Banding Birds at Birdfest 2009
May 12, 2009
Article in: Bird Conservation
Each year during the month of May, Sand Bluff Bird Observatory (SBBO) hosts their Bird Fest. This festival centers around teaching the public about the wonders of birds, specifically focusing on the process of bird banding (or ringing). Each year we try to stop in for a little bit but this is also the weekend that the Illinois Spring Bird Count is, and we are usually out counting birds. This year was different because Jennie (Veery) graduated from Northern Illinois University so we were busy with that.
Henslow’s Sparrow – so close you could smell his grasshopper breath
This year we were able to take our visiting aunt to Bird Fest for a couple of hours and, as always, it was loads of fun.
Bird banding is one of the most underfunded yet highly rewarded research efforts. The process works like this:
- put up mist nets in high bird traffic locations
- walk the nets and remove captured birds
- place captured birds in nets
- band birds with numbered bands
- record all information
- release bird
When an excellent bird is found, the Bird-arazzi heads outside to capture up-close photos. This Henslow’s Sparrow was a major highlight as it was the 2nd one banded in three days and only the fourth in 43 years at this location.
However, this Baltimore Oriole quickly stole the show. Perhaps it was his flashy orange? (We still love our brown sparrows though.)
Besides seeing birds super close, bird banding at SBBO is the ultimate learning experience. You may be an expert birder, but if you’ve never listened to the grand master, Lee Johnson, you are missing out. His encyclopedic knowledge of birds borders on supernatural.
Lee Johnson holding a Gray Catbird and firing off hundreds of nuggets of information
Birds are banded every Saturday and Sunday at Colored Sands Forest Preserve during spring and fall migration. They are funded entirely on donations and events like Bird Fest, so it was fun to support their effort (and see a lot of great birding friends in the process).
While we were milling about outside (awaiting yet another photo-op), one of the master banders, Richard Hamilton, briskly walked down the path cradling a large bird in his coat. What he brought out was a Cooper’s Hawk.
Our friend Mike Eickman held the hawk for photos
Whenever a hawk is caught in the nets it is a race against time to get them out before they break free on their own. SBBO also bands raptors at a special location, but this bird was caught in the “regular” nets.
Bird banding is an excellent way to get close views of an amazing array of birds and the perfect place to bring fledgling birders.
Illinois Spring Bird Count Database
April 18, 2009
Article in: Bird Conservation
Each year in the state of Illinois we participate in the Spring Bird Count. This statewide event occurs on the second Saturday of May Saturday between May 4th and May 10th. Unfortunately, we will not be participating this year (or at least much more limited) because Jennie (Veery) is graduating from Northern Illinois University on the same day. Nonetheless, our county has a descent number of counters and we usually find a ton of birds.
This data provides a great tool for tracking bird populations and since Illinois is a tall state, the diversity of birds is incredible during this time. Some birds just arriving in the northern part, others on territory in the south, etc.
The Illinois Natural History Survey has a database for past spring bird counts from 1975 to 2005. The database can be analyzed by individual species from any given time period and either statewide or by particular county. While this is intriguing to browse, the results are not in a user-friendly format and does not generate and chart or graph (just a table of data).
For example, we ran a query on how many Baltimore Orioles have been sighted on the spring count from 1975 to 2005 in our county, Winnebago, and obtained the following data table (click the image to enlarge):
A quick look at this table shows that Baltimore Oriole numbers have increased overall yet every few years, their numbers are drastically lower. Without actually analyzing any other factors, this provides a stepping point for more research on this and any other bird species.
We’ll try to post the results of this year’s Spring Count and you can view our recap of last year’s as well.
Deer Run Bird Survey #12
May 19, 2008
Article in: Bird Conservation
May 16 was our 12th Deer Run Bird Survey and we got our 100th species (and then some)!
Veery, Dad and Arizona (one of our canine helpers) started out around 8 in the morning and finished up by 11. It was around 60 degrees and sunny.
Arizona Doberman….canine birder
Our 99th species was a beautiful pair of Orchard Orioles. In a blaze of orange glory, we found number 100 singing in a large Cottonwood tree, the Baltimore Oriole.
We then passed up species number 100 with a Magnolia, Tennessee and Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireo, Cedar Waxwing and Bank Swallow!
A few other highlights included a baker’s dozen of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Great Crested Flycatcher, and American Redstart.
Baltimore Oriole is species number 100 for the D.R.B.S.!
Around ever corner we found a singing Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird and Song Sparrow. The birds are frisky and love is definately in the air.
For this survey we had 329 individuals of 55 species. Our overall total consists of individual birds is 4251 of 108 species.
The Common Yellowthroat is a common species at Deer Run FP
