Banding Report Archives

Monthly Banding Report-
Coyote Creek Field Station

April 2012 Report - (Josh Scullen, Coyote Creek Field Station Manager) We processed 304 birds of 25 species in April; 123 were newly banded, and 181 were recaptures. Nets were operated on 13 days, with our volunteers donating 265 hours of their time.

We captured three new species for 2012 in April: Bullock’s Oriole, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, and Wilson’s Warbler. We catch one or two Bullock’s Orioles each year, as they arrive from their wintering grounds and start exploring for potential nesting sites. Nuttall’s Woodpeckers are present at CCFS year-round and occasionally captured in the nets. Wilson’s Warblers are migrants that move through CCFS in large numbers primarily in May.

We also captured an unusual “species” in April: a Golden-crowned x White-crowned Sparrow Hybrid! These two species are known to hybridize, but this is a first for CCFS. Lucky for us, the bird had mostly completed it prealternate molt and had a stunning crown. The lack of a white throat patch rules out a hybrid with a White-throated Sparrow, and photos of other Golden-crowned x White-crowned sparrows are very similar to ours.

Our most common April captures were Common Yellowthroat (73), Song Sparrow (71), Golden-crowned Sparrow (27), Hermit Thrush (26), and Lincoln’s Sparrow (20). We caught only a single individual of the following species: American Robin, Bullock’s Oriole, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and White-crowned x Golden-crowned Sparrow Hybrid.

Annual capture rates for the month of April, 2002 - 2012. Capture rate is the number of birds captured per 100 net-hours, where a net-hour is 1 net open for 1 hour. This month’s capture rate is relatively average compared to previous April capture rates.