A Bird in the Hand: Part 2

I suppose the people who work at One Hour Photo Centers see all kinds of photos.  But when I stopped in to pick up the photos I had ordered (to give to one of my birdbanding classmates who doesn't have email), after I gave the lady behind the counter my name, she said "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"  She wanted to know, "Why do you have photos of birds in peoples' hands and are they dead?"

One of the photos that inspired the question from the Photo shop lady... a Blue Jay on its back!

"No", I told her, "they aren't dead.  They just aren't used to being on their backs."  I went on to explain to her a little bit about birdbanding.  If you missed my post about class #1 and want to read about some of the basics of birdbanding, you can click here.

Class #2 and 3 were every bit as much fun as the first class.  There's something about holding a wild bird in your hand that is thrilling.  We had lots of different birds, too, because Dr. Skinner set up the nets in different habitat.  Instead of in the backyard near his bird feeders like at the first class, this time the nets were in a brushy/woodsy spot.  

We'll start with a bird in the warbler family.  Here's a female American Redstart:

She was so petite that her leg was too small for the smallest regular band!  (She would have needed something like they use on hummingbirds).  Here she is getting her leg measured:

In this post, I want to show you somethings about birds that you might not see from a distance.  In the next photo, take a look at her whiskers.

Both she and her mate have whiskers.  They aren't hairs (birds don't have hair!), they are a special type of feather without the normal fluffy parts that branch out from the shaft of a regular feather.  Biologists aren't really sure why some birds have them.  Many that do are insect catchers so it could have something to do with that.  Here's a link to an interesting article about bird whiskers.

Another curious thing about Redstarts is why the name, since the males are black and orange.... not red! According to some info I read, there are birds in the redstart family that do have red tails, and "start" is an old word for "tail".  One mystery solved!  Now if we could figure out what the whiskers are for. ;-)

More warblers.... this time, Yellow Warblers.  And we had a pair.

The female is on the left and the male with his more prominent rusty streaks on his breast is on the right.  I learned their song as, "sweet, sweet, sweet, I'm so sweet" and that's not hard to remember because they are!  In this photo, they are being held by two different people in what is called the "photographer's hold".  Next you will see me holding Mrs. Yellow Warbler in the "bander's grip".

And finally, here she is, up-side down.  All she has to do is figure out she's free and fly away! (Don't worry, she did!)

We had an American Robin, who wasn't even too sure of sitting right-side-up in a person's hand:

But just a gentle touch sent her on her way.

One of the other birds we banded was one of my favorite singers.  A Veery, which is in the thrush family with a bunch of other great singers such as Wood and Hermit Thrushes, and Bluebirds.  If you'd like to listen to a Veery's song you can click here. 

This Veery was very co-operative so she got the whole banding check-up. 

Wings and tail length measured...

And put back in the bag and weighted.

We even got to see her ear!  Dr. Skinner was checking her out for ticks and mites, and so he blew on the side of her head to see her ear.  Frankly, this is something you won't see very often... I googled 'birds ear' and let's just say... not a lot of 'hit's' on that!

 I read that birds don't have protruding ears like mammals do and they are covered with fine feathers because it keeps them from having too much "wind noise" while they fly.  Makes sense to me!

We also had a House Wren:

He showed off the inner-eye covering birds have called a nictitating membrane.  You can see it in the next photo, while he was getting his band put on. This is a pretty amazing feature birds have which can shield their eyes during flight (or in this case, banding!). They can still see thru the protective layer, though with a somewhat milky view.

We also had a pair of Eastern Towhees.  Here's the female:

And now the male:

The male and female towhee look quite different but they do have similar color-patterns, though the male is black and the female is brown.  

We caught three Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the nets.  They might have been enjoying the lilacs blooming nearby.  They were released, unbanded, as that is a specialty.  

The male in the next photo is showing off his ruby throat or 'gorget'.

The next one's gorget looks black because the light is not hitting it at the right angle for it to show as red.

