January 26 & February 7; February 6

Since the last post we have made 2 visits to PB 73 where we had loaned the host a caged feeder.  (Nets were unproductive on our first visit.)  It took a while for the buntings to trust the feeder but it was worth the wait.  We banded a total of 11 Painted Buntings, plus an incidental Common Grackle, 1 Red-winged Blackbird, and 2 Northern Cardinals. 

Common Grackle

Photo by Suzanne Zuckerman

Painted Bunting (male with some yellow coloring on the undertail)

Photo by Suzanne Zuckerman

Red-winged Blackbird

Photo by Suzanne Zuckerman

The Red-winged Blackbird was a female with a lot of reddish coloring on the face and throat.  This indicates it is likely an older female.  Other data supported the adult classification.  

Many thanks to this gracious and dedicated host.

Red-winged Blackbird

Photo by Suzanne Zuckerman

On February 6 we returned to PB 67 just about a week later than when we went last year.  This yard and host is  a joy to visit - birds and enthusiasm.  Being 2 hours north gave us a little different variety.  Last year we caught our only Tufted Titmouse here.  Within seconds of putting up the nets we caught number 2.  

Tufted Titmouse

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

The rest of the day was consistently busy.  We beat last year's 21 birds by banding 22 plus we recaptured 2 from last year.  

young Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

This particular bunting had undertail coverts with darker centers.  

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

In addition to the titmouse we had 12 additional incidentals.  Eight Northern Cardinals kept us watching out for our fingers.  A Common Grackle, 2 Blue Jays, and the surprise of the day rounded out the captures.

Our host had told us he had a different sparrow so we were hopeful that it would be caught.  It turned out to be a White-crowned Sparrow - a bird I had studied in Washington as part of a site fidelity study.  This was a different subspecies but it was nice to have "in-hand" again.  This subspecies has a dark lore (the area between the beak and eye) while the one in WA has no black there.  This is an immature bird as told by the reddish brown and tan crown stripes but it is starting to fill in the black and white stripes of adulthood.  

White-crowned Sparrow

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We are starting our "spring" banding at Possum Long on Tuesday, February 13.  Net go up at 7 am.  Regular sessions will continue on Tuesdays.  We will see what shows up this early (likely still "winter" birds) but we can hope migrants appear soon.

January 5, 7, and 8, 2018

Welcome 2018!  The Painted Bunting season is still underway and we have more appointments.  Possum Long will begin again in February - watch here for updates.

We banded at PB 1 on January 5.  We banded 4 new Painted Buntings and recaptured 3.  Remember recapture data tells us a lot about plumage, age, and survival.

We could have had an interesting capture but unfortunately we did not catch the bird.  PB 1 was hosting a Dickcissel for a few days.  The bird even entered the trap but did not set off the treadle.  Seeing it and photographing it has to suffice.

Dickcissel at PB1

On January 7 we ventured to a new host site, PB 73, where we saw buntings but were unable to catch any.  The yard configuration, wind, and lighting alerted the buntings to the net.  We have provided this site with a temporary caged feeder in the hopes that they will use that and we can trap there.  In the meantime, several other species hit the nets.  We banded 3 House Sparrows, 2 Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Palm Warbler.  

House Sparrow

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

This male's throat will become much more black not by molting but by wear.  You can see some black under the white at the bottom center of this photo.  The white wears off, revealing the full black throat.

Red-winged Blackbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Palm Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

On January 8 we returned to PB 2.  We had hoped to visit earlier but the weather has been uncooperative to say the least.  We managed to band 5 new Painted Buntings and recapture 1 from a previous year before it rained.  We hope to return later on to band more of the unbanded birds that are there.

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

If all goes well and weather cooperates, we hope to be back at the Possum Long Banding Station on February 13.  In the meantime we will be at more Painted Bunting locations and will update here.

Painted Bunting Season 5 total:  80

April 8, 10, 11, 12, and 14, 2017

We have been going full speed ahead in hopes of getting a few migrant Painted Buntings as they pass through.  We have 6 more banding sessions to report plus an article that could prove to be interesting to our study.

