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Archived Postings

August 21, 2006 – August 27, 2006

August 21 to August 27, 2006 The LSLBO began its owl monitoring program this week. Nightly monitoring of the fall migration of northern saw-whet owls began on the 21st. Banding is usually slow during the August portion of the owl monitoring, and this year is no exception. Only two saw-whets were banded this week. There is a long way to go to in the attempt to beat last years banding total of 134 owls, but activity will pick up in September. Members of the LSLBO are welcome to come and watch the owl banding. The LSLBO is also running a contest to guess how many saw-whet owls will be banded this year. Contact the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation at (780) 849-8240 or email info@borealbirdcentre.ca for more information. Songbird migration monitoring will overlap with the owl banding until the end of September. Banding both songbirds and owls makes for a long banding day, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Songbird banding was slow this week with fewer than 20 birds banded each day. 104 birds were banded during the week, bringing the fall banding total to a respectable 2000 birds. There was only one bird captured of special note this week. Not only was it the first of its kind to be banded at the LSLBO, but it was a very large bird and a very mean bird. It required a special extraction method (which resembled somewhat of a flying tackle) and special handling methods so it wouldn’t leave any permanent scarring. There are different degrees of viciousness that birds possess while handling them during banding. Most are quite docile or just flap around trying to escape. Some species have little bird syndrome, they try to be mean but come off looking more adorable than ever while they attempt to peck the daylights out of your fingers. Black-capped chickadees are a great example of this. Rose-breasted grosbeaks have a large bill designed to break apart seeds. They pack one heck of a bite and know how to use it. Individuals within species have different attitudes. This is very apparent in northern saw-whet owls. Some individuals are quite calm while others are relentless in their pursuit to kill you. The new bird we banded this week is one of the meanest birds out there and they have the hardware to back up that attitude….talons, very large talons. Northern goshawks are the largest member of the Accipiter family. They are a large cousin of the sharp-shinned hawk. Sharp-shinned hawks are a little larger than a robin, while the goshawk is about the size of a red-tailed hawk. There are stories of the females attacking people as they walk past the birds nest. I don’t mean just buzz past your head, I mean they will hit you…..hard…..with their talons. And one of them ended up in our mistnests. Needless to say, it was a very exciting was to start the morning.

2010