Many birders are familiar with this small migratory shorebird and some know of its endangered status. Not to mention the fact that they’re adorable. But there’s a lot more about Piping Plovers (PIPL) than their good looks. There are two subspecies in three distinct populations of Piping Plovers. The Atlantic coast has its own subspecies (Charadrius melodus melodus) while the internal … Read More
How long do Indigo Buntings live?
Getting to hold a bird in your hand is a really special experience. You can feel the birds heat beating, feel how warm it is, look it right in the eye. It gives you a connection with an individual bird you can’t experience any other way. Bird banding got me addicted to birds and to research. I got involved … Read More
Rufous Hummingbird – State College, PA
Despite having lots of birders and lots of people Centre County, PA has only had 2 confirmed records of Rufous Hummingbirds. One visited feeders in Port Matilda and another was found in State College, both a number of years ago. However, this morning when I woke up and checked the SCBIRCL listserve there was an email from Mary Ziegler, saying … Read More
Northern Goshawk at Hawk Ridge
Earlier this month, I traveled to Duluth, Minnesota to bird with Naturally Avian‘s Erik Bruhnke. The timing of my trip was key, and I wanted to visit the well-known hawk watching site, Hawk Ridge, at an ideal time to see Northern Goshawk. Â The hawk count at Hawk Ridge is run by Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, and Erik is employed by … Read More
Lincoln’s Sparrow vs. Song Sparrow – PSU Fall Banding
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
Nelson’s Sparrows – PSU Fall Banding
Mid-October offers Pennsylvania birders an opportunity to try and find a rather rare migrant though our state, the Nelson’s Sparrow. This fall it seems weather conditions and increased birder effort has created a bit of a Nelson’s Sparrow infux, with over 20 individual birds reported around the state at this point. Tim Becker found the first of the fall on … 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