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

Seven Islands State Birding Park--Migrating Warblers!

A beautiful morning full of migrating warblers!

It is fascinating and exciting to see the transition of activities and birds as summer moves into fall. What our banding team captures in the mist net tells that story of change.

Patty Ford and Eddy Whitson set up a mist net in one of the net lanes.

Just a few weeks ago, our mist nets were full of fledgling American Goldfinch and young Field Sparrows and our nets were so full of birds that we had to close a few for a while inorder to get them all banded.  More than 100 birds were processed.

 Above, Patty Ford, stretching a mist net to its end pole.

Today's session was also busy, but the story moved from breeding season to migration.   Above and below, a beautiful Magnolia Warbler.  Even with their fading fall colors, warblers are stunning. 

Magnolia warblers are boreal forest breeders, breeding in Canada and the northeastern U.S.  This time of year they are on their way to wintering grounds, mostly in Mexico and the West Indies to Panama, fattening up along the way.

Above, the beautiful tail pattern of the Magnolia Warbler.

One of the indicators of a healthy, migrating bird are the fat deposits found on the bird's belly indicating that the bird has met its nutritional needs well enough to store fat that will sustain it during its long journey.  In the image above, the oval, light, bulging area shows the bird's fat deposits which, on the banding report, were recorded as level "three" (zero indicates no fat).

Above, a Palm Warbler showing its new band.  Billie Cantwell is holding the bird in a bander's grip while she consults Pyle's Guide for details on aging.  Below, she is examining the wing.  Mark Armstrong is weighing a bird on the scale. A small stocking is placed over the bird's head to keep it calm until weight is measured, which only takes a few seconds.

Palm warblers breed in the northern boreal forests of Canada and are moving through Tennessee now on their way to more southerly wintering territories along the coast.

In the image above, you see a Palm Warbler's wing and tail as Mark and Billie consult on the freshness and color of feathers to help determine the bird's age.

Palm Warbler

The banding table.  Mark Armstrong, Master Bander (left), Billie Cantwell, banding apprentice, and Janie Kading recording, all members of the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society.

 Another beautiful wood warbler species--the Tennessee Warbler.

Billie uses a straw to blow feathers away from the skull.  The skull of a young bird is pink. Because a bird's skin is transparent, other charateristics of growth and age can be found from examining the skull.  

Tennessee Warbler

Billie opens her hand and the Tennessee Warbler pauses for a moment before it flies away.

Above, Justine Cucchiara, the parks' ranger-in-training, talks with birder, Morton Massey.

A beautiful male Eastern Bluebird.  Several bluebirds were caught in adjacent nets and were calling to each other while held in bags waiting to be processed.  Their calls helped us locate them (which bags) and they were processed and released in a short amount of time.

Eastern bluebirds wander in family groups during the late summer and fall months and remain in Tennessee during the winter.  They are often joined by northern birds and maintain a wintering flock to aid winter survival.

Above, Billie bands a male Eastern Bluebird, and below, an image of the dark tips on his wing feathers

In addition to Western Palm Warblers, Tennessee Warblers, Magnolia Warblers and Common Yellow-throats, the Oven Bird was our fourth warbler species for the day.

Always a favorite, this beautifully marked ground-nesting warbler breeds in Tennessee. This time of year the species is moving to northern South America for the winter.

Situated on more than 410 acres along the French Broad River, Seven Islands State Birding Park includes raparian zones (where land and water meet) and open grassland habitat planted with native grasses, wildflowers, shrubby fruit-bearing plants, and trees, providing favored habitat and food sources for many grassland species and migrating warblers.

Visit my previous posts on bird banding.
More views of the Oven Bird
More information on Eastern Bluebirds:  Bluebird Family
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

Lively October

October is so lively, so full of change and energy. Weather is changing. Leaves are changing. And almost daily, new migrants are visiting the trees in my yard. I can't keep up with them all. I want to paint each and every one of them.I love the chance to meet a new bird, read about where it nests, see where it travels, where it will spend its winter. I marvel when we have a chance meeting, that the wonderful oak tree in the front yard provides rest and foraging along his journey.

This is my sketch of one of these birds, the Magnolia Warbler (probably a male) created in my new Brenda Books sketching journal. It's a beautiful new journal with real rag watercolor paper. I'm finding it intially a bit intimidating--so brand new and inviting. You know, the feeling. You don't want to mess it up.
But that's watercolor and journaling. You plunge in. You make a mess. And altogether, it doesn't turn out so badly. And on top of that you have this wonderfully intimate experience, with a bird, with its lifestyle, with the magic of October.