November 11 (2015) Banding Day

For Veterans Day 2015, we were at a restored site in the refuge that has been monitored since the start of the banding effort in 1996. Today was also a holiday for the students in the Field Ecology program at Sacramento City College...thus, a perfect teaching day! Usually we don't have this many people but it was a great opportunity to get students involved (something that is one of the objectives in this research).

 

The banding table going full blast...

 

Students getting first hand experience extracting birds from the net (supervised of course)...

 

A Spotted Towhee being gently extracted from the mist net

 

Close-up teaching moments with bird in hand

 

Transferring a bird prior to banding

 

Aging the bird by checking for ossification of the cranium (hardening of the head bones)

 

Beautiful Spotted Towhee ready for release

 

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon Junco race) being removed from a mist net

 

Checking for a cloacal protuberance (gender determination)

 

Ruby colored spot on the head of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet

 

Such a beautiful and delicate bird - Ruby-crowned Kinglet

 

Stan and Spotted Towhee engage in a stare-off