NABB Vol. 50 No. 1

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Table of Contents

FEATURE ARTICLES 1 Boreal Chickadee Notes From Alaska Michael R. North 5 Timing of Leg Scale Molt in the Black-capped Vireo David A. Cimprich DEPARTMENTS Recent Literature 9 Compiled by Claire Stuyck News, Notes, and Comments 14 Sedge Wren Recaptures and a Longevity Record David A. Cimprich Eastern Regional News 16 A Summary of the Eastern Bird Banding Association's 2025 Annual meeting Maren Gimpel 20 2025 Annual Membership Meeting of the Eastern Bird Banding Association Maren Gimpel 21 March 20-22, 2026 Eastern Bird Banding Association Conference and Meeting Antiochian Village, Near Ligonier, Pennsylvania Annie Lindsay Inland Regional News 22 IBBA Conference set for 24-26 October 2025 at Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, MN Peter Lowther Inland Flyway Review 24 MAPS 2024 Report Steven Gabrey Species Snapshot: 33 Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) Steven Gabrey Western Regional News 36 Western Bird Banding Association Grant Announcement 2024 Grant Award Walter H. Sakai 37 2024 American Field Ornithologist (AFO) and Western Bird Banding Association (WBBA) Joint Annual Meeting Scientific Session Abstracts Walter H. Sakai

Jan-Mar 2025 Vol. 50 No. 1

North American Bird Bander A Quarterly Publication of the Eastern, Inland, and Western Bird Banding Associations Recent Literature Editor Caribbean Flyway Report: Claire Stuyck 13826 38th Ave South Tukwila, WA 98168 clairestuyck@gmail.com

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Front Cover: Boreal Chickadee Photo by Julio Mulereo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ North American Bird Bander (NABB) is a peer-reviewed, quarterly publication of the Eastern, Inland, and Western Bird Banding associations. This Journal welcomes original papers on research on marked birds, molts, plumages, morphometrics, capture techniques and telemetry.

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ISSN-0363-8979

Boreal Chickadee Notes from Alaska Michael R. North 13261 21st Avenue SW Pillager, MN 56473 tjnorth@brainerd.net ABSTRACT I banded 36 Boreal Chickadees (Poecile hudsonicus) and had 27 recaptures for a total of 63 encounters in Anchorage, Alaska, from 1990-1995.

Boreal Chickadees mean weight and fat accumulation did not vary between seasons; overall annual mean weight was 11.4 g. During fall and winter measured weight increased during daylight hours, but in summer birds maintained a steady weight throughout the day. Winter weight gain throughout the day was calculated to equal about 11.7% of base body weight. Wing, tail, and tarsal measurement averages and ranges are provided. Body, crown, and remige molt was heaviest in late July and August, but light body molt continued into October.

This note contributes to a scarcity of avian daily weight patterns in locations with extreme seasonal changes in photoperiod.

INTRODUCTION

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he Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus) is a resident of boreal forests dominated by spruce and fir from western Alaska to Newfoundland, Canada. Despite its extensive range, it is little studied; most of what we know comes from the work of McLaren (1975), Ficken et al. 1996), Snow 2023). For example, morphological measurements from P. h. hudsonicus, the subspecies that occurs in Alaska, come from 19 males and 10 females (Ficken et al. 1996). Ficken et al. (1996) reported mass from 84 individuals in Ontario (mean 9.8 ± 0.81 g, range 7.0 - 12.4 g), 2 females in Alaska, and 3 other individuals and concluded there was insufficient data “to assess whether there are sex differences or seasonal changes” (Ficken et al. 1996: 19). Lait and Burg (2013), using mitochondrial DNA, identified a separation of populations east and west of Hudson Bay, so data from Ontario may not be representative of the population in Alaska.

1990 - March 1995. Birds were examined and measured when captured. Weight was taken with a 50-g Pesola scale to the nearest 1 g through Oct 1992 and, thereafter, with a Ohaus 300-g electronic scale to the nearest 0.1 g. Wing chord (unflattened) and tail length (from insertion to longest feather) were measured to the nearest 1 mm with an Avinet wing and tail ruler. Captured chickadees were examined and scored for fat and molt. Fat and molt were scored as none (0), light (1), moderate (2), or heavy (3). I also looked for cloacal protuberances and brood patches during the breeding season. Sexes were determined based on morphological data in Pyle et al. (1987) and Pyle (1997) and look-up tables provided online by the Bird Banding Laboratory.

