tail to the back is how most people identify this species but also notice the relatively plain face and not much of an eye ring. Both the thrushes I caught were second year birds. It's good to see they survived their journeys so far.

As I set up my banding table I had an American Robin just giving me the business for no apparent reason until Amber and I were sitting quietly and saw a female sneak onto a nest that was almost right above us. We would have never seen her if she hadn't moved. Can you see her in the photo above?

I've enlarged part of the photo to give a better look. This nest is right along a walking path but I'd bet money that if I took kids on a hike they would walk right past the bird and wouldn't have a clue what is right next to them. My goal is to teach the world to slow down and look up more often.

Saturday in the Park

2010-04-19T08:12:00.012-05:00

What a beautiful day to be out banding at Carver Park. The anticipation was palpable while I drove into the park as I could see all sorts of birds jumping up from the roadside and I could hear even more birds in the trees. I wasn't disappointed. As the crew got set up, the birds started coming into the station. Above you can see itinerant bird researcher Ben at the banding table processing one of the 20 birds we caught during our morning program. A complete list of birds caught will be listed at the end of this entry.

One of my favorite spring migrants is the White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. This breeding plumaged male really made an impression on the visitors to our program.

Some of our regular residents also showed up such as this Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens. The one skill banders are always improving is their ability to get birds out of mist nets efficiently and without harming the bird. It doesn't help when the bird you're removing is trying to drill a hole in your fingers.

This fellow was pretty cooperative and both bird and bander were none the worse for wear after processing.

We had a 3 woodpecker day including this Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, which is quite a handful, especially when you're trying to get them to pose for pictures.

An unexpected catch was a female Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, a real "two hands" bird. Of all the birds we caught this one took the largest band (3A). Measuring a bird this size make all the other birds feel really small.

Totals for the day are below:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3)
Dark-eyed Junco (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (1 retrap)
White-throated Sparrow (2)
Downy Woodpecker (2)
Song Sparrow (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch (2 retrap)
Hairy Woodpecker (1)
Brown-headed Cowbird (1)
Red-winged Blackbird (4)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1)
Mourning Dove (1)

Total Species = 12
Total Individuals = 20
Pretty typical numbers for a spring session.

Bird Banding Program

2010-04-15T07:49:00.002-05:00

With the warmer weather and the Nexrad radar pretty much lit up every night with migrants, I'm looking forward to this Saturday's bird banding program at the Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park, just west of Victoria, MN.

The program is free and open to the public. Hours for the program are 8am until noon. Stop out if you're in the area.

Birds Rock!

2010-04-13T11:13:00.001-05:00

Here's a short video from the American Bird Conservancy that might appeal to the teenager in your life (or perhaps your own inner child).

Birds Rock

Early April Banding

2010-04-12T07:28:00.006-05:00

Sunday afternoon was just too nice to pass up the chance to get out to the banding station and throw up some nets to see what was around. When I got to the site it was pretty quiet but I set 3 nets anyway and sat down to enjoy the warm temps and the scenery. I only had nets up for about 2 hours but I did get 2 of these nice Eastern Phoebes, Sayornis phoebe.

I was also able to net one of the smallest birds we handle all year, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula. This male sported a bright red patch of feathers on his head that isn't usually seen unless you get a good close-up look at the bird. Not an easy task with a bird that hardly sits still.

If the weather stays as warm as it is now I'm not sure how that will impact both migrating birds and those that will stay here to nest. It could be an interesting breeding season.

Lots of Migration Movement in the South

2010-04-04T23:41:00.003-05:00

The low pressure systems moving through the mid-west are setting up favorable conditions for birds to move in the south and southeastern regions of the U.S. tonight. Behind the front that sits across places like Chicago and St. Louis the movement is noticeably weaker.

We did band this morning and had several migrants in our nets that have showed up in just the past few days. Fox Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Song Sparrow are all over the place.

Reports from southern Wisconsin included Yellow rumped Warblers, shorebirds and swallows. Spring is starting to really take off.

Movement in the Dakotas

2010-03-28T22:57:00.006-05:00

I was checking the radar tonight to see if there was any movement ahead of the predicted warm up for the upper midwest this week and it doesn't look like much except in the Dakotas. It looks like there might be some significant movement tonight.