On April 8 we visited a new site, PB 72.  Five Painted Buntings had been reported and we caught five only to see at least one more unbanded.  With a few changes this site will be a place to return to next fall.  Incidental captures included 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds, 2 Northern Cardinals, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Pine Warbler, a Blue Jay, 2 Red-winged Blackbirds, 3 Common Grackles, and a Mourning Dove.

Pine Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

This Painted Bunting was quite red and we had been told that this indicates an older female. However this one was just born last summer as told by covert feathers.  So, definitely unknown sex on this green one!  Painted Bunting colors are not reliable for aging and sexing until males show their full colors.

young Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

On April 10 we made a quick trip back to DuPuis where we banded 2 more new Painted Buntings, had several recaptures , and banded 2 more Indigo Buntings.

On April 11, we had our regular Possum Long Banding station session.  We banded a new Gray Catbird and recaptured 3 Painted Buntings.  One was from this season but two were from older seasons and that gives us such good return data.

Gray Catbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

On April 12 we returned to PB 2 where the host reported a flock of buntings that had passed through her yard and may have stayed.  We banded 6 new Painted Buntings.

Bill checking for fat to assess readiness to migrate

Photo by Linda Wishney

On April 14 we returned to PB 1 where it all started!  The host reported at least 12 unbanded birds and we banded 21.  (No I did not transpose these numbers!).  We also had incidental captures of a Northern Cardinal and two Mourning Doves.  One of the doves was recently born - our first hatch-year bird of the season.

Painted Bunting with blue head feather

Any lost feather can be replaced with any color

wing of young Mourning Dove

note scalloped edging - those white tips will wear off as the bird ages

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Our next regularly scheduled Possum Long session will be Tuesday, April 18.  Nets go up at 6:45. When winds kept migrants from landing last year, this week and the next one were the best of the season.  We can hope.  Remember that when birds fly right over us, it is good for them but makes for quiet days for us.

And the article (link below):  I was sent this link and while it is a sad reminder that illegal trapping of our beautiful birds still occurs, it may reveal one of our banded birds.  I have contacted FWC in hopes of finding out if the banded bird mentioned could be one of our Painted Buntings.  I will update on this blog.

I also received a note from a Painted Bunting location (hope to band there some day).  She reported a single color band on a bird which is  not what we or any other permitted bander does.  It appears that possibly someone caught a bird and applied a band meant for caged birds.  Whether or not this bird was caged, we will never know.  It is really important that education happen to protect our native birds and to keep them from becoming pets.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-reg-trapping-birds-20170413-story.html

January 24, 2017

It is a little late but HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Possum Long Banding is still on vacation but we hope to resume on February 14.  Keep watching this site for updates and times.

Painted Bunting banding took a short break but we are back underway.  We banded at PB 59 but though we saw the Painted Buntings there, we just didn't catch any.  This sometimes happens.  We did band 2 Common Grackles.

Sunday, January 22, we visited a new host (PB 66) on the west coast of Florida.  We had high hopes of our first bunting from "out west" but once again they were seen but not captured.  We did band 10 Red-winged Blackbirds and a Common Grackles.  The blackbirds gave us a great opportunity to age this species.

Red-winged Blackbird (ASY) male

Red-winged Blackbird

(l) SY female, (r) ASY female

Today we were much more fortunate when we revisited PB 32 and banded 2 male and one green Painted Buntings.  Also there were quite a few Indigo Buntings at this site.  We banded 5 and recaptured one that had been banded at this site last year.  The male Indigos are turning more blue every day but a lot of it is still hidden until we spread the wings.  We also banded an Ovenbird, a Northern Mockingbird, 3 Northern Cardinals, and a Mourning Dove.

Ovenbird

Indigo Bunting (male)

Indigo Bunting (female)

I will be giving a lecture at the Blake Library (2351 SE Monterey Rd. Stuart, FL) on February 2, from 6-7 pm.  I will be giving an overview of our research project from basics to results.  Hope to see you there.