I used Excel statistical programs AVERAGE to calculate mean weights and measurements, and SLOPE to calculate daily weight changes with time of day. Diurnal weight changes were calculated from data pooled from all encounters (including both captures and recaptures), and time of day treated as decimal hours (e.g., 1430 became 14.50 h). I plotted mean monthly weight by mean monthly day length, and used Excel statistical functions SLOPE, INTERCEPT, PEARSON, and RSQ to analyze the relationship.

I defined summer as June-August, fall as SeptemberNovember, winter as December-February, and spring as March-May. However, March in Alaska can be quite winter-like, although the photoperiod is spring-like, so I combined March weights with winter weights to obtain a better sample size for winter diurnal weight trends since I had no other spring weights.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From Dec 1990 - March 1995 I banded 36 Boreal Chickadees and had 27 recaptures of 16 individuals.

Recaptures ranged from 1 to 155 days after initial The banding site description and banding protocol capture (median value 42 days, average 58 days); are described in North (2018). I operated this 9 recaptures were within 2 weeks of first capture. banding station in Anchorage, Alaska, from March Page 1 Jan. - Mar. 2025 North American Bird Bander METHODS

Conditions at each encounter were used to tally molt and fat scores. One bird was captured 6 times between 2 Oct 1993 and 15 Jan 1994, and another was captured 5 times between 6 Aug 1994 and 7 Jan 1995. Weights (n = 61) were collected during all encounters except two. I also collected wing (n = 63) and rectrices (n = 59) measurements and examined most birds for body molt (n = 55) and abdominal fat (n = 59) condition. The majority of birds captured were of unknown age and sex (n = 29, 80.5%). Two were identified as adults based on cloacal protuberance and symmetrical wing molt, and 4 were identified as HY or SY based on rectrix shape. Two were known males based on tail length and cloacal protuberance; none were known females. The only indication of breeding status was a male with a cloacal protuberance on 6 Jun 1992.

Boreal Chickadees appeared to occur in Anchorage on more of a seasonal basis than as regular residents.

Monthly captures were greatest in August (Table 1); however, seasonally most captures occurred later in the fall. This suggest there are seasonal movements occurring, whether they are altitudinal or latitudinal migrations, or dispersion from breeding habitats to winter habitats is unknown.

Weight Mean monthly weight was greatest in January (12.0 g; Table 1) and lowest in June (10.5 g); otherwise, weights were steady in the 11-g range (overall mean weight 11.4 g.). There was a slight decrease in mean monthly weight as photoperiod

increased (Figure 1), but the relationship was weak (r2 = 0.29). Diurnal weights essentially remained steady during the summer, although the data show a slight loss of weight throughout the day (Table 1).

A continuous loss of weight during daylight hours is unsustainable, unless they take advantage of available early-morning light for extensive feeding early in the prolonged daylight periods. During fall they gained almost 0.2 g/hr of daylight, which suggests fall is a period of putting on extra mass for the winter (Table 1). During winter they gained about 0.16 g/hr of daylight (Table 1), which is probably the amount they need to maintain mass during the long winter nights. The amount of weight gain during daylight hours in winter is about 11.7% of their overall mean weight of 11.4 g. Boreal Chickadees in Anchorage appear to have seasonally constant body masses as do Mountain Chickadees (Poecile gambeli) and other North American parids (Cooper 2007) and Red-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta canadensis; North 2018); however, their daily winter weight gains exceeded those of Mountain Chickadees.

Stored Abdominal Fat.– Cooper (2007) found weights in Mountain Chickadees did not increase significantly in winter, but fat scores did. I found that abdominal fat scores were consistent year around, with “light” scores predominating (83%; Table 2). Both scores of “no fat” were recorded from the same individual. The only indications of possible seasonal increased fat storage at the

Figure 1. Relationship between mean monthly Boreal Chickadee weight and mean monthly daylength in Anchorage, Alaska. Slope = -0.05 g/hr; r2 = 0.29.