There are two big weather systems on either coast with the east coast really being affected. The next 2-3 days shoud be interesting as a high pressure system settles over the plains and brings highs in the 70's to the upper Mississippi River Valley by mid-week.

The other interesting spot is off the north coast of Cuba. It looks like a movement of migrants is making the jump from Cuba to the Florida peninsula and is being picked up by radar in Key West. There are storms over Florida so the migrants should make landfall shortly after reaching the southern tip of the mainland state.

Both of these images are from NOAA.

New Field Guide to the Birds of Europe

2010-03-25T16:17:00.003-05:00

Princeton University Press has released a second edition of it's birds of Europe Field Guide. I haven't seen it personally but the few comments I've seen have been positive.

Following is the text from the Princeton website:

"Since it was first published a decade ago, Birds of Europe has become the definitive field guide to the diverse birdlife found in Europe. Now this superb guide has been brought fully up to date with revised text and maps along with added illustrations. Uniquely designed for easy use in the field, this expanded edition covers all 772 species found in the region as well as 32 introduced species or variants and 118 very rare visitors. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, voice, habitat, range, and size. More than 3,500 full-color illustrations depict every species and all major plumage variations, and color distribution maps provide breeding, wintering, and migration ranges for every species.

Complete with an introduction to each group of birds that addresses major problems of observation and identification, this new edition is the ultimate field guide to Europe's fascinating birdlife.

Expanded and fully updated
Covers all 772 species found in Europe, 32 introduced species or variants, and 118 very rare visitors
Features more than 3,500 color illustrations that depict every species
Includes detailed species accounts
Provides color distribution maps for every species
Color plates face text and maps for at-a-glance identification

Lars Svensson is one of Europe's foremost field ornithologists. Dan Zetterström and Killian Mullarney are two of Europe's leading bird artists."

A "Sweet" Banding Session

2010-03-21T20:34:00.019-05:00

In spite of the fact that the previous week had been really nice, Saturday morning started sunny but cold. With enough volunteers present we decided to go ahead and use mist nets along with our Potter traps in order to catch as many birds as we could during our program. We had some nice birds like the above Downy Woodpecker.

We still have a number of Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows around and we were able to catch some of both. This handsome fellow should be headed back north soon. If the winds change this week he may be in Canada before next weekend.

Something you don't get to see unless you have a junco in the hand is the variation of the amount of white on the third rectrix. This seems to be one clue to help aging juncos. The more white on R4 the older the bird (R4 on the right is the feather on the outside). As always though, you have to use the entire set of characteristics to really come to a good conclusion.

One of the hazards of living in cold climates is that sometimes the cold can do some damage. A couple of the toes on this junco appear to have been damaged by frostbite this winter. How bad the damage is, is hard to say. The discoloration though is obvious.

While we were banding, the nature center was also doing a program on making maple syrup and was boiling down some sap right where we were releasing our banded birds.

The odor was great and made this a really sweet session. We didn't get any early migrants but we did see 2 Red-winged Blackbirds at the feeders that were banded so we know some of "our" birds are back.

Numbers for the day are:

Black-capped Chickadees - 7 (2 being recaptures)
American Tree Sparrows - 15
Dark-eyed Juncos - 7
Downy Woodpecker - 2 (1 recapture)
White-breasted Nuthatch - 5
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 (a recaptured female)

Total species = 6
Total individuals = 37

One More Photo

2010-03-17T07:53:00.004-05:00

Any time a question comes up about the identification of an odd bird, the wealth of knowledge and insight that weighs in on the subject amazes me. There seems to be some doubt as to whether the bird in question is truly a hybrid and if it is, what the parent besides junco might be. The photo above gives a view of the back of the bird that may help further the mystery. The streaking on the back certainly looks sparrowish. I don't know if this changes anything but it is another piece to the puzzle. If you double click on any of the photos you should be able to view it enlarged which should help show detail.

I'm looking forward to our monthly banding session this Saturday and if the weather holds it could bring in some early migrants. I'll post results later.

Hybrid Junco/White-throated Sparrow?

2010-03-15T22:26:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine, Ben Sandstrom, is down in Texas doing some bird survey work this winter and has sent me some pictures of a Junco that suggest it is a possible hybrid with a White-throated Sparrow. The pictures here show the bird from different angles and hopefully are enough to reveal possible explanations.

