Menu

Palomarin

Taking the Long View: An inside look at the goings-on at the longest running avian ecology field station west of the Mississippi.

Monthly Banding Summary, January 2015

This summary was compiled by Palomarin banding intern Adelle Anderson with help from Mark Dettling, Banding Supervisor.

Exciting Captures and Observations:

This month many exciting species and individuals were captured at Palomarin and our other West Marin banding sites.  The first exciting capture came on January 10th when an Acorn Woodpecker was captured for the tenth time in Palomarin history.  Then, on January 15th an unsuspecting Wrentit (RBG/S) flew into net 2.3.  Lo and behold, it was first banded as a nestling on April 27th, 2002 by a green intern named Renée Cormier (currently one of the banding supervisors!).  This bird had not been captured since that day. To read more about this amazing bird see our previous blog post. On January 17th, another old timer entered our midst when an eight year old Fox Sparrow was captured.  Lastly, a Red-shafted Flicker made its way into our lives by hitting net 2.3 on January 31st.  It was an exciting month to say the least.

Red-shafted Flicker from 2013. Photo by Mike Krzywicki.
Red-shafted Flicker from 2013. Photo by Mike Krzywicki.

Let’s Do the Numbers:

In 19 days (1887 net hours) of mist-netting at Palomarin in January, we captured 42 new birds and recaptured 68 previously banded birds.  A total of 110 birds of 21 species were caught this month.  Approximately 6 birds were caught per banding day.

At our other West Marin banding sites, we captured 122 new birds and recaptured 127 previously banded birds. A total of 249 birds of 29 species were caught over 11 banding days this month (555.17 net hours), an average of approximately 23 birds per day.

The highest capture rates at Palomarin and our other West Marin banding sites were on January 8th at Palomarin with 16 birds and January 13th at Pine Gulch with 44 birds.

At Palomarin the highest numbers were captured for the following species: Ruby-crowned Kinglet (17), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (16), Fox Sparrow (14), Varied Thrush (11), and Wrentit (9).

Across all off-sites, the highest numbers of captures by species were: Ruby-crowned Kinglet (50), Yellow-rumped Warbler (33), Hermit Thrush (26), Song Sparrow (25), and Fox Sparrow (21).

About these Summaries:

In an effort to share our science with the public, Point Blue interns and staff at our Palomarin Field Station (Palomarin or “Palo”) in Point Reyes National Seashore near Bolinas, CA produce these monthly bird-banding summaries. Our science interns create these summaries as part of their science outreach training.

Our Palomarin Field Station is open to the public.  Consider visiting us!  Learn how by visiting our mist-netting demonstrations web page.