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population level (i.e., beyond just individual birds) occurred in January and August. Thus, Boreal Chickadees contrast with Mountain Chickadees, which do have significantly elevated fat stores in winter (Cooper 2007).

Morphometric Measurements.– Overall mean weight (n = 61) was 11.4 g and ranged from 9 - 12.5 g. Measured wing lengths (n = 63) ranged from 60 - 69 mm and averaged 64.25 mm. Measured tail lengths (n = 59) ranged from 59 - 70 mm and

averaged 64.16 mm. Measured tarsus lengths (n = 7 individuals) ranged from 17 - 20 mm.

Molt.-- Limited flight feather molting observations were collected. Body feather molt, primarily from the ventral tract, primarily occurred from July through October. Heavy molt was noted only during July (Table 3). A bird of unknown sex and age was noted with heavy crown molt and moderate ventral tract molt occurring on 21 Aug 1993.

Table1. Monthly and seasonal Boreal Chickadee capture rates and weights, Anchorage, Alaska. Sample size for monthly weight is equivalent to number of monthly captures, except for October and December during which 1 Boreal Chickadee each month was not weighed.

Table 2. Abdominal fat scores in Boreal Chickadees (n = 55) by month, and seasonal means.

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Table 3. Ventral body molt scores in Boreal Chickadees (n = 59) by month.

ACKNOWLDGEMENTS I thank reviewer Dr. David Zuwerink for his comments and for recommending I look more at fat and molt conditions.

LITERATURE CITED Cooper, S.J. 2007. Daily and seasonal variation in body mass and visible fat in Mountain Chickadees and Juniper Titmice. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119:720-724.

Ficken, M.S., M.A. McLaren, and J. P. Hailman. 1996.

Boreal Chickadee (Parus hudsonicus). In The Birds of North America, No. 254 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.) The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, DC. Lait, L. A., and T.M. Burg. 2013. When east meets west: Population structure of a high-latitude resident species, the Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus). Heredity 111:321-329.

McLaren, M.A. 1975. Breeding biology of the Boreal Chickadee. Wilson Bulletin 87:344-354.

North, M.R. 2018. Status, condition, and movement patterns of Red-breasted Nuthatches in Anchorage, Alaska, 1990 – 1995. North American Bird Bander 43:7-15.

Pyle, P. 1997. Identification guide to North American birds, Part I. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA. Pyle, P., S. N. G. Howell, R. P. Yunick, and D. F. DeSante. (Pyle et al 1987). Identification guide to North American passerines. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA. Snow, K. 2023. The breeding ecology of Boreal Chickadees in the Red Lake Wildlife Management Area in northern Minnesota.

M.S. Thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

Boreal chickadee Photo by Julio Mulero https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

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Timing of Leg Scale Molt in the Black-capped Vireo David A. Cimprich Environmental Division 4612 Engineer Dr., Room 76, Fort Cavazos Hood, TX 76544 Email: vireoak@gmail.com

slough off old scales completely as new ones grow underneath just as old feathers shed when new ones grow. This is unlike the renewal of the sheathing of the bill (the ramphotheca), which grows and wears away continually for most birds in a manner similar to that of human nails.

ABSTRACT

Black-capped Vireos (Vireo atricapilla) occur in habitats featuring abundant shrubs and predominantly nest within 2 m of the ground (Grzybowski 2020).

The breeding range of the species extends from northeastern Mexico northward across parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

For the nonbreeding season, Black-capped Vireos migrate to an area along the western side of Mexico.

The podotheca of this species consists entirely of scales. Leg scale patterns vary among bird families (Van Tyne and Berger 1971) and, in vireos, a row of scales covers the front side of the tarsus and a single long scale shields the rear. This pattern is known as laminiplantar or scutellate-booted (VanTyne and Berger 1971, Pettingill 1970). The purpose of this investigation is to describe the timing of podothecal molt of the Black-capped Vireo. I observed evidence of scale molt on the tarsus only and so, in a strict sense, I studied the molt of tarsal scales.

However, I will refer to the process as “podothecal molt” or “leg scale molt”.

