Powdermill Banding Spring 2006

Spring 2006

Season Summary

The Bird Banding Program at Powdermill Nature Reserve completed its 45th consecutive spring banding season on 1 June, 2006, and with an above average total of 3,481 birds banded representing 107 species, it was certainly productive. The spring migration season peaked in terms of the number of birds banded on 30 April (the day's total was 170). However, migration didn't peak in terms of species diversity until 20 May with 40 different species of birds being banded. Wood Warblers comprised 35% of the catch that day.

Many species staged an impressive flight and fourteen were banded in numbers that either tied or exceeded the previous record (see table below). Only one species (Downy Woodpecker) was banded in well below average numbers. Some of the many individual species highlights included: our first Marsh Wren in three years (the first spring MARW in eight years), four Red-breasted Nuthatches, the eighth ever Cooper's Hawk banded at Powdermill, and three Yellow-breasted Chats, which set the highest spring season total for this species since 1999. In addition to the highlights mentioned above, other "good gets" (species whose long term average is <1) were: Pileated Woodpecker, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Great-crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, "Brewster's Warbler", and Cerulean Warbler.

The table below summarizes the 2006 spring banding season and provides statistical comparisons with our long term (1962-2005) data set.

* Ties or exceeds previous record high spring banding total
XX = More than 2 S.D.s above average

Species	Spring 2006 Totals	1962-2005 average	1962-2005 maximum	within 1 S.D.	>/= 1 S.D. above	</= 1 S.D. below
*Season Total*	*3481*	*2716.8*	*4645*	X
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	*0.6*	3	X
Cooper's Hawk	1	*0.0*	1	X
Solitary Sandpiper	3	*2.7*	12	X
Mourning Dove	12	*10.4*	38	X
Black-billed Cuckoo	2	*2.3*	9	X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	121	*45.5*	119		XX*
Belted Kingfisher	3	*0.9*	4		X
Downy Woodpecker	1	*4.7*	13			X
Hairy Woodpecker	2	*0.8*	4		X
Northern Flicker	7	*5.8*	22	X
Pileated Woodpecker	1	*0.4*	4	X
Eastern Wood-Pewee	13	*3.5*	12		XX*
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher	20	*10.5*	39	X
Acadian Flycatcher	9	*6.5*	19	X
Traill's (Willow and Alder) Flycatcher	22	*18.0*	54	X
Least Flycatcher	60	*35.7*	86		X
Eastern Phoebe	14	*7.4*	18		X
Great-crested Flycatcher	1	*0.7*	3	X
Eastern Kingbird	2	*0.7*	4		X
White-eyed Vireo	6	*9.8*	25	X
Blue-headed Vireo	4	*0.8*	4		XX*
Warbling Vireo	1	*0.8*	4	X
Philadelphia Vireo	2	*8.7*	56	X
Red-eyed Vireo	33	*47.8*	92	X
Blue Jay	34	*40.5*	186	X
Tree Swallow	28	*8.4*	28		XX*
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	7	*4.7*	25	X
Barn Swallow	12	*11.9*	90	X
Black-capped Chickadee	89	*28.8*	82		XX*
Tufted Titmouse	7	*6.5*	26	X
Red-breasted Nuthatch	4	*0.4*	4		XX*
White-breasted Nuthatch	4	*3.9*	19	X
Carolina Wren	1	*0.7*	4	X
House Wren	14	*11.9*	26	X
Winter Wren	9	*1.4*	8		XX*
Marsh Wren	1	*0.2*	1		X*
Golden-crowned Kinglet	10	*12.6*	43	X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	352	*124.1*	246		XX*
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	18	*11.9*	41	X
Eastern Bluebird	16	*10.3*	54	X
Veery	7	*5.0*	20	X
Gray-cheeked Thrush	4	*3.0*	10	X
Swainson's Thrush	32	*31.2*	150	X
Hermit Thrush	7	*1.5*	6		XX*
Wood Thrush	45	*15.8*	38		XX*
American Robin	20	*16.7*	55	X
Gray Catbird	94	*67.9*	114	X
Brown Thrasher	10	*6.0*	26	X
European Starling	1	*2.6*	17	X
Cedar Waxwing	156	*56.5*	248		X
Blue-winged Warbler	9	*5.8*	24	X
Golden-winged Warbler	1	*7.8*	23	X
"Brewster's" Warbler	2	*0.4*	2		XX*
Tennessee Warbler	14	*38.5*	230	X
Nashville Warbler	80	*30.0*	114		X
Northern Parula	6	*1.7*	7		X
Yellow Warbler	67	*36.0*	79		X
Chestnut-sided Warbler	22	*11.0*	41		X
Magnolia Warbler	173	*79.8*	230		X
Cape May Warbler	2	*1.6*	10	X
Black-throated Blue Warbler	6	*4.3*	23	X
Yellow-rumped Warbler	25	*12.3*	79		X
Black-throated Green Warbler	11	*2.2*	11		XX*
Prairie Warbler	1	*3.3*	15	X
"Western" Palm Warbler	3	*0.8*	5		X
Bay-breasted Warbler	2	*0.2*	2	X
Blackpoll Warbler	3	*4.0*	40	X
Cerulean Warbler	1	*2.9*	15		X
Black-and-white Warbler	5	*4.7*	18	X
American Redstart	35	*22.5*	77	X
Ovenbird	23	*7.0*	25		XX
Northern Waterthrush	16	*19.9*	36	X
Louisiana Waterthrush	18	*9.5*	145	X
Kentucky Warbler	9	*7.0*	16	X
Mourning Warbler	19	*14.0*	33	X
Common Yellowthroat	81	*57.0*	114		X
Hooded Warbler	31	*11.8*	27		XX*
Wilson's Warbler	32	*22.7*	63	X
Canada Warbler	26	*39.7*	89	X
Yellow-breasted Chat	3	*10.6*	34	X
Summer Tanager	7	*5.8*	34	X
Scarlet Tanager	19	*16.2*	35	X
Chipping Sparrow	90	*70.0*	159	X
Field Sparrow	38	*73.5*	207	X
Savannah Sparrow	2	*1.6*	9	X
Fox Sparrow	38	*23.8*	71	X
Song Sparrow	142	*164.8*	285	X
Lincoln's Sparrow	19	*10.2*	24		X
Swamp Sparrow	64	*40.0*	70		X
White-throated Sparrow	84	*58.9*	147	X
White-crowned Sparrow	2	*10.3*	37	X
Dark-eyed Junco	213	*366.6*	1238	X
Northern Cardinal	18	*29.0*	87	X
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	27	*8.9*	67		X
Indigo Bunting	36	*30.4*	72	X
Red-winged Blackbird	42	*30.0*	180	X	X
Rusty Blackbird	3	*8.8*	40	X
Common Grackle	15	*10.0*	61	X
Brown-headed Cowbird	7	*98.2*	458	X
Orchard Oriole	1	*1.1*	6	X
Baltimore Oriole	8	*6.9*	18	X
Purple Finch	49	*50.3*	518	X
House Finch	6	*31.9*	179	X
Pine Siskin	4	*57.5*	1000	X
American Goldfinch	493	*199.4*	829	X
House Sparrow	5	*15.8*	61	X
Species "missed" in Spring 2006; i.e., spp. with long-term avg. >1
Spotted Sandpiper	0	*3.8*	16	X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	0	*1.4*	11	X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	0	*1.6*	13	X
Brown Creeper	0	*1.8*	12	X
Orange-crowned Warbler	0	*1.0*	5			X
Worm-eating Warbler	0	*1.2*	8	X
Evening Grosbeak	0	*80.9*	788			X

