Summer 2002 Banding Totals

Powdermill Nature Reserve, Summer 2002
Seasonal Banding Summary

SPECIES	Summer 2002 Totals
*Green Heron*	1
*Yellow-billed Cuckoo*	2
*Black-billed Cuckoo*	1
*Eastern Screech-Owl*	2
*Ruby-throated Hummingbird*	19
*Red-bellied Woodpecker*	1
*Downy Woodpecker*	16
*Hairy Woodpecker*	1
*Eastern Wood-Pewee*	3
*Yellow-bellied Flycatcher*	1
*Acadian Flycatcher*	3
*Least Flycatcher*	3
*Eastern Phoebe*	35
*Great-crested Flycatcher*	1
*White-eyed Vireo*	7
*Red-eyed Vireo*	33
*Blue Jay*	2
*Tree Swallow*	1
*Barn Swallow*	8
*Black-capped Chickadee*	14
*Tufted Titmouse*	2
*Carolina Wren*	14
*House Wren*	1
*Blue-gray Gnatcatcher*	2
*Eastern Bluebird*	11
*Veery*	11
*Wood Thrush*	26
*American Robin*	19
*Gray Catbird*	109
*Brown Thrasher*	3
*Cedar Waxwing*	55
*Blue-winged Warbler*	2
*Golden-winged Warbler*	2
*Tennessee Warbler*	1
*Northern Parula*	1
*Yellow Warbler*	27
*Chestnut-sided Warbler*	5
*Black-throated Blue Warbler*	1
*Cerulean Warbler*	1
*Black-and-white Warbler*	8
*American Redstart*	76
*Ovenbird*	28
*Louisiana Waterthrush*	17
*Kentucky Warbler*	8
*Common Yellowthroat*	35
*Hooded Warbler*	24
*Canada Warbler*	2
*Scarlet Tanager*	16
*Eastern Towhee*	2
*Song Sparrow*	51
*Swamp Sparrow*	4
*Northern Cardinal*	13
*Rose-breasted Grosbeak*	6
*Indigo Bunting*	20
*Red-winged Blackbird*	8
*Common Grackle*	10
*Purple Finch*	2
*House Finch*	6
*American Goldfinch*	15
*House Sparrow*	4
*Daily Banding Total*	802

Summer 2002 Summary: Although it is somewhat arbitrarily defined, what we designate as summer season banding occurred on 40 days between June 3 (June 2 was the end point for our official spring 2002 banding season) and July 31 (August 1 marked the beginning of our fall 2002 banding season).

Our total effort during the "summer" period was 3,320 net hours, which resulted in the banding of 802 birds of 60 species (24 birds banded/100 net hours, with an additional 204 recaptures). The overall percentage of hatching year (HY) birds in our summer 2002 sample was 50%. The average %HY for the last ten summer seasons at Powdermill is 52%, with a range of 41-62%. Percent HY for the most numerous species this summer (total number banded/ %HY) are as follows: Gray Catbird (109/47%); American Redstart (76/46%); Cedar Waxwing (55/5%); Song Sparrow (51/62%); Eastern Phoebe (35/89%); Common Yellowthroat (35/51%).
It goes without saying that the summer banding season, as we define it, encompasses varying proportions of the nesting season for our local breeding birds and inadequately represents the productivity of multiple-brooded (e.g., Song Sparrow) and late-nesting species (e.g., Cedar Waxwing). This is illustrated somewhat by the range of dates on which we banded the first flighted HY birds of the following selected species: Song Sparrow (prior to "summer" on 5/23); Carolina Wren (prior to "summer" on 5/24); Black-capped Chickadee (6/7); Gray Catbird (6/20); Eastern Phoebe and Downy Woodpecker (6/25); Yellow Warbler (6/29); Veery (7/3); American Redstart, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, and Wood Thrush (all 7/6); Common Yellowthroat (7/10); Hooded Warbler (7/14); Ruby-throated Hummingbird (7/16); Red-eyed Vireo (7/20); Cedar Waxwing (7/21); Indigo Bunting and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (7/23); and Acadian Flycatcher (7/27).
Although the fall 2002 season officially started on August 1, our banding totals for several weeks to come will continue to include some number of nesting adults and dependent young from our local breeding populations.

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Last Updated on 08/03/02
By Robert S. Mulvihill