Fall 2025 Banding Summary

May 22, 2026

This summary was compiled by Point Blue’s Palomarin banding supervisor Larissa Babicz.

Exciting Captures and Observations:

This fall saw some changes at the Palomarin Field Station as our summer banders headed out on new adventures. Instead of bringing in a new crew of apprentices as we normally would, due to funding challenges (brought on by the indirect impacts of the federal funding climate, as well as rising costs), we revitalized our volunteer program to help us continue running the banding station until we are able to hire new apprentices again. Although we were disappointed by the need to reduce our banding effort (we had to pause banding at our other nearby sites and banded less frequently at Palo), the program soon became a great way to re-engage alumni banders and bring in new volunteers! As the fall season progressed, we were not only welcoming back our wintering bird species, but also a handful of banders who hadn’t been spotted here for a long time. We are so grateful to all our volunteers!

Fall is a time when banders can encounter some unusual birds in the mist nets. Young birds that hatched in the summer are dispersing, some birds are getting ready to migrate south, and later on, others start to arrive on their Point Reyes winter grounds. August can bring a good mix of species as the breeding season draws to a close and migration begins. Many of the usual summer species, such as Wilson’s Warbler and Swainson’s Thrush, were still being caught, especially at the beginning of the month.

 

On August 15, we caught three birds that brought a lot of excitement: a MacGillivray’s Warbler, Band-tailed Pigeon, and Acorn Woodpecker! The sneaky MacGillivray’s Warblers are not especially uncommon and are caught in most years, but their stealthy habits can make them tricky to see. Getting a nice look at one in the hand is a real treat. Band-tailed Pigeons are very common in Point Reyes and are seen almost every day at Palomarin. However, because our nets are designed for smaller songbirds, they are simply too big to easily get caught. Acorn Woodpeckers, while common and very familiar to many people in the area, surprisingly don’t venture out to the field station very often. They also don’t often occur around our other banding sites in West Marin, so catching one requires an unusual amount of luck.

 

On August 31, the banders caught a young Chipping Sparrow. This bird belongs to the genus Spizella, a group of sparrows that can be quite challenging to identify. The banders were able to use some clues such as the dark area in front of the eye and a single rusty feather on the head to identify this bird.

 

In September and early October, overwintering species like Fox Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Townsend’s Warblers, and Hermit Thrushes began to trickle in. On October 2, the first Golden-crowned Sparrow of the season was caught. This day is a much-anticipated part of fall for the Palomarin Field Station, where their arrival is celebrated with the annual Golden-crowned Sparrow party (check out where we’re welcoming our Golden-crowned Sparrows back from in this paper, and these other papers for the destinations of our Fox Sparrows and Hermit Thrushes).

 

 

A few notable birds paid a visit to Palomarin but turned down our offer of a free bracelet at the banding station (that is to say, they did not get caught and banded). On September 27, during our Palo Stewards appreciation event (see our Stewards of Palomarin page to learn more about how you can support Palo), an Oak Titmouse made an appearance and stuck around for a few days. This is another species that is very common just a little farther inland, but they are shockingly rare at the field station! On October 10, a Broad-winged Hawk was spotted soaring overhead, and on October 28, a White-throated Sparrow was found by the parking lot.

Let’s Do the Numbers:

In 35 days (3,867.6 net hours) of mist-netting at Palomarin in August-October, we captured 236 new birds and recaptured 93 previously banded birds. A total of 329 birds of 38 species were caught. Approximately 9 birds were caught per banding day.

At our other West Marin banding sites, we captured 130 new birds and recaptured 46 previously banded birds. A total of 176 birds of 21 species were caught over 9 banding days in August prior to pausing our banding operations for the rest of the season at those sites (488.24 net hours), an average of approximately 20 birds per day.

The highest capture rates at Palomarin and our other West Marin banding sites were on October 19th at Palomarin with 19 birds, and August 8th at Muddy Hollow, with 39 birds.

At Palomarin, the following species were caught in the highest numbers: Song Sparrow (43), Swainson’s Thrush (36), Common Yellowthroat (27), Wilson’s Warbler (18), and Bewick’s Wren (10).

Across all off-sites during the nine days we banded there in August, the highest numbers of captures by species were: Dark-eyed Junco (57), Wrentit (35), Song Sparrow (24), Western Flycatcher (17), Swainson’s Thrush (17), and Bewick’s Wren (17).

About these Summaries:

Point Blue apprentices and staff at our Palomarin Field Station share these blog posts in an effort to further engage the public in our science. We are grateful to our partners at the Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Marin County Parks, and to our surrounding Bolinas and West Marin County community and our funders for their support of our work.

Early-career bird banders are part of a rigorous training program at Point Blue’s Palomarin Field Station, where they learn to capture birds safely using mist nets and record data on each bird caught. The information collected allows us to better understand how populations of birds are doing and in turn gives us insight into the health of the systems we research. Learn more about our seasonal apprenticeships by visiting the careers page on our website.

All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory.

Our Palomarin Field Station is open to the public. Consider visiting us! Learn how on our contact & visit us web page.