One of the things I've learned and appreciate is that there are a lot of people out there who know way more than I do and are willing to pass that knowledge along. Well, this is one of those times. Is this a hybrid?

Ben did do a bit of investigating and found references to SCJU/WTSP hybrids but it seems all those records are from the eastern U.S.

The whitish throat and white stripe over the eye are seen the best in this photo. If nothing else, this will keep us busy while we wait on those migrants to move in to our neck of the woods.

Tufted Titmouse / Chickadee Hybrid

2010-03-15T22:20:00.005-05:00

I've followed the discussion on line of the hybrid Tufted Titmouse and Black capped Chickadee and people who know a whole lot more than I do have pointed out some details that appear to confirm this birds hybrid status.

The best visible clue is the sharp demarcation of white on the face with a darker cap above. Tufted Titmice would be expected to have the color all the way down across the cheek. There were some other comments on some more subtle markings but it looks like this is the real deal.

Here are some other comments:
Mark Stackhouse said:
"The dark area on the chin was one of the things that I was hoping to get some input from the observer - I'm having a hard time deciding if those are actually black feathers on the chin, or dark gray (something that may be within the normal variation). The definition and shape of the line between the cap and the cheek do suggest a chickadee."

Allen Chartier said:
"I too was wondering about the chin, but as a bander I see a lot of bird with white underparts that show dark bases to the feathers, and the absence of some throat feathers could create this effect. Or, staining from sap..."

Tony Leukering said:
"I didn't have any problem with Matt's ID on this bird, it seems an obvious hybrid to me, with only some of those reasons already pointed out in this venue. I'd add two more:

1) The placemenht of the eye relative to the dark of the crown is intermediate between the two species -- TUTI has the eye entirely surrounded by pale, while BCCH has more of the eye within the black of the crown;

2) The nasal tufts are brown, something that is variable in BCCH (brown or black) and, as far as I'm aware, invariant in TUTI (black)."

So with that pretty much put to bed the next post is going to be another hybrid puzzle. Stay tuned!

Is This Really a Hybrid?

2010-03-13T11:07:00.004-06:00

I've copied a picture taken by Matt Farker of Bloomington, Illinois of a reported hybrid Black-capped Chickadee x Tufted Titmouse. Tom found this bird and has reported it to the Bird ID listserve as a rare hybrid.

To be honest, I'm having trouble seeing the characteristics that convince me of it's status as a hybrid. Admittedly I haven't looked in any references yet but I wouldn't have picked this bird out as unusual. Tufted Titmouse is not found commonly where I live but I do catch them once in a while when I'm in Wisconsin banding birds.

Here is a link to the original photos.

Any thoughts???

More Signs of Spring

2010-03-08T07:29:00.006-06:00

After I posted the radar map showing what I think was an early migratory movement, I received a couple of comments that support that birds are starting to move in the south.

Mitch from near San Antonio, Texas said:

"We have had recently White-fronted Goose flocks
heading north at night. Cranes have been moving too,
but that is generally diurnally."

Catherine in Wichita, Kansas wrote:

"I just saw a Gray Catbird in Wichita, Kansas this morning. I
believe it's very early for that species to be here. Typical dates are
early May to late September, according to Thompson & Ely 'Birds in
Kansas, Vol. II.'"

I'm really starting to feel the onset of spring fever. I'm hearing reports from Wisconsin that Sandhill Cranes are showing up as are a few Killdeer here and there. The Mississippi River is opening up and Bald Eagles are beginning to head north. Horned Larks appear to be along the shoulder of many back roads around here and every morning the singing seems to get louder and louder.

On the other hand, I know that we haven't seen the last snow of the season yet and my son will still have to watch out for icy spots on the road as he bikes to school in the morning. However hope springs eternal and I know that before long I'll be sitting out in the woods, swatting mosquitoes and cursing the hot, humid summer days.

Radar Indication of Migration in the southern Great Plains

2010-03-03T21:19:00.005-06:00

Thanks to the folks at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (NCAP) I think we're starting to see some migration movement already in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.

This is the second night in a row that this return pattern has shown up in the same place. It could be waterfowl or something else. The color of the return seems to indicate that the numbers of birds moving might not be large. I saw the same image last night but hesitated to post because I've just never looked for migration this early in the spring but from posts on line it does sound like things are beginning to move around.

