Category Archives: Banding

Capturing fast fliers

As we were migrating to Camp Sagawau, we heard that Vern Kleen was starting his talk on hummingbirds. When we arrived, there was already a crowd of hummfans listening to Vern.

Vern Kleen speaks

Vern Kleen is one of two licensed hummingbird banders in Illinois. Throughout the summer he has conducted banding demonstrations – after the last fest on September 5th he will have done sixteen hummingbird festivals throughout Illinois!

Vern told us all about hummingbirds, from banding and how to attract hummingbirds to back yard feeders to facts & figures and all about hummingbird behavior, as well as taking questions from the crowd. We learned that there are approximately 340 species of hummingbird. 25 of these have been seen in the United States, but just the Ruby-throated is a regular in eastern North America. Ecuador is home to over 160 different species!

As Vern was speaking, members of Illinois Audubon were busy with two hummingbird traps. Normally there are 10+ hummingbird feeders set up at Camp Sagawau, but during the festival they were all removed except for two which were used for trapping the hummingbirds for banding. Spectators watched the feeders, waiting for a bird to fly inside. The traps are hanging on either side of the large tree just left of center:

Waiting at the traps

The doors on the mesh traps were rigged to close on a remote control similar to remote lock devices for cars. Here’s a closer look at an open trap:

Open hummingbird trap

Because there were normally so many feeders at the preserve, there was no shortage of hummer activity. However, the trappers had to be careful and not trip the door until the bird perched on the feeder. Hummingbirds flap their wings up to 100 times per second and fly 25-30 miles per hour on average. Male birds can reach speeds of nearly 60 mph during courtship display dives!

Once the bird entered the trap and was actually perched on the feeder inside, the chance of them flying into the trap door as it was closing was greatly reduced. Here’s a male bird (notice the ruby throat) caught in one of the traps:

Trapped hummingbird

After capturing a bird in the trap, the next step was to remove the bird from the trap. A net ‘sleeve’ allows the trapper to get his or her hand into the cage without the bird escaping. Still, it’s a delicate procedure and patience is needed in order to avoid extra stress on the bird. Here’s a video of a bird being removed from the trap:

Next, banding a hummingbird!

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Banding, Festivals & Events, Yard Birds | 1 Comment

Mad Cedar Waxwing won’t leave

Keeping with the waxwing theme today… Yesterday I observed the bird banding team again at Rollins Savanna. It was the last MAPS session for the season. Like last time, it was quite busy when I arrived, with over a dozen birds having been pulled from just one net.

BirdsInBag

Most captures were Common Yellowthroats. They were pretty calm while being handled for the most part. The mosquitoes were flying all over and once a yellowthroat tried to grab a mosquito in its beak while it was being processed, which was extremely cute.

Common Yellowthroat

Many of birds were going through molt and were missing head feathers. They were very difficult to age and sex. The bird books were consulted for each bird and there was a lot of discussion among the team.

Two Cedar Waxwings were also caught in the nets. They were both juveniles who did not yet have the red wingtips for which the species is named. Neither bird was happy to be there.

Waxwings In Hand

Waxwing In Hand

The bird above was especially feisty, locking its feet together to make the bander’s job extremely difficult. It was biting the pliers, the bander’s hands, everything in sight during the entire process. When it came time to be released, it was so intent on biting the bander’s finger it didn’t realize it was time to go, until it got a tap on the rear:

MAPS will start up again in the spring and I hope to join the team as a volunteer. So hopefully that was my last visit to the team as an awkward bystander. 😉

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Banding | 2 Comments

Banding at Rollins Savanna

If you have found this page via the Halt Bird Banding site, welcome. I do not agree with the mission of that website and I am dismayed that my words are being used to further an anti-banding agenda. The text in the post below has not been edited in any way. However, I would like to make the following statements. (1) While I am mortified by my own cavalier words regarding the unfortunate deaths of birds by deer, I understand that in scientific work, unfortunate instances may occur. On future visits to the banding station, I noted that the net in question was not raised or more carefully monitored to eliminate the possibility of deer accessing birds in the nets. (2) Bird banding helps birds. There are many specific examples, but in general if you understand that humans destroy bird habitat, then you must understand that gaining knowledge of bird activity, habitat use, movement, etc, is beneficial to birds. Suitable habitat is destroyed or modified by human activities ALL THE TIME, but there are people working to mitigate this, and to HELP BIRDS. When we understand how birds interact with different habitats we can better save or restore that which will be of most use to the birds most in need. If people were not ruining the planet, I think the Halt Bird Banding movement might have more support, but IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, this is not the case. This is not the only purpose of bird banding, but it’s a big one. (3) I am not and have never been a master bander. I volunteered at and observed during banding activities. Please keep that in mind as you read through any of my posts regarding bird banding. Thank you for reading this addendum to my original post.

