• Fifteen of 357 birds banded over these two weeks were Northern Saw-whet Owls!  Our total, now at 19, is (by far) Powdermill's highest fall total ever for this species.  NSWO, along with other northern owl species (Boreal Owls, Northern Hawk Owls, Great Gray Owls, and Snowy Owls) have been making a push south this fall in huge numbers.  The other species of owls, however, tend to have a fairly regular 4-year irruption cycle resulting from peaks in the northern rodent population cycle that stimulate high chick production and, consequently, crowded owl territories in the north.  Saw-whets usually show a different pattern, peaking every other year.

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Although this year was supposed to be a "down" year, banders across the east are reporting record numbers of them.  The explanation...nobody's sure.  There is some speculation, though.  Adult captures are far outnumbering hatching year birds this year (14 vs. 7 at Powdermill) and banders are also seeing some intersting molt patterns on many of the adults, evidence of physiological stress in the form of delayed or suspended flight feather molt.  Scott Weidensaul, a leading expert in ornithology and author of the acclaimed Living on the Wind, recently posited on the the popular Pennsylvania birding listserv, "we're seeing a population under unusual stress from prolonged food shortages, in which there was virtually no reproduction this summer, and the decent flight is solely the result of desperate owls coming south in search of food."

• The three owls pictured above were caught on Tuesday, November 9.  Excitingly, one was actually a foreign retrap! (photo below)--a hatching year female banded nearly a month earlier on 10/12/04 by David Hauber in NC PA.  Perhaps this fairly slow pace of migration (ca. 140 miles in 28 days or 5 miles per day) supports Scott's contention that the saw-whets moving south this year were in comparatively poor condition.  By the time they reached Powdermil, however, apparently most saw-whets had begun to find the food they were searching for, because the owls we have banded or recaptured have mostly had moderate fat deposits.  We have had repeat captures of birds that we banded this fall that also suggest the birds are not moving steadily southward--one was caught within a quarter mile south of its original capture location a week later, and another was recaptured about a mile north of its original capture location within a few days.

• Wednesday, November 10:  We resumed normal banding operations bright and early, despite being up late banding owls the night before, and caught this hatching year American Robin with a surprising amount of retained juvenal plumage.  Its wing molt was very unextensive (bottom photo) with only a few lesser coverts having molted (this species usually molts all lesser and median coverts, some number of greater coverts and often even some secondaries)!  It still had juvenal nape feathers and even some juvenal (spotted) breast feathers.  We estimate that this bird actually may have hatched as late as September.

• Also on Wed., we recaptured this Blue Jay, one of the most pristine and handsome individuals we've handled in a while.  It's simply an understatement to say the picture below just doesn't do justice to this bird's extraordinarily deep purplish blue feathering.  Originally banded as an adult on December 4, 2001, this bird is now, at least, four years old.

• Saturday, November 13: five of the 15 Northern Saw-whet Owls were added to this period's total and we just couldn't resist one more picture.  NSWO are typically pretty docile in the hand, but the photo below of our Saw-whet Owl sawing logs gives new meaning to this person-owl-ity trait.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

 

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• Monday, November 15:  We banded our second Rufous Hummingbird this fall!  After having heard reports for a couple weeks of a Rufous visiting a feeder near Erie, we finally arranged to travel north to East Springfield in Erie County.  Once there, we were greeted by homeowner, Arla Parmerter, along with visiting Pittsburgh birder, Carlton Schooley, and, within minutes, by the visiting "guest of honor," the adult male Rufous Hummingbird in the photo below.

• Mrs. Parmerter told us the hummingbird had first arrived at her house on October 20th and since then had attracted a lot of attention from people all over the state.  In the photo below, Bob Mulvihill tells Mrs. Parmerter and Carlton how banding N-43573 can contribute to the study of these interesting birds.  By adding one more individual to the population of banded Rufous Hummingbirds migrating or wintering in the eastern U.S., there always is the possibility that it may be seen and captured by one of many in the network of banders involved in the Hummer/Bird Study Group (or return to Arla's house next year!) and that we will learn an important new piece of information about the species' survival and movements.

• N-43573 was weighed (3.5g), measured, and molt data was taken.  Interestingly, like the bird we banded in late September of this year, he was molting his primaries and secondaries, his outermost 5 retained primaries (yet to be dropped) showing extreme wear.

• To Mrs. Parmerter, who's bird-friendly backyard provided the oasis for this tiny traveler, went the honor of releasing N-43573.

• Tuesday, November 16:  Normal banding operations were underway at Powdermill when we received a phone call around nine o’clock from Mr. Gordon Hollingsworth of Brush Valley, Indiana County (about 20 miles north of Powdermill).  He thought he’d been seeing a hummingbird in his yard for a week or more but wasn't sure he believed his eyes, or at least that anyone else would believe his eyes!  When he told his brother, his brother remembered having read an article we published in the local paper a few weeks before in which we specifically requested that anyone who saw a late hummingbird call the Powdermill banding lab right away!  That’s just what Gordy did, and we hurriedly closed nets, banded what birds we had, and headed straight for Brush Valley.  Could it be....two Rufous Hummingbirds in two days?!

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By 11:30 that morning, proof that Gordy had not been seeing things was in hand--this time an adult female.  We banded her with number N-43574, she weighed a hefty 3.8g and also was undergoing molt, although at a much more completed stage than the adult male and not showing the extreme wear of her unmolted feathers that the male showed.

• In the photo below, homeowner, Gordy Hollingsworth (left) and neighbor Charlie Stern (right) pose for a quick picture with N-43574 (hummingbirds usually will lie still on their backs for a photo like this until they're rolled over) before sending her on her way.

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• We are sincerely grateful for the hospitality of hummingbird hosts, Arla Parmerter and Gordy Hollingsworth, who’s simple act led to the capture, documentation, banding, and release of what may prove to be two more important pieces of the scientific puzzle of non-tropical wintering hummingbirds in the eastern U.S.

• Wednesday, November 17:  We banded the first Common Grackle of the season, this adult male who blinked at just the right time in the photo below left to dramatically show the bird's third eyelid, called the nictitating membrane.  This membrane is a thin transparent lid that serves the function to clean and moisten the eye but without shutting out light.  It is especially useful when birds are flying, preventing their eyes from drying out from exposure to drying air currents or being damaged by airborne particles.

• Like the Blue Jay above, they just don't get much better looking than this "Bronzed" grackle (the expected subspecies west of the Alleghenies), and he knows it!

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• We caught our first Carolina Chickadee for the year on Thursday, November 18, a recaptured adult of unknown sex.  Number 2200-48166, this is your life!

• You were first banded on December 3, 2000 as an After Hatching Year (AHY) bird,

making you at least five years old.
• It was a little over a month before we saw you again on January 12, 2001.
• Throughout that winter, you proved to be a trap happy individual, getting captured

9 more times.
• Your latest spring capture was March 27, 2001 and your second earliest fall capture

(next to this year) was November 20, 2001 (at your lightest weight of 9.4g).
• You were captured three more times in 2002, your last being on March 21 when

you were at your heaviest (10.5g and with a maximum fat load of three), and many, many times in the winters of 2002-03 and 2003-04.
• So, where do you go to spend your summers??  Until we meet again...

• Finally, we thank Mike Comley, Pam Ferkett, Randi Gerrish, Felicity Newell, and Powdermill's Director, Dave Smith, for their help during this banding period.

Last Updated on 11/27/04
By Adrienne J. Leppold
and Robert Mulvihill