Overcast skies and a nice breeze made for a more relaxed morning of bird banding, but the flocks of White-throated Sparrows moving through kept us busy. In total we banded 2 Eastern Phoebes, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, 3 Gray Catbirds, 1 Eastern Towhee, 2 Song Sparrows, 1 Lincoln’s Sparrow, 38 White-throated Sparrows, 5 Northern Cardinals. We also had a number of … Read More
Thrush Comparison – PSU Fall Banding
Yesterday morning we captured and banded 71 individual birds. Forty-nine of those were White-throated Sparrows. The remaining 22 birds consisted of 4 Black-capped Chickadees, a recapture Tufted Titmouse from 8/27/2010, 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 2 Gray Catbirds, 1 Eastern Towhee, 2 Song Sparrows, 6 Northern Cardinals, 1 Swainson’s Thrush, and 1 Hermit Thrush. We have caught very few thrushes this season, … Read More
Phoebe and White-throats – PSU Fall Banding
October 8th was our most recent day of bird banding in the PSU Arboretum, and we were able to capture 41 individual birds of 10 species. White-throated Sparrows finally officially took over as our most common bird, with 17 captured today. Gray Catbirds, which were the most commonly-caught species prior to the 8th dropped down into 2nd place, with a … Read More
Kinglet and Thrashers – PSU Fall Banding
Heavy fog and very cold temperatures again this morning, and we had our slowest morning of banding yet with just 22 birds of 7 species captured and banded. The official breakdown was 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 11 Gray Catbirds, 1 Brown Thrasher, 1 Common Yellowthroat, and 4 White-throated Sparrows. We also had a number of recaptures including 1 Northern Mockingbird from 10/23/12, 1 Gray … Read More
Blackpoll Warbler! – PSU Fall Banding
When I woke up this morning, it was 36 degrees in State College. I knew Big Hollow (where our banding station is) would be very cold and that it would be a while before the sun could get down into the hollow and warm things up a bit. We started off the first few net checks with catbirds, towhees, and … Read More
Foggy Morning – PSU Fall Banding
South winds all last night combined with a very heavy layer of fog this morning made for a fairly slow day of bird banding, but we still had quite a bit of fun. Twenty-seven individual birds were captured of 11 species. Two Ovenbirds were banded, one of which was incredibly fat (with a bulging area of fat on its upper … Read More
Mourning Warbler – PSU Fall Banding
We had another great morning of bird banding in the PSU Arboretum today, with 4 warbler species captured including a stunning juvenile female Mourning Warbler. Other species captured this morning were 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, 1 Ovenbird, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 1 Magnolia Warbler, 2 Blue Jays, 2 Wood Thrushes, 12 Gray Catbirds, 1 Brown Thrasher, 4 Eastern Towhees, and 1 House … Read More
Black-and-white Warbler – PSU Fall Banding
This morning was the PSU Forest Fest in the Botanic Gardens, so to make access for visitors easier, we moved the banding station up from Big Hollow. With two nets around bird feeders and the rest down along the forest edge, we were ready to catch a nice collection of birds to show the public. The highlight today was this … Read More