Migration Season--Fall Banding at Seven Islands

This is the second in a two-part series on the October 11th banding session at Seven Islands State Birding Park, Tennessee, with Mark Armstrong and Billie Cantwell banding.  The first post can be found at this link:  A Palm Warbler Kind of Day 

Photo credit:  Patty Ford

Fall is always an exciting season as migrants are moving through the area and wintering species are just arriving.  Seven Islands provides a unique and exciting habitat for studying birds.  Situated on more than 410 acres along the French Broad River, the park offers a combination of shrubby and native grassland habitat with food sources that attract many migrating warblers, wintering sparrows and other species.    

Above, a female Hooded Warbler.    Hooded warblers breed in eastern North America, including Tennessee, and winter in the West Indies, Mexico, to Panama.  They live and forage in low, dense understory, often near water.   Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Nineteen species were processed during the banding session with a total of 122 birds banded and 12 recaptures (birds previously banded), totaling 134.  Among the warblers and sparrows banded were 13 Common Yellowthroats, 1 Magnolia warbler, 57 Western Palm Warblers, 1 Yellow Palm Warbler, 1 Hooded warbler, 17 Field Sparrows, 1 Chipping Sparrow, 2 Savannah Sparrows, 6 Swamp Sparrows and 5 Song Sparrows.

Members of the banding team go to the nets to extract birds at regular intervals beginning at 7:40 a.m. with the period for banding lasting until approximately 11:00 a.m. depending on weather conditions.  When captured, each bird is placed in a small cloth bag while waiting to be processed. The bag helps keep the bird calm and safe until it is banded and set free again.

Above and below, images of a male Magnolia Warbler (Setaphaga magnolia). Magnolia Warblers breed in northern boreal forests and migrate to wintering grounds in Mexico and the West Indies to Panama.  Their conspicuous bright yellow and black breeding plumage with distinct tail markings make them one of the most easily recognized warblers.  The Magnolia warbler you see here is in his fall or non-breeding plumage.  Black markings around his face have faded to gray, as well as the streaked black necklace that is present during breeding season.

The distinctive band of white in the outer tail feathers of the Magnolia Warbler is shown above and is unique to this warbler species.

Magnolia Warblers also has a bright yellow rump which often causes them to be confused with the Yellow-rumped Warbler, but their bright yellow breast is an obvious distinction between species..  

Above and below, Magnolia Warbler    

Banding team members return from the nets to bring birds back to the banding station.

Below, taking a break between net runs.

Above, Billie Cantwell places a band on an Indigo Bunting.  Birds are banded and then examined for information that helps to identify their age, sex, and relative health at the time they were captured.

Wing measurements and tail measurements are taken.

If it is possible to determine the sex of the bird, this information is also recorded, along with the amount of fat found on the bird's belly.  A large amount of fat during migration indicates a healthy, well-nourished bird.    

All of the data collected is recorded on a banding sheet, shown above, and will be reported to the United States Geological Banding Laboratory.   Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Age is determined by examining the wing feathers, including colors, length, and relative wear.  The skull is also examined for ossification. Photo credit Colin Leonard

Above, you see the wing of an Indigo Bunting.  The bird is being held in a "banders grip" during examination. This grip supports the birds body while it is being examined. Photo credit: Colin Leonard

In the image above, Mark Armstrong is about to touch an Eastern Phoebe's bill, but he gets a surprise. The phoebe snaps his beak making a loud clap. Phoebes are known to snap their bills during aggressive territorial interactions with other phoebes.  

Birds have personalities and it is particularly delightful when they express them!  Mark Armstrong is a Master Bander of songbirds and hummingbirds.  He is the founder of East Tennessee Avian Research, a non-profit organization, and has been operating the banding station at Seven Islands for approximately eight years.

Eastern Phoebe                      Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Visit the first post in this two-part report on banding:  A Palm Warbler Kind of Day

Visit my previous posts on bird banding

Bird Banding at Seven Islands State Birding Park

Knoxville Chapter, Tennessee Ornithological Society

Visit the Knoxville Chapter of TOS on Facebook

Seven Islands State Birding Park

Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge now Seven Islands State Birding Park

A Palm Warbler Kind of Day--Banding at Seven Islands

Banding at Seven Islands State Birding Park in the fall can be spectacular and our banding session on October 11th was just that.  122 birds were banded and 12 recaptured for a total of 134 birds processed by a great banding team.

Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Among the 19 species banded, 58 were Palm Warblers!  I am focusing this post on this beautiful species and will show you more species in a second post to follow.

Palm Warblers (Setophaga palmarum) breed in bogs and fens of remote boreal forests of the northeast and are considered one of our most northerly breeding wood warblers.  Migrating at night in small flocks, they winter in the southeastern and Gulf coast states, Mexico and the West Indies.  

Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Our banding session was timed just right to capture this species during migration. They are found at Seven Islands because they like foraging on the ground in grassy and weedy areas and on small shrubs and trees, all plentiful in the park.

