American Redstart Among Birds Banded at Seven Islands

A busy morning of banding at Tennessee's Seven Islands State Birding Park resulted in 66 birds banded and 10 recaptures for a total of 76 birds processed by Mark Armstrong and his banding team on September 6th.

Eleven species were captured including a lovely female American Redstart shown below being held in a bander's grip..

The female of the species has a gray head with olive back and wings.  She is beautifully marked with bright yellow areas and has a white underbelly.  The male of the species is black and marked with reddish-orange.

Above, Mark places a band on a female American Redstart, and below, a look at the yellow in her striking tail.

Redstarts, a species member of the wood warbler family, are frequently seen fanning their tails while foraging as illustrated in my sketch below.

The banding station is set up on the front porch of an historic farm house on the Seven Islands park property. Banding team members arrived at 6:30 a.m. to erect the nets before daylight.

The first "net run" occurs at 7:30 a.m. when members of the team check all of the nets to remove birds that have been captured.  Each bird is placed in a cloth bag and held until processed at the banding station.  Nets are checked at regular intervals through out the morning until the nets are taken down, usually at 11:00 a.m.

Above, Billie Cantwell (center) and Mark Armstrong process birds.

Birds are held in soft cloth bags that help to keep them calm while waiting to be processed.

After the band is attached to the bird's leg, the bird is examined for health and age. Measurements of the wing and tail are taken, the skull and belly are examined, and the bird is weighed before release. The information recorded helps to track the health and changes in the bird population at Seven Islands, as well as, contributes to grassland research.  

Above, Mark opens a band before placing it on the leg of a Field Sparrow.  25 field sparrows were banded, along with 3 recaptured for a total of 28 processed.  Field Sparrows are one of our year-around grassland species.  The second most common species was the Indigo Bunting for a total of 15 banded.  

Above and below, Billie Cantwell examines a female Blue Grosbeak.  This bird was recaptured and originally banded in May of this year.  Below, Mark and Billie discuss the molting pattern of the feathers to affirm the bird's age.  Female Blue Grosbeaks are brown with a hint of blue in their shoulder feathers, while the males are bright blue with orange bars.

Below, Gar Secrist brings a bird back from the net, accompanied by park visitors. Visitors are welcome to observe the banding process.

Mark measures the wing of a Brown Thrasher, above, one of the largest birds captured for the day. The size and personality of a thrasher makes it a fun bird for children to experience.

Richard Secrist shows a young visitor the bright yellow eyes of the thrasher.  Brown Thrashers have large curved beaks and beautiful rust plumage with a cream breast and belly with rust spots.  Very striking birds.

Another highlight of the morning was the capture of a young hummingbird.  Billie Cantwell banded the juvenile and recorded the details.

Above and below, she measures its wing and beak.

With a magnifying loop, she checks for grooving in the juvenile's beak.  Grooving helps the bander to age the bird.  The grooving indicates growth in the beak, a characteristic of juveniles.

For release, Billie places the hummingbird in the hand of one of our visitors.

An Eastern Kingbird was the second largest bird captured at the net.  Above, Mark is measuring her tail.  A flycatcher species that is always fun to see at close range, kingbirds breed in eastern North America and overwinter in South America, 

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.

Mark Armstrong is a Master Bander of hummingbirds and songbirds.  Billie Cantwell is a banding apprentice and past president of the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society.

Visit my previous posts on bird banding.
Blue Grosbeak
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 Day of Beautiful Sparrows--Seven Islands State Birding Park

Our bird-banding morning on November 16, 2014 at Seven Islands State Birding Park was chilly but rewarding!

Sometimes its a little hard to get out of bed way before dawn, especially when you're anticipating at least four hours of being out in the cold, but seeing the wintering bird population at Seven Islands State Birding Park makes it well worth the effort.

During the winter months we have the great pleasure of hosting wintering sparrows in the grassland and shrubby habitat of the park.

Sparrows like to hang out on the stems of dead flowers and grasses eating seeds or foraging on the ground underneath. Often referred to as "little-brown-jobs", they are not really brown and dull as suggested, but display a bright array of neutral colors--brown, tan, rust, gray, cream, black and white--arranged in intricate contrasting patterns.  The nickname, of course, also refers to the fact that that they aren't the easiest of birds to see.  You may only catch a flash of brown as a shy sparrow disappears into the nearest thicket!

The Swamp Sparrow above was still growing in new feathers, shown as white around his face, but when the fresh plumage grows in fully, he will look more like the sparrow below with a mostly gray face, dark crown and rust-colored wings.  Swamp Sparrows breed in the boreal forests of Canada and the northeastern United States and prefer brushy habitat that is either wet or near water.

I was introduced to Swamp Sparrows at Seven Islands in 2009, along with the Savannah Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and Field Sparrow--all at the banding table.

Above, Billie Cantwell, banding apprentice, and Mark Armstrong, Master Bander, discuss plumage characteristics that help to determine the age of this Swamp Sparrow.

While walking up and down hills and removing birds from nets, banding team members stay warm.   While waiting for the next net-run, it gets chilly and it's time to bundle up.  In the image above, Patty Ford is showing Eddy Whitson the photo she took of the Swamp Sparrow.

Above, Mark Armstrong, examines an Eastern Towhee with team member, Eddy Whitson, looking on.

Eastern Towhees, large, colorful sparrow-like birds, remain in Tennessee year around and are often found in our backyards.

Above, Mark Armstrong (left), Janie Kading and Billie Cantwell (right) at the banding table.

Above, a Field Sparrow with its new band just before release.  Field Sparrows both breed and winter in Tennessee.  The banding program at Seven Islands is giving biologists valuable information about the area's birds, the impact of changing land management practices on the bird population, and information about the health and site fidelity of the bird species.

Above and below, banding team members remove birds captured in a net.

Some net-runs, such as this one, may hold a large number of birds.  The birds are held in soft cloth bags until they are processed and released.

Below, Janie Kading helps Dawn Johnson separate the bags and safely hang them on the carousel.

When the weather is cold as it was this day, in the mid 30's F, the banders band the bird, determine its age and release it without taking the time to measure the wings and tail or weigh the bird. This allows the bird to get back to its activities more quickly. Measurements help document the bird's health and general characteristics for referrence when recaptured.

Above, a striking juvenile White-crowned Sparrow, and below, an adult White-crowned Sparrow.  

The White-crowned Sparrow breeds in northern Canada and the western United States and starts to arrive to winter in Tennessee around October.  These sparrows are most often found on the ground kicking up leaf litter with double-footed scratching.

Above and below, a Savannah Sparrow--a sparrow of open grasslands.

A Field Sparrow showing its peach-colored beak, white eye-ring and rusty plumage. Below, you see the intricate color patterns in its back and wing plumage.  

See what I mean about beauty?

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