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Archived Postings

July 18, 2005 – July 24, 2005

July 18 to July 24, 2005 Another week has passed, seemingly far too quickly, and the LSLBO continues to band on. Only two MAPS stations ran this week, with a total of 13 birds banded, somewhat slow. 188 birds were banded in the migration nets. Daily banding totals slowly increased as the week progressed from about a dozen birds at the beginning to between forty and sixty at the end. The passage of migrants on the hourly visual counts also increased with blackbirds, myrtle warblers, and chipping sparrows on the move. It looks like migration has begun and in the next few weeks the diversity and numbers of birds will increase. A few interesting captures occurred this week. A juvenile brown-headed cowbird was banded; only the second fall banding record at the LSLBO. Cowbirds are nest parasites. Adults will lay their eggs in other birds’ nests then move on. The host bird will hatch and raise the young cowbird believing it is one of its own. The young cowbird will out compete the rest of the hosts brood because it is larger and more aggressive. In most cases the young cowbird will be the only bird that fledges from the nest. This particular cowbird was milling around the banding lab for a couple of days before it was captured. From the way it was acting it looked like it was waiting to be fed, but the host species that was feeding it was never spotted. Three black-throated green warblers were banded this week, which is not unusual, a handful are usually caught each fall. Black-throated green warblers are not just handsome looking birds (even out of breeding plumage), but they are considered a sensitive species (or species of concern) in Alberta. The breeding population of black-throated green warblers occurs in low densities across most of Alberta. If the population starts to decrease, it could easily drop to non-viable levels; the population will be unable sustain itself. It is a great feeling to know that by banding these birds one is helping collect valuable population information on this species. It just adds to how good looking these birds are.

2010