Above, a Western Palm Warbler, held in a bander's grip, showing rufous feathers on his head.  The male Palm Warbler wears a rufous crown during breeding season and the visibility of rufous feathers this time of year indicates a male that has molted into winter plumage.

Above and below, Western Palm Warblers (also known as brown).

There are two subspecies of Palm Warblers, the Western Palm Warbler, also referred to as brown, and the Yellow Palm Warbler or Eastern subspecies.  Among our 58 Palm Warblers, we captured one Yellow Palm Warbler which gave us an excellent opportunity to compare the difference.

In the image above, you can see a comparison of the lores (eyebrow area) and throat of the two subspecies of Palm Warblers.  The Western subspecies has a more buffy appearance with buff-colored lores while the Yellow Palm Warbler has yellow lores, throat and belly, shown below.  Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Above, the Western is on the left and the Yellow subspecies or Eastern on the right. The yellow tail coverts on this species are also distinctive field marks.  In the field, the Palm Warbler is often seen pumping its tail while foraging.  The two subspecies inhabit separate breeding grounds but overlap on their wintering grounds and during migration.  Western Palm Warblers breed roughly west of Ottawa, Ontario, while the Yellow Palm Warbler nests east of Ottawa.  

Only at the banding table do you have the opportunity to see little known features of these beautiful warblers--both subspecies have yellow foot pads!  

Above and below, you can see a good overall comparison of the appearance of the two subspecies, the Yellow Palm Warbler above, and the Western Palm Warbler below.  Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Photo credit:  Colin Leonard

Banding was conducted by Mark Armstrong, Master Bander of hummingbirds and songbirds, and Billie Cantwell.  Banding studies give scientists information about the relative health and abundance of bird populations, as well as, alert us to changes in the environment.

Thanks to Colin Leonard and Richard Secrist for their assistance in taking photos!

View the second post in this two-part report on our Oct 11th banding session:  Migration Season

Visit my previous posts on bird banding.

Bird Banding at Seven Islands State Birding Park

Knoxville Chapter, Tennessee Ornithological Society

Visit the Knoxville Chapter of TOS on Facebook

Seven Islands State Birding Park

Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge now Seven Islands State Birding Park

An Intimate Visit with a Swamp Sparrow

The Swamp Sparrow is a rusty brown and gray sparrow that prefers wet habitat, such as moist, over-grown farm fields, marshes, water edges and other wet areas overgrown with briars and bushes. These conditions make Seven Islands State Birding Park a great place for wintering Swamp Sparrows!

Swamp Sparrow

The KTOS (Knoxville Chapter of TOS) banding team set up banding nets in this morning's moist cold at Seven Islands State Birding Park to document the current wintering bird population. The word for the day was wind!  BRRRR!  

The morning net captures started off slow and only got slower.  The birds seemed to be hunkering down under cover to escape the 9 mph wind.  In order to capture birds in the mist nets, the birds have to be moving around.      

This is one of the few times I have witnessed a "slow" banding morning at Seven Islands.  Most of the time we are working constantly to get the birds processed as quickly as possible, sometimes without a break until all the nets are taken down.  The good outcome of this slow morning was the ability to take a closer look at some of the birds we did band.

All of the bird images in this post are of Swamp Sparrows.  Above and below you can see the colors of the feathers on the crown of the sparrow.  The cap is considered rusty, but it can also appear almost black in some light. You can see the reason why.  Black feathers are mixed in with the rust ones.

The Swamp Sparrow has prominant rusty feathers streaked with black on its crown, shoulders and back, and has an overall rusty and gray appearance when seen in the field.    

This individual had buffy feathers mixed in with the gray on its face and had an overall lighter appearance, but the rusty features are still prominent.

Below, you can see the dull gray breast feathers with a little more white around the throat and on the lower abdomen on this individual.  These are individual characteristics that you often don't see in the field and are beautiful to observe in the hand.

Above you see the "dusty" or buffy eye-ring and an almost yellowish eye-brow on this individual. Compare the above sparrow's buffy appearance to the darker gray coloration of the sparrow below. These are both Swamp Sparrows and, in the field, they are both recognizable by their rusty cap, rusty back and shoulders and their overall gray appearance.

Below, Billie Cantwell, bander apprentice, holds a Swamp Sparrow for Mark Armstrong, our Master Bander, while he documents the plumage on this sparrow.

Above, a view of the Swamp Sparrow's rusty back with black feather streaking.  

Above and below, banding team members, dressed for the wind, visit with each other and discuss plans between net runs.

Sumac seeds below.

The French Broad River, that borders the park on three sides, is one of the features that helps attract a variety of birds and wildlife species to the park.

Visit my previous posts on bird banding.
Knoxville Chapter, Tennessee Ornithological Society
Visit the Knoxville Chapter of TOS on Facebook
Seven Islands State Birding Park