Start at 6:30am, closing at 12:30pm
Total 21 nets up
Total 33 birds, 12 species
- 1 Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
- 12 Allen’s hummingbirds (Selasphorus sasin)
- 2 House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus)
- 1 White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
- 1 Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii)
- 2 Golden-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
- 1 Lincoln Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
- 1 Spotted Towhees (Pipilo maculatus)
- 1 Audubon’s Warbler (Setophaga coronata auduboni)
- 7 Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
- 1 Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
- 2 Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus)
Whenever people start bringing back birds directly after setting up their nets, you know the day’s bird count won’t suck. The morning hours of the banding cycle were met with many birds. Common Yellowthroats were especially abundant, eventually reaching a count of 7 by the end of the day. One individual was 5 years old and banded before the fires of 2018, meaning the bird was able to survive through the tough time. A total of 12 Allen’s Hummingbirds were caught as well, but considering that we don’t have a permit to band them, there were likely some repeats.
Look at that old band!
Fall migrant species have expressed dwindling numbers as they continue on their respective migration routes. This cycle, only 2 White-crowned Sparrows were caught compared to last month’s average of 8. Hermit Thrush counts are continuing to decrease as well, following the same pattern as last month’s average count (2.5). Perhaps most evident is the Audubon’s Warbler count. Having been 18 at the peak, the count has more than halved since last month (1 vs. 2.5 average). By next cycle (April 23), there will likely be no more of these fall migrants left.
However, as the fall migrants disperse, spring migrants enter. We got our first Black-headed Grosbeak of the season, the last one being in July, 2021. While we’re all excited to start processing this beautiful bird, no one is looking forward to their terrible bites.
Black-headed Grosbeaks have heavy bills perfect for crushing seeds and berries. They also can have very aggressive behavior, particularly the adult males. Processing a grosbeak is a cautious feat. Their necks are extremely maneuverable. One turn of the head and your finger can be caught in their unforgiving grasp. Now that they’re back, I have a newfound fear.
When holding a grosbeak, it is highly recommended to extend the neck just a little bit upward so that the bird loses their head swiveling abilities. This works great until you start focusing on the body and forgetting about the beak. When I held a grosbeak for the first time, I was cautious. But after letting go of the neck momentarily, my finger immediately met its doom.
Grosbeak bites hurt, and unlike some other feisty species, they will latch onto you finger and not want to let go no matter how hard you try to pull away. They seem to find some pleasure in inflicting pain on our poor digits.
My finger still throbbed with pain at least two hours after the attack!
The Grosbeak wasn’t the only surprise that day. When one of the banders returned, she brought back a bird the station hadn’t caught since last summer, a resident (non-migratory) bird that used to be the most commonly caught by a far margin. A bird who’s numbers diminished drastically after the fires of late 2018. Enter, the Wrentit.
Yes, we got one Wrentit!! Before the fires, Wrentits averaged at 191 birds caught per year (from 1995-2018 data). Since then, the numbers have dropped to a mere 26 birds caught per year (from 2019-2021 data). Since 2019, the Wrentit count sadly has only contributed 1.7% to the total. Wrentits favor brushy chaparral habitat, which used to be prevalent at Zuma until the fires greatly altered the landscape. During the fires, many Wrentits either evacuated or perished. The bird we caught today was unbanded and an after hatching year (as far as we can age the individual), so we don’t know if the bird experienced the fires or not. Nonetheless, everyone was so thrilled to have been able to catch this bird!
In addition to Avians, there were also numerous species of butterfly floating around at Zuma. These included Monarchs (Danaus plexippus), Western Tiger Swallows (Papilio rutulus), and Sara Orange-tip (Anthocharis sara).
Oh, and more good news: from April 15-17, the banding team and I will be up at Burns Piñon Ridge Reserve in Yucca Valley doing our twice annual bird banding there. I’ll update y’all with how that goes very soon! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
Check out blog posts for bird banding at Burns Piñon Ridge Reserve here!
