Welcome
to the McGill Bird Observatory weekly report.
Click here for a complete listing of our archives.
Comments or
questions are welcome at "mbo AT migrationresearch.org".
|
PICTURE
OF THE WEEK: |
|
Katleen has the distinct honour of being the first person to
have their photo as the picture of
the week! Granted she has to share the stage with our final
bird of the 2007 fall season, this
feisty little hatch-year Northern Shrike, but we’re sure she
doesn’t mind. It was a record year
for this uncommon species, with three shrikes banded in the
last two weeks of the season.
(Photo by Barbara Frei)
|
|
|
THIS WEEK |
THIS FALL |
2007 TOTAL |
SITE TOTAL |
|
# birds (and species) banded |
152 (7) |
2876 (77) |
3657 (87) |
12971 (103) |
|
# birds (and species) repeat |
22
(8) |
562 (45) |
677 (49) |
2226 (60) |
|
# birds (and species) return |
1 (1) |
46 (12) |
131 (24) |
330 (29) |
|
# species observed |
58 |
144 |
165 |
191 |
|
# net hours |
363 |
5423.3 |
7923 |
21945.8 |
|
# birds banded / 100 net hours |
41.9 |
53.0 |
46.2 |
59.1 |
|
|
Note: table does not include nocturnal banding (owls) |
Banders-in-charge: Marie-Anne
Hudson, Barbara Frei
Assistants: Jean Beaudreault, Brian Bell, Jose Bnchetrit, Kristen
Brochu, Diane Demers, Ross Diamond, Emilie Dion, Diana Dima, Melanie
Drouin, Dominique Fautaux, Tiffany Gamelin, Gay Gruner, Marie-Melissa
Kalamaras, Gillian Kinsman, Marie-Pier Lampert, Steph Letendre, Alex
Liautaud, Barbara MacDuff, Chris Murphy, Annie-Claude Paradis, Greg
Rand, Katleen Robert, Emilie Roy-Dufresne, Christina Saliba, Anna
Solecki, Rachel Theoret-Gosselin, Rae Trenchard
Notes: The end of the fall season came with a bit of a
whimper, as two banding days were lost, and a few more hampered by high
winds. The high-flyers that dominated the site at this time of year
wouldn’t have ever gotten caught in the nets anyway, so we don’t think
our numbers are terribly biased by the lack of banding.
Last year the final week of the season showed
a similar pattern of reduced net hours due to rain and wind and an even
lower number of birds banded (94).
However, our census went on unabated, providing us
with oodles of observations. We never could have even imagined the
number of new species to visit us in this last week! New species
observed include Cackling Goose, American Green-winged Teal, American
Black Duck, Bohemian Waxwing, Pine Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, and
Common Redpoll, bringing our total for the season to 144, a full ten
species more than last fall.
The top
10 list of birds banded is a bit funny this week, since only a few of
the species should be on the list. With six species tied for the
last spot with two birds banded, a top six would be more appropriate
this week. At least it gives a fair representation of the bird life on
site – well, birds that are likely to be banded at any rate. We finally
seemed to shake the October/bad weather curse and banded a good number
of robins in our last week, bringing them to over 300 banded this
October! The Black-capped Chickadee movement is still underway, keeping
them high on the list (as opposed to last year when they weren’t even on
it at all). The rest of our winter birds round out the table nicely,
contrasting with the distinctly migratory set of birds from last year
(Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Indigo Bunting, and Hermit Thrush).
|
This week’s
top 10
[last week’s rank in brackets]
|
#
individuals banded |
mean # individuals observed daily |
|
1.
American Robin (99)
[2] |
1.
Canada Goose (1670)
[1] |
|
2.
Black-capped Chickadee (18)
[4] |
2.
Red-winged Blackbird (700)
[3] |
|
3.
American Tree Sparrow (8)
[7] |
3.
American Robin (235)
[2] |
|
4.
Fox Sparrow (5)
[8] |
4.
American Crow (168)
[4] |
|
5.
Slate-colored Junco (4)
[3] |
5.
Mallard (139)
[-] |
|
6. Song
Sparrow (4)
[6] |
6.
Common Grackle (81)
[5] |
|
7.
Hairy Woodpecker (2)
[-]
Golden-crowned Kinglet
[10]
Northern Cardinal
[-]
American Goldfinch
[9]
White-throated and Swamp Sparrows [5 and -] |
7.
European Starling (64)
[6] |
|
8.
Black-capped Chickadee (16)
[10] |
|
9.
American Goldfinch (13)
[-] |
|
10.
Slate-colored Junco (10)
[7] |
|
The top 10 birds observed are very similar to last
week’s, with only two new entries: Mallard and American Goldfinch. We
assume it’s because we lamented the lack of Mallards in last week’s
update that they showed up in huge flocks numbering over 200! Throw in
the handful of American Black Ducks hiding in amongst them and you’ve
got some very happy observers. Overall, birds were much more abundant
this week than at the same time last year - most notably, over 20 times
more Canada Geese, 12 times as many Mallards, and 5 times more
Red-winged Blackbirds, plus more modest increases for American Robin and
American Crow.
Exciting news! We just got the word in that one of our little Yellow-rumped
Warblers was recaptured in Chestertown, Maryland, 17 days after it was
banded at MBO on September 30th, 2006. We suppose it took
the banding office a little time to process the recapture since banding
records are only submitted in their entirety at the end of each year.
Better late than never! This bird now joins the ranks of the banded
Slate-coloured Junco recaptured in New Jersey, and the handful of locals
found around Ste-Anne’s and Senneville. We very much look forward to
what spring will bring. Please stay tuned for the fall report, and
watch the photo library as we process
updates to our species accounts during the winter months. It was a
pleasure to work with each and every one of you! Thank you so much for
your support – it’s so very much appreciated!
|
So much for just banding one Red-winged Blackbird per fall
season! Not only did we break the fall shrike record with three
banded, but the red-winged record with three as well! (Photo by
Barbara Frei)
We were quite surprised to band this hatch-year Red-eyed Vireo
last Wednesday (Oct 24), since we hadn’t seen one since October
11, and the last ones of the season were spotted on October 6 in
2005, and October 17 in 2006! (Photo by Barbara Frei)
|
