Species: Mourning Dove
Most recent capture date: 4/19/2023
Earliest capture date: 7/16/2022
Age: more than one year old

​Species: Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon's subspecies
Most recent capture date: 4/16/2023
Age: At least 10 months old
​Sex: Male

Notes: This bird has fully molted into his fancy breeding season plumage. No more dull winter brown: it's time to impress!​

​Species: Common Yellowthroat
Most recent capture date: 4/16/2023
Age: around ten months old
​Sex: Male

Notes: This time of year we have several types of Common Yellowthroats at CCFS. Some are locals who breed here, while others are just passing through on their way to breeding grounds elsewhere. A good clue to identify which is which is how fat they are: a very fat bird is probably migrating, not staying here. (Birds don't generally bother to put on a lot of fat unless they are migrating.) This fellow was the fattest bird I have ever seen, so he is almost certainly just passing through.

(You might say "Well I've seen fatter birds than that!" but this isn't the kind of visible-from-afar volume that results from the bird fluffing up their feathers; this is physical fat stores, which you can only see by looking beneath the feathers at the bird's skin.)

Species: Dusky Flycatcher
Most recent capture date: 4/9/2023
Age: At least 9 months old

Notes: The last time we caught a Dusky Flycatcher at CCFS was spring 2014 – and the last time before that was spring 2004! It looks like they're on a once-a-decade schedule. We are within their breeding range, but they're much less common here than in the mountains to the east.​

Species: Golden-crowned Sparrow
Most recent capture date: 3/26/2023
Age: At least nine months old

Notes: Like the last posted bird, this fellow is molting from his winter plumage into his fancier summer duds. He won't bother replacing his flight feathers, but he will spruce up his crown, swapping the brown for black-and-yellow stripes.