If you got to the National Weather Service and click on the button for a looping view of the national map, you can see the rings in the lower plains enlarging over time.

This is really going to help make my case of spring fever even worse!

Visitors From the North

2010-02-20T17:24:00.007-06:00

If all of winter could be like today, I think there would be less complaining and more playing outside. We had a great day to hold our February banding session at the Lowry Nature Center and we had quite a number of visitors who came out to watch.

We only handled 3 species today but one is especially nice to work with. This American Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea, was one of the species we hadn't caught a lot of recently. American Tree Sparrows are the birds that were the basis of the banding program at Lowry some 40 years ago.

What I like is the ability to see birds from a different perspective and I think the back of this bird is just beautiful.

It won't be very long before the birds that are wintering here will begin to make their journey back north to the edge of the tundra in Canada.

The only other species we handled today were White-breasted Nuthatches, Sitta canadensis, and Black-capped Chickadees, Poecile atricapilla. The photo above is a nice illustration of the difference between the color of the cap on a male nuthatch (glossy black) and the color of the cap on a female nuthatch (grayish, sometimes with flecks of black).

As far as totals go, today we handled 36 birds, 27 new and 9 retraps. Below is the breakdown:

Black-capped Chickadee 16 new and 7 retraps
American Tree Sparrows 8 new and 0 retraps
White-breasted Nuthatch 3 new and 2 retraps

Our next banding session will be March 20, 2010.

Banding Program on Saturday

2010-02-17T10:38:00.003-06:00

For anyone interested, we will hold the regular monthly banding session at Carver Park near Victoria, MN.

Details:

Bird Banding Program
Lowry Nature Center
Saturday Feb. 20, 2010
9:00 am - noon
FREE

Directions here.

Banding Totals

2010-02-15T21:46:00.007-06:00

I've finally got some time to sit down and do a bit of data crunching with my banding numbers and I am quite proud of how things have gone since I got my subpermit in 2003 (thank-you Mark!)

As of the end of 2009, I have banded 1060 individuals of 65 species. Of course this doesn't include all the birds I've handled on other peoples projects so the numbers would be even higher if I included them.

For 2009 I have banded the following:

American Goldfinch (AMGO) 14
American Redstart (AMRE) 3
American Robin (AMRO) 4
Black and White Warbler (BAWW) 1
Black-capped Chickadee (BCCH) 42
Brown-headed Cowbird (BHCO) 1
Blue-headed Vireo (BHVI) 1
Blue Jay (BLJA) 3
Brown Thrasher (BRTH) 2
Canada WArbler (CAWA) 1
Cedar Waxwing (CEDW) 12
Downy Woodpecker (DOWO) 9
Eastern Bluebird (EABL) 8
Eastern Wood Pewee (EAWP) 1
Eastern Tufted Titmouse (ETTI) 3
Fox Sparrow (FOSP) 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet (GCKI) 2
Gray Catbird (GRCA) 2
House Wren (HOWR) 2
Indigo Bunting (INBU) 1
Least Flycatcher (LEFL) 4
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler (MYWA) 13
Nashville Warbler (NAWA) 3
Northern Cardinal (NOCA) 8
Orange-crowned Warbler (OCWA) 2
Ovenbird (OVEN) 3
Purple Martin (PUMA) 163
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (RCKI) 4
Red-eyed Vireo (REVI) 3
Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL) 1
Dark-eyed Junco (SCJU) 21
Song Sparrow (SOSP) 4
Swainson's Thrush (SWTH) 2
Tennessee Warbler (TEWA) 4
Trail's Flycatcher (TRFL) 1
Whiye-breasted Nuthatch (WBNU) 7
Western Palm Warbler (WPWA) 1
White-throated Sparrow (WTSP) 11
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (YBFL) 1

That's a total of 39 species and 373 individuals. I'd say it was a pretty good year. The goal for 2010...400+ birds!

Back for the start of the new year

2010-01-06T08:44:00.002-06:00

I haven't been very good about keeping up with this blog because of the holidays and all but I think I should be able to be more efficient from now on. Not lots has been happening banding wise but a couple of things have been interesting lately.

