by Annie Lindsay
Nestled between the Chestnut and Laurel Ridges close to the city of Rector, Pennsylvania lies Powdermill Nature Reserve, Carnegie Museum of Pure Historical past’s environmental discipline analysis station, the place ornithologists have been working a long-term fowl banding station since June 1961. In 62 years of banding birds year-round, we’ve gathered greater than 830,000 banding information of practically 200 species. Some, just like the Cedar Waxwing, have tens of 1000’s of information in our dataset, whereas single people are the one representatives of different species, like Kirtland’s Warbler.
At Powdermill, we band birds all 12 months, various our effort seasonally, which provides us an image of what species we anticipate to see at any given time of 12 months and the relative abundance of these species. Every season brings one thing new. By March we’re eagerly awaiting the earliest spring migrants and as spring progresses, we revel within the flood of colourful songbirds of their breeding plumage. Summer time brings breeding birds and our anticipation of which people will return 12 months after 12 months. As summer season fades into fall, we benefit from the refined fantastic thing about birds of their non-breeding plumage as they migrate south to their wintering grounds. By mid-November, nearly all migrating songbirds have handed via and we’re in our winter banding season, dominated by cold-hardy birds which might be usually recaptured between years.
In 2023, we banded 9,095 new birds and recaptured 5,074 people of 123 species (plus one hybrid). Essentially the most ample species was Swainson’s Thrush with 631 new birds banded this 12 months, adopted by Ruby-crowned Kinglet (596), Grey Catbird (484), and Cedar Waxwing (447). The 12 months noticed barely decrease numbers than common general, however a number of species had notably excessive captures and a few even set spring or fall season information. In spring, 11 Black-billed Cuckoos edged out final 12 months’s ten to assert that season’s file, and within the fall 9 Louisiana Waterthrushes (a species that may be a very early migrant and usually scarce throughout our fall months), 158 Ovenbirds, and two Bicknell’s Thrushes set fall excessive information.
We will use these numbers to match 2023 to earlier years and to totals from different banding stations, however the tales in regards to the 12 months’s highlights are most compelling. Annually after we analyze our information, we eagerly search for species that set new file excessive totals, people that symbolize early or late banding dates, or recaptures which might be significantly previous birds, and await stories that our banded birds have been recaptured at one other station.
This 12 months, as lately, most of the species that had above common totals are species which were growing in southwestern Pennsylvania, which is a development that’s mirrored in Christmas Bird Count data. The core of those species’ ranges has traditionally been a bit farther south, however they appear to have not too long ago been increasing northward. For instance, Carolina Wrens and Purple-bellied Woodpeckers are year-round residents in southwestern Pennsylvania and are encountered way more usually now than they had been a couple of many years in the past. Equally, Yellow-throated Warbler is a species that tends to not breed a lot farther north than non-Appalachian Pennsylvania, however is a species that we’ve seen in spring making an attempt to determine territories and even breeding.
This 12 months’s thrilling captures started with a Swainson’s Warbler that was caught on Could 11, solely the eighth particular person of that species in Powdermill’s banding dataset. Swainson’s Warblers breed considerably south of Pennsylvania within the very southern a part of West Virginia, however since 2020, birders have noticed a number of close by within the spring and summer season and the primary breeding file within the state was confirmed in summer season 2023. This sudden seize, affectionately nicknamed “Sword-billed Warbler” by the banding crew, was actually a favourite.
This fall, one thing occurred that’s uncommon for a 62-year-old banding station: we added a brand new species to our dataset. Bicknell’s Thrush was thought of a subspecies of the extra widespread Grey-cheeked Thrush till 1995 when there was sufficient proof (primarily based on morphology, vocalizations, habitat, and migration patterns) to raise Bicknell’s to full species standing. Over time, a couple of doable Bicknell’s Thrushes had been banded at Powdermill, however it wasn’t till this 12 months that two had been definitively recognized right here, one on September 14 and one on October 8.
One of many questions we’re often requested is how lengthy birds reside. Whereas it’s troublesome to know the way lengthy every species lives on common, recapturing birds between seasons tells us one thing about how lengthy they can reside. Normally, smaller birds are shorter-lived and bigger birds are longer-lived. Catching a fowl with a band and searching again via the info to see how way back it was initially banded and what number of instances it’s been captured through the years is a spotlight for the banding crew. A number of notable standouts in 2023 embrace:
- A Ruby-throated Hummingbird that was banded in August 2021 and aged as a fowl that had hatched in a earlier 12 months was recaptured precisely two years later, making her a minimum of three years previous.
- A Kentucky Warbler that was banded in June 2018 and aged as a fowl that had hatched the earlier summer season was recaptured in Could, making it six years previous.
- A Grey Catbird that was banded in August 2015, the summer season it hatched, was recaptured this fall when it had a refeathering brood patch (the naked patch of pores and skin on the stomach that songbirds develop to assist incubate eggs). This catbird was eight years previous and, as a result of feminine catbirds develop brood patches once they’re breeding, we had been in a position to decide that she was breeding at Powdermill that summer season.
- Black-capped Chickadees are often recaptured as a result of they’re year-round residents at Powdermill and since they have an inclination to spend time at feeders close to the banding station. Due to this, we regularly have their band numbers memorized and generally can acknowledge particular person mannerisms. This fall, we caught one such chickadee a number of instances; it was banded in April 2016 and aged as a fowl that had hatched the earlier summer season, making it eight years previous!
There have been many extra previous birds captured in 2023, each delighting the crew with its historical past.
PARC is again to the winter banding schedule and we’re wanting ahead to what 2024 will convey us!
To study extra about fowl banding, please see the submit “What is bird banding?”
Annie Lindsay is the Banding Program Supervisor at Powdermill Nature Reserve.
Associated Content material
2023 Rector Christmas Bird Count Results
Carnegie Museum of Pure Historical past Weblog Quotation Data
Weblog creator:
Lindsay, Annie
Publication date:
February 8, 2024
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