Week 12 - Robin Record(s)

This week’s cool mornings and the time spent clearing numerous leaves from the nets are a sure sign the weather is changing. Though we are nearing the end of passerine migration season, there has been no shortage of happenings at the stations, including the anticipated record-breaking number of birds banded at our Pedder Bay station in a season (previous record 3558 in 2017). Also noteworthy for both stations this week is the surpassing of previous records for numbers of American Robin and White-throated Sparrows banded.

At Pedder Bay (PB) 367 birds were banded this week. Top species banded were Oregon Junco (60), American Robin (47), Golden-crowned Sparrow (45), Hermit Thrush (38) and Fox Sparrow (37). The record-breaking bird was this American Robin pictured below, understandably oblivious to his/her significance! 

 

The record-breaking American Robin (Julian Powers, 2022)

Rocky Point (RP) banded 272 birds this week, topping the charts were Ruby-crowned Kinglets (52), Spotted Towhee (32), and Pacific Wren (29). Notable captures at the station were a Palm Warbler, a Barred Owl and an interesting Northern Flicker intergrade. Special recaps of the week were two Fox Sparrows, originally banded at RP in 2016 and 2018, making them 6 and 4yrs old respectively!

 

Palm Warbler, this unbanded individual was spotted at RP (Aiva Noringseth, 2022)

 

 

Palm Warbler banded at RP (Andrew Jacobs, 2022)

Northern Flicker intergrade - the brown face and red nape are features of Yellow-shafted, while the reddish-orange under wings are of Red-shafted (David Bell, 2022)

 

Fox Sparrow recap from 2016! (Julie Howe, 2022)

A single net round brought in 6 White-throated Sparrows at RP on Oct 7th! (David Bell 2022)

Steller’s Jay, Varied Thrush, Swamp Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Broad-winged Hawk, Canada, Cackling, Greater White-fronted, and Snow Geese (524 in a single day at RP!) have all been observed at both stations this past week. Also seen at RP this week were Sooty Shearwater, Short-tailed Shearwater, Pectoral Sandpiper, Long-tailed Duck, Wilson’s Snipe, Lapland Longspur, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Common, Red-throated and Pacific Loons. Pacific Wrens, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned kinglets have been conspicuous in and around the nets. Their small size requires them to be processed quickly, hence extractors are required to mark their bird bags with a red peg.

Snow Geese flying over at RP (David Bell, 2022)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Sonja Futehally, 2022)

Rose-hip, pacific crab apple, and Snowberries are a major source of fruit for birds at this time of year. You might have noticed them around the station, or in the beak of a bird. One of our most numerous yet often overlooked birds, the American Robin, is quite dependent on fruit now while the ground is hard and earthworms are unattainable. They also have an extendable esophagus which allows them to store fruit, an adaptation allowing them to survive colder night temperatures, and many are able to overwinter in their breeding range. 

Since we have an abundance of sparrows to observe, lets have a closer look at some of our winter residents. Many sparrows have red eyes as adults, while first year birds have a dull red eye colour. Those with a distinct hood can be sexed, with males having a black hood and females having more brown (Spotted Towhee) to gray (Oregon Junco). 

 HY Spotted Towhee  (David Bell 2022)

AHY Spotted Towhee (Sonja Futehally, 2022)

 

 

HY Oregon-Junco (David Bell, 2022)

 

AHY Oregon-Junco (Tamara Wolowicz, 2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crown of Golden-crowned Sparrows is not well defined in first year birds. Adults have a yellow forecrown and crown, changing to white halfway down the median crown, the supersilium and supraloral is black.

 

 

HY Golden-crowned Sparrow(David Bell 2020)

AHY Golden-crowned Sparrow (David Bell 2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, White-throated Sparrows can have very well defined head plumage in their first year, but often have streaking on the flanks which is indicative of first year birds. Adults also have reddish eyes, while first year birds have more brown in the eye colour.  

 

HY White-throated Sparrow (David Bell, 2020)  

 AHY White-throated Sparrow (David Bell, 2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Snowberry (Sonja Futehally, 2022)

The ever present Mule deer are also enjoying the rose plants, the leaves though! (Sonja Futehally, 2022)

As you might already be aware, the banders at RPBO have many talents, including drawing, as you can see from this fine art work at RP. 

 

Turkey Vulture by bander Ashlea (Sonja Futehally, 2022)

 

Common Murre by Ashlea (Sonja Futehally, 2022)

 

Drawing birds is a great way to enhance your knowledge of bird topography and better understand feather arrangements. Taking the time to draw the head of a passerine can help you identify birds in the field as you will become more familiar with feather groups.

The owl banding season is also well under way. A Northern Saw-whet Owl originally banded outside Calgary (by Calgary Bird Banding Society) on October 1st, 2021 was captured at Pedder Bay station this week. That is a direct distance of 706 km, and it likely traveled further than that! It is a female and is now considered a second year bird. 

SY recap NSWO (Mark Byrne, 2022)

And for the first time at RPBO a Great Horned Owl was caught at Rocky Point (in net 5!). There have been at least 5 individuals seen regularly at RP this season. Since we do not carry the band size required for this species, we were unable to band it. 

Up close with an ATY male Great Horned Owl!

Great Horned Owl wing under UV light - Owl feathers contain the pigment porphyrin, which glows under UV light and is helpful for determining their age (Mark Byrne, 2022)

As always, we are grateful to all the volunteers for coming out and helping at the stations! If you would like to pick up some shifts please sign up on whentohelp.com. Or if you are new please email volunteer@rpbo.org. Further statistics for the week can be found in the following tables!

Weekly and Season Species Totals

 

 

 

 

Pedder Bay               Oct 6    Oct 7   Oct 8   Oct 9   Oct 10   Oct 11   Oct 12   Totals

Banded                          49       56         43        81        43          42          53         367    

Species Banded            15       12         15         17        13          12          14         58    

Recaptured                   18       15         22         27        17          13          19         131   

Species Recaptured       8         8          10         13        8             6           11         18   

Rocky Point 

Banded                         30      52          37         44        47          34          28         272

Species Banded            13      18         12          16        15         11           11           25

Recaptured                    6       11           3            6         4            8            6            44

Species Recaptured       5        7           3            4          2           6            4            12

                                          Week 12 Banding Totals