Someone else has red that you might not have noticed unless you've looked carefully.

That's right, the Grey Catbird has very rusty-colored undertail coverts.  They are good singers, too... they mimic other birds' songs.  Although their namesake call is very close to a cat's "Meow"!

I learned a lot in our bird banding class and I enjoyed sharing it with you.  I'd highly recommend Dr. Skinner's class if you ever have a chance to take it.  It takes a lot of study and patience to become a certified bird bander, so the class is just an introduction.  

Birds often bite the hand that bands them, and still, gentleness is required.  Above all, the bander does not want to hurt the birds.

Many thanks to Dr. Jerry Skinner for our class, and all the classes he has taught over the years!

 

A Bird in the Hand

Today we are going to do something a little different.  We're going on a field trip!  

Not too far from ‘my little place in the world’ is a special place called Woodbourne Sanctuary.  The reason we’re going there is to get up close and personal with some backyard birds.  You’ve seen these birds before on my blog... fairly up close (as in-- just outside our window).  But now, we’re going to have an even closer look!

Dr. Jerry Skinner is the resident biologist at Woodbourne.  Many children (including ours) have been introduced to the joys of nature by him.  Today though, he’s teaching a small group of adults about bird banding.  The class is called “A Bird in Hand” and is part of the Montrose Area Adult School.

The history of bird banding is interesting.  According to a guide that Dr. Skinner gave us, a ‘type’ of bird banding has been recorded as far back as 200 BC when marked birds were used to send messages.  A scientific method of bird banding began in Denmark in 1899.  The “delicate art and precise science” of bird banding has come a long way since then.  The class today was only a basic  introduction (it requires years of study) but I was impressed with the incredible knowledge contained in Dr. Skinner’s two volume set of bird banding books.  (and by his own personal knowledge!)

Now, after that introduction, let’s get back to our field trip!

First, the birds have to be caught.  A mist net set up near the bird feeders in Dr. Skinner’s backyard accomplished this.  

Three of the class participants in front of the mist net, looking at a Rose-breasted Grosbeak caught in it.

We’ll follow this male Rose-breasted Grosbeak thru the banding process.

The mist net does not hurt the birds at all.  The same cannot always be said for the bander, whose fingers are targets for the nips of sharp, strong beaks while he is gently removing the bird from the net. 

After the bird is out of the net, it is carefully placed in a cloth bag.  Dr. Skinner had a number of birds already in bags and we added the Grosbeak and a few others to the line-up.

Birds in bags waiting for their turn!

Next, the bird is examined to determine, if possible, its’ sex (obvious with the grosbeak since the male and female are very different-looking) and approximate age. 

Forms are filled out about each bird.

The white tool with various size slots in the background is used to measure the birds leg for the correct size band.

After the bird is measured for the correct size band, the band number is recorded with the rest of the bird's information.

Dr. Jerry Skinner, selecting a band from his box.

Using special banding pliers, Dr. Skinner placed the band on the bird's leg.  

Then... the release!

Off he goes, free to enjoy Woodbourne Sanctuary again!

Besides the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, we were able to get up close and personal with a number of other species.... 

a Blue Jay:

Much harder to tell if it's a boy or girl, but there are ways to try to figure it out!

Baltimore oriole:

You can see the tiny band in between thumb and finger.

Several goldfinches, including this one:

She is having her feathers compared to those in the chart in the book.

 A Downy and a Hairy Woodpecker:

With a Downy in one hand and a Hairy in the other, Dr. Skinner points out their differences in a field guide.

 A female Purple Finch:

A White-breasted Nuthatch:

 Finally, my favorite... a female Red-bellied Woodpecker.

She doesn't seem too happy to have her belly feathers blown on to see if that reveals a brood patch.

Though the birds may not have enjoyed it, it was a real treat for us to see these birds up close, to marvel at their beauty,  and to actually hold them in our hands!   At the next class (it’s a series of three) Dr. Skinner is going to move the nets to a different location where we may catch and band some warblers.  I can’t wait!