I got a note from Illinois that a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was being seen in East Moline about the same time the same species was being seen in Finlayson, MN. I hope to post some pictures later of the Illinois bird.

We have also been tracking Golden Eagle #42 as it has come back to western Wisconsin after spending the winter in northern Canada. It's been hanging out and feeding on deer carcasses near our Wisconsin banding site.

Finally, I will be totaling up last years banding numbers and will post that soon also. It was probably my best year as far as numbers but if it hadn't been for all those young Purple Martins I banded my numbers wouldn't be as high. I did notice a definite lack of warblers banded this year.

Update on Fork-tailed Flycatcher

2009-11-28T19:50:00.002-06:00

Well the pictures of the flycatcher really caused a buzz for a day or so. I feel bad that I didn't have more details about location. I did hear that the bird had been seen at this location in Pine County, MN from Nov. 18th to the 25th. I don't know if anyone besides the person who took the photos got to see it. I believe this is only the 3rd state record for this species. A couple of people in the Minnesota Ornithologists Union were contacted and I believe the bird will be documented so it can be accepted as "official". I'll see what folks say at next weeks MOU meeting.

Thanks to all who responded to the post. Not a bad end to the fall season!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Minnesota???

2009-11-25T11:39:00.005-06:00

A friend of mine has passed along a couple of pictures that he received recently that appears to show a Fork-tailed Flycatcher in
Finlayson, Pine County, Minnesota. I don't have permission to give directions to the bird or even know if it's still around. Pretty cool though.

Not as good a look but pretty convincing to me.

Migrants Still Around

2009-10-24T21:23:00.007-05:00

In spite of the really lousy weather we've had the last week or so, I was able to get out this afternoon and do some banding at school. I waited until it warmed up a bit and then headed out. When I arrived at the banding site there were birds everywhere so I was ready for a busy day. I could hear Cedar Waxwings in the trees above and there were White-throated Sparrows all over. Funny thing was, I didn't catch any of either.

There are still some warblers around. I caught this Orange-crowned Warbler and a retrapped Yellow-rumped Warbler. I was excited about the Yellow-rump because I hadn't banded since last Sunday which means this bird hung around for a while. When I caught it the first time it was carrying zero fat. Today it was full of fat. In the last 6 days this bird gained 3 grams of weight. That may not sound like much but when you only weigh 14 grams that's quite a bit.

Last catch of the day were 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets. With the days getting shorter I was banding this bird as it was almost dark. You can tell by the photo that I was getting finished just in time.

The bird that was in the toughest shape today was this male Northern Cardinal that I got in the first net run of the day. The bird was in full molt, it had pin feathers all over. The oddest thing though is that it was missing part of its right leg. It appears to be an old injury that is completely healed. Besides the injury the bird was in good body condition. I couldn't tell if there was a specific problem or what. It's plumage was adult.

When it came out of the bag for banding it had shed it's tail feathers. You can see how much of the retrices were still in their sheath.

Totals for the day are as follows:

Golden-crowned Kinglet (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (2)
Fox Sparrow (4)
Northern Cardinal (1)
American Robin (1)

We're going to try and make a run to Wisconsin to band at Mr. Neil's tomorrow but the weather sounds iffy. It will be nice just to get back to the place to see what's around. I would love to catch some more Tufted Titmice before this year's banding is over.

Cool and Windy Sunday Morning

2009-10-18T23:11:00.014-05:00

After yesterday's great banding, I was excited to get out again this morning to see how many more birds we could catch. One of the biggest enemies of banders is wind and I woke up to a very windy morning. Luckily my net lanes are protected from all but the strongest winds. Today was going to test that.

I was not disappointed. Sure, we spent a lot of time picking leaves out of the nets but by 11:30 we had 20 birds of 8 species with some surprises. First surprise - Yellow-rumped Warblers still around in good numbers. This beauty posed for us in the sunlight just before release.

Another real shock were 2 Tennessee Warblers. These girls should have been out of here already. We also hoped for a Palm Warbler or an Orange-crowned Warbler but missed on those.

A nice bonus today were 3 different sparrow species including a chunky Fox Sparrow. I hadn't seen any of these around my feeders for a while.

This is the time for White throats but we only had one today as opposed to many yesterday. This is a great example of how habitat can influence captures.