Following the banding demonstration we attended earlier this month, last week we were able to observe at the MAPS team banding station at Rollins Savanna for a while. The team has 10 mist nets set up in one part of the preserve; the nets are checked at least every half hour. When we arrived we joined team members as they checked nets 9 and 10. Everyone was very excited to see that a Ruby-throated Hummingbird was caught in #9.

Hummingbird in the net

Very few people are permitted to band hummingbirds in the United States so the objective here was to safely remove the bird from the net, perform a quick examination and then set the bird free. When hummingbird banding is the objective, special feeder traps are set rather than using mist nets to capture the birds. Vickie Henderson has a great post about the banding of hummingbirds at her blog: Hummingbird Mysteries Uncovered through Banding.

Hummingbird in the net

As you can imagine the process of removing a hummingbird from a misting net is a delicate process. In this case it took about 5 minutes and we could hear the juvenile male Ruby-throated Hummingbird crying during part of the procedure. The bird was not harmed and was released shortly after we all arrived back at the banding station.

We went on the next net run but no birds were recovered. We learned that earlier in the morning two birds were lost to deer – the deer ATE two birds that had been caught in the nets. This was shocking to hear and even more shocking to discover for the banding team members! We were glad we missed that bit of ‘excitement.’ Can you imagine coming upon such a scene? ::shudder::

A later net run yielded over 10 birds and by the time they were brought back to the banding station it was time to go check the nets all over again.

Birds waiting to be banded

This left the two remaining banders at the station extremely busy. They were processing birds very quickly and there was not much time for photography poses or even to explain everything that was going on to us observers.

It was still a total treat to observe and I did manage to take a few banding action photos. Here’s a Field Sparrow being banded and processed:

Field Sparrow being banded

FieldSparrow2“What are you lookin’ at?!

Here’s a Common Yellowthroat being processed, along with a rare photography pose.

Common Yellowthroat examination

Common Yellowthroat in the hand

Common Yellowthroat in the hand

Several juvenile Bluebirds were also banded, including one recapture from earlier this year who was processed rather quickly and then sent on his way. A Red-bellied Woodpecker provided some comic relief when it fiercely pecked at the bander’s thumb while in the hand. The most common bird found in the mist nets were Song Sparrows.

It was great to be able to observe the banding team doing their work, and I hope we didn’t get in the way too much! I’m really interested in bird banding and hope to learn more about it.

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Banding, LCFPD | 2 Comments

Banding a Song Sparrow

This morning we attended a bird banding demonstration held at Nippersink Forest Preserve. Two mist nets were set up by researchers from CLC including professor and bander Cindy Trombino. Her team is working at Rollins Savanna this season as part of the MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) program. We actually saw them from a distance the other day on a walk, where they had set up signs to announce their presence.

Banding Sign

At the demonstration today we first learned about the banding process and why birds are banded as an aid to research. We also got to see tools of the trade, including detailed guide books, pliers and the bands themselves.

Banding Tools

The first couple of times the nets were checked, there were no birds. It was decided to move one of the nets to a different location and soon thereafter a Song Sparrow was caught. Here’s a photo of the net before it was moved:

Mist Net

Cindy showed us how the birds are removed from the net. Carefully removing the bird from the tangles of the net is usually the most difficult part of the process. In the video you can hear her mention that Northern Cardinals are notorious biters when being handled.

Removing

The Song Sparrow was brought to the work table in a bag where it was then banded and processed. After banding the next step is to try to age and sex the bird. To age the bird, feather wear and skull condition are two of the criteria checked, and these were the factors Cindy used to determine the bird was a hatch year bird.

Ageing

Next Peter Pyle’s Identification Guide to North American Birds was consulted to determine how to sex the bird. According to the book, sexing a first year Song Sparrow is not possible. The sparrow was then weighed and measured.

Measuring

Lastly it was time for a close-up (using the ‘photography hold’ as opposed to the ‘bander’s hold’ shown above).

Posing

Then the bird was released, with the help of two girls that attended the demonstration.

Release

We learned from Cindy that they will be banding at Rollins again on Tuesday and we are welcome to observe – which we really look forward to!

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Banding, LCFPD | Leave a comment

Goldcrest flies amazing 88 miles in 24 hours

Last week Vogeltrekstation Arnhem (central ringing database group) in the Netherlands announced that a Goldcrest had traveled an amazing 142 kilometers (88 miles) in just one night!

The Goldcrest (goudhaantje in Dutch) is one of the smallest songbirds native to the Netherlands. They are between 8.5 and 9.5 cm (3.3 to 3.7 inches) in length.

Goldcrest, Auderghem, Brussels
Goldcrest, Auderghem, Brussels by Frank.Vassen, Creative Commons on Flickr

The event occurred on 26 September when the bird was ringed at 7:45 am in the nature reserve Zwanenwater. The young male bird weighed in at 5.4 grams.

The following morning the same bird was caught again at 9:30 am at a ringing station in Zeeland.

Source: Goudhaantje levert verrassende prestatie

Share the birds, share the love!
Posted in Banding, Migration, Netherlands | Leave a comment