[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Banding Report - Chico Basin Ranch, 10/4/19

Yesterday was the last day of the fall banding season at Chico Basin Ranch. Not surprisingly, the bird volume was pretty low, as it had been for the previous few days. But after a chilly first couple hours, the weather was at least very pleasant to finish things off. 

Despite the low number of captures, there were some charismatic birds that a visiting group of elementary students got to enjoy: a young male Sharp-shinned Hawk, and an intergrade Northern Flicker which had been eluding us all season! The flicker appeared mostly Red-shafted, but a few red feathers in its nape indicated some Yellow-shafted lineage. 

The morning's totals were 14 newly-banded birds, 5 recaptures, and 8 species. A summary:

Gray Catbird 2

Hermit Thrush 5 + 3 recaptures

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 + 1 recapture

Wilson's Warbler 1 + 1 recapture

Vesper Sparrow 1

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1

Northern Flicker, intergrade 1 (FOS)

And that's a wrap for the fall. Through 29 days of banding we ended up with 742 banded birds, 44 recaptures, and 52 species. That number of banded birds is markedly lower than any season in the previous decade, and nearly 400 fewer birds than last years' effort. That's not altogether surprising given the general reports of a slow and/or late migration along the Front Range, and we were also hindered but some frequent warm and windy mornings. Also of note were the lack of recaptured birds from previous seasons.

Nevertheless, the data we got will still be very valuable for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies' monitoring and conservation efforts going forward, and there were certainly many highlights from the last few weeks! Thanks to all those who came out to observe this season, and of course for the volunteers that helped with our banding efforts.

Robert Snowden

Bander, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Chico Basin Ranch

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