Song Sparrow is a common breeder around here but this fellow should be far south of here by now.

Totals for the day are as follows:

Tennessee Warbler (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (7)
Black-capped Chickadee (1 new and 2 retraps)
Song Sparrow (1)
White-throated Sparrow (2)
Fox Sparrow (1)
American Robin (3)

Not sure how many days are left when we can get out but we're going to try our site in Wisconsin next Sunday.

A Very Busy Morning!

2009-10-17T19:58:00.009-05:00

After nearly a week of terrible weather, the sun finally broke through and provided us with a glorious fall day. I knew it was going to be good when I could see flocks of birds springing from the road shoulder as I drove along the nature center driveway. Lots of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows along with some other surprises.

It was the kind of day when you could have put a net in the middle of the parking lot and you would still catch a load of birds.

The total for the day was 49 birds of 10 species with juncos and White-throated Sparrows being the most numerous captures. The Golden-crowned Kinglet and the Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the "best" catches of the day though we had some other notable species like a relatively late Eastern Phoebe.

Of all the birds netted, only 2 were retraps.

Totals are as follows:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (5)
Dark-eyed Junco (15)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Field Sparrow (1)
Eastern Phoebe (1)
White-throated Sparrow (18)
White-breasted Nuthatch (2)
Hermit Thrush (2)

I also got a short video clip of volunteer Ben taking data on the GCKI.

Golden-crowned Kinglet from Roger Everhart on Vimeo.

Tomorrow looks like it will be even warmer than today so it's back out to the banding station at school to see if we can't catch a few more migrants before they head south. Lots of dogwood berries still on the shrubs to attract the Yellow-rumped Warblers I saw flitting around tonight.

Mid-October Snow!

2009-10-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

The weather is forever entertaining but this is a bit ridiculous. Snow is falling as I type and the prediction is for 2-3 inches by noon. Luckily, the temps should warm up enough that the snow should be gone tomorrow. Normally we should be enjoying temps in the 60's. This is more like November and I really don't want to rush the calendar.

It will be interesting to see what this front might push into the area. Anything good out there? I know Wisconsin is hosting a Rufous Hummingbird right now and that last week there were several jaegers seen along the south shore of Lake Superior. I think this weekend will be nice enough to do a bit of searching around but unless things change significantly banding season may be over for the year. I hope not.

For a bit oh humor to get you through the day see this blurb on a "new bird species".

Snowbirds Begin To Arrive

2009-09-30T08:30:00.003-05:00

We are starting to see reports of Dark-eyed Juncos showing up in parts of central Minnesota. This is the harbinger of winter for me and signals that migration will be slowing down over the next month.

I like Juncos.

This is one of the species that keeps us going at the banding station in January and February when it's cold and snowy outside. However, the Juncos that are here now won't be the ones we see in December. From our banding we know that these early movers will keep on going. One female we banded at Ritter Farm in early October one year was recovered 2 years later in December near Stillwater, Oklahoma. Quite the well traveled little lady. I marvel at the idea of these small birds flying thousands of miles every year yet ending up in the same exact small wintering habitat where we catch them. It's not uncommon for us to catch banded Juncos and American Tree Sparrows almost a year to the day and in the same net we caught them in the previous year. GPS has nothing on these guys!

So here's to the season of shorter daylight, colder winds and shoveling snow as a main source of exercise. Bon Iver.

Racing the Wind and Rain

2009-09-27T22:02:00.006-05:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of wind blowing through the trees in the yard and seriously debated turning over and catching a few more hours of sleep. However, I know that the migrants aren't going to be here for much longer and even if it's windy my net lanes are fairly sheltered. Because I'm set up in a bit of a low spot my nets are often protected even in a strong wind. Figuring I had to go get my poles today anyway I dragged myself out of bed and got out to my site. It turned out to be not bad at the lanes so I went ahead and set nets planning on spending most of the time grading papers for school.

I was pleasantly surprised when this Swainson's Thrush was the first catch of the day. The thrushes may be around for a while yet.

A harbinger of fall is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I'm always amazed at how small these birds are and how thin their legs are. Handling these guys takes a light touch.

Nicest catch of the day was this Blue-headed Vireo (forever to be Solitary Vireo to me). It was a feisty bird, making sure it gave me a few "bird kisses" before I let it go.