Finally, we held three successful bander development workshops this spring to which we owe thanks to Jeff Michaels, Cailin O'Connor, Beth Girrard, Jonathan Gottsche, Andrea Adams, Erin High, Jason Reppart, John Rushin, Jack Hilsabeck, Joe Schreiber, and Andy Eller, for their participation. We welcomed and enjoyed a wonderful "working" visit from Simone Immler, a post-doc researcher from the University of Sheffield - UK, for two weeks this spring as she collected samples from, primarily, N.A. Wood Warblers birds for her study of sperm morphology. Many thanks for your help with the daily operations of the banding station Simone! We also welcomed 90+ members of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology to Powdermill and PARC for their annual meeting this spring which took place over the weekend of May 20th. We again thank all involved in the three day meeting event for helping to make it a success.

Of course, all of the above would not have been possible without the help of many interns, volunteers, and visitors. The principal banding staff at Powdermill (Adrienne Leppold, Bob Mulvihill, Bob Leberman, Keri Parker - spring banding assistant, and Mike Lanzone) would like to thank: Jessica Scopel, Pam Ferkett, Greg George, Christian Meny (Louisiana Waterthrush intern), Brian Jones, Jamie McDougal, Emma DeLeon (PARC Bioacoustics intern), Glenn Stauffer, Fred McCullough, Carol Leppold, Molly McDermott, Matt Shumar, Cokie Lindsay (Coordinator of Operations at Powdermill), Brent Worls, Karen Light, Jeff Michaels, Paul Pieper, Rosemary Spreha, Sandy and Gary Lockerman, Sandy Teliak, Trish Miller (Powdermill GIS Specialist), Jessica Maggio, and Lauren Schneider. A special thanks also to Margaret Hahn, a visiting bander from Michigan, who became an indispensable part of the Powdemill banding team the week she was here "on vacation".

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Last Updated on 07/16/06
By Adrienne J. Leppold