I really love how colorful birds can be even in the fall. I think this guy was really posing for this shot.

The rains came just as I was making my last net run of the day. Got all the equipment in and headed home. This was a great weekend for banding with a total of 24 birds of 12 species. Hopefully, I can have a few more weekends like this before the nets get put away for another season.

Banding on a Warm Fall Day

2009-09-26T14:46:00.006-05:00

This morning started out calm and foggy, which for banding is just about perfect so I had high hopes as I set nets. As the morning went on though, the sun became brighter and the temps started to rise. It was pretty quiet until 9:30 or so. That's when this Red-eyed Vireo hit the net.

Things got really busy around 11:30 and here is the result of one run to the nets. The 7 bags on the left have White-throated Sparrows in them. They all hit the same net at the same time within about 3 feet of each other. The other 2 bags contain an Ovenbird and a Bluejay.

Last run of the day added this beautiful guy to the days totals. This Nashville Warbler is about as bright as I've ever seen, especially in the fall.

He was sporting a pretty good color patch on his head.

I love getting to see birds from angles that you rarely if ever see through binoculars.

Totals for today are:
Nashville Warbler - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - 1 retrap
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Least Flycatcher - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Ovenbird - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 7
Bluejay - 1

Total Individuals = 15
Total Species = 8

If the weather holds up, I'll be out again tomorrow.

A Day of Firsts

2009-09-22T06:35:00.023-05:00

Fall banding is sometimes more exciting than spring banding, not because we see better birds but because we catch birds that offer more of a challenge. Last Sunday was no exception. After a relatively quiet day of banding at Carver Park near Victoria, MN, we did a program at Ritter Farm near Lakeville and found the conditions to be almost perfect when we arrived. Cool, just a slight breeze and birds everywhere. Walking out to the net lanes I saw flocks of robins, I heard singing Eastern Phoebes and House Wrens. Groups of sparrows jumped off the trail in front of me and skulked through the grapevines and dogwoods that line the path. I was stoked for a busy day and I wasn't disappointed!

Almost as soon as nets were open we started catching birds. Mark started processing birds and pretty much didn't move for the rest of the morning. We ended the morning with a total of 33 birds of 16 species. Not only did we see some first of the fall migrants moving through, we caught one really exciting bird that I personally had never banded and in fact we had to key it out to be sure of it's identification. A list of all the birds we caught will be at the end of this entry.

This Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, was our first of the fall but reports from around the state suggest it was just one of many that had moved into the area in the last day or two. Many birders had them on their weekend lists.

The real excitement of the day was when we pulled this bird from a net and weren't sure what it was. We had it down to two possibilities just off the top of our head and our friend and banding volunteer made the right call when she IDed it as a Bay-breasted Warbler, Dendroica castanea. We got some nice pictures, made sure it was banded, let everyone get a good final look and then sent her on her way.

You can see why Roger Tory Peterson called this group "confusing fall warblers".

She stopped to straighten out all the feathers we had disrupted, showed off her new "jewelry", and headed south.

Another toughie was this female Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas. While this is a common breeder in the area, it still can be confusing. We might see her next spring on the edge of one of our wetlands.

This bird has been a personal struggle for me in the fall. This Philadelphia Vireo, Vireo philadelphicus, is not one we see much so I spend a lot of time separating Warbling Vireos from Philadelphia Vireos. The older keys say to look at the throat. Philadelphias should show yellow all the way to the base of the bill and Warbling should have a white throat. Apparently this characteristic is NOT dependable. Lots of good people commented on this photo and helped with the ID. I need to catch more Philadelphias.

Finally this Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe, acted like a typical flycatcher by being uncooperative and jumpy but beautiful in a flycatcher sort of way. Note the black lower mandible. This is a key to identification.

Species List
Traill's Flycatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Nashville Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Black-capped Chickadee (only retraps were chickadees)
Field Sparrow
Bay-breasted Warbler
Philadelphia Vireo
Ovenbird
Eastern Phoebe
Red-eyed Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Cardinal
Gray Catbird

Sure They Sing but did You Know They Compose?

2009-09-14T23:18:00.003-05:00

I found this while surfing around the internet the other day. It's pretty creative and must have taken a while to put together.

I hope you enjoy!

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.