The podotheca is the scaly covering of the bare portions of bird legs. Although it is known that birds periodically replace these scales, the process has only been described in any detail for two species. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the timing of podothecal molt in the Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla) in relation to both date and the progress of the prebasic feather molt. I captured these birds throughout the time they were present at a site within their breeding range in central Texas. I noted the presence of leg scale molt and scored the molt of primary feathers. Although I noted birds molting leg scales from early April through late September, there was a clear peak of activity in June and July. Podothecal molt was evident before the birds began their prebasic feather molt but was also common as they replaced inner primaries. Evidence exists that at least two other species undergo podothecal molt during their prebasic molt like the Black-capped Vireo whereas others do so before or afterward.

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he integument is the body’s outermost covering.

In birds, this consists of skin, feathers, claws, scales, and the horny sheathing of the bill and spurs (Lucas and Stettenheim 1972). The integument of the avian tarsus and toes is variable and can be entirely feathers (as in the Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio), entirely scales (as in the American Robin, Turdus migratorius), or a combination of both (as in the Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus) (Proctor and Lynch 1993). The scales covering the parts of the tarsus and toes that lack feathers are collectively known as the podotheca, derived from the Greek “pod”, meaning “foot” and “theca”, meaning “case” or “box” (Borror 1960). Although it is thought that birds replace the scales of the podotheca at least once a year (King and Murphy 1990), this idea is based upon scant evidence (Jenni and Winkler 2020a). It is appropriate to refer to the renewal of the podotheca as “molt” because birds Jan. - Mar. 2025

METHODS I conducted this investigation at Fort Cavazos Military Installation in two Central Texas counties, Bell and Coryell. I captured Black-capped Vireos by luring them into a 6-m mist net with broadcasts of the songs and scolding calls of conspecifics, Eastern Screech-Owls (Megascops asio), Whiteeyed Vireos (Vireo griseus), and Black-crested Titmice (Baeolophus atricrisatus). I did this each year from 2010 to 2024 throughout the time the birds were present on their breeding grounds, that is, late March through late September. Before placing bands on the birds, I examined their legs for evidence of molting scales. I only collected data on adult birds and not individuals in their hatching year. In a few cases, I observed scales partially separated from or even hanging loosely Page 5 North American Bird Bander

from the tarsus. However, the most common sign I considered as evidence of molt was that one or that distinctly differed from other adjacent scales (Fig. 1). The cause of this appearance is that the scale has detached from the underlying tissue resulting in a thin layer of intervening air. Such scales often detached easily from the leg when I lightly scrapped them with my fingernail. I recorded whether these molting scales were present and the leg on which they occurred. However, I considered birds only to be molting leg scales or not for purposes of this study.

To examine the relationship of podothecal molt and date, I first converted calendar dates to ordinal dates and then grouped these into twenty 10-day periods.

For each period, I calculated the percentage of birds that were molting scales. As a measure of precision, I also computed a 95% confidence interval for each of these percentages. To do this, I followed the method described by Zar (1999). Whenever the proportion was zero, it was not possible to compute a confidence interval.

I also examined the relationship of leg scale molt to the progress of the replacement of primary feathers in the prebasic molt. Although I did not gather feather molt data for all the birds whose legs I assessed for podothecal molt, I did so for most (83%). In typical passerine fashion, the prebasic molt of Black-capped Vireos begins with the shedding of the innermost primary. Although the last feathers to complete growth in this molt are secondaries 5 and 6, replacement of the outer two primaries overlaps with these. Thus, the progress of the molt of primaries alone provides a good measure of the overall progress of the prebasic molt. I used a common system (described in Jenni and Winkler 2020b) to assign a score of 0-5 to each of the 10 primaries. Old feathers received the minimum score of 0, whereas those that were new and completely grown got the maximum score, 5.

Feathers that were missing or in pin got a score of 1. Scores of 2 and 3 were for primaries that were up to 1/3 and 2/3 grown, respectively, and a score of 4 for those that were more than 2/3 grown but not yet complete. Summing the individual scores of the ten primaries of each bird gave an overall score ranging from 0-50. To examine the relationship Vol. 50 No. 1

between podothecal molt and primary molt, I placed birds into twelve groups based on their primary molt scores. Two of these consisted of birds with scores of either 0 or 50, representing those that have not started their molt and those that have completed it. The remaining groups included all birds that showed active primary molt. For each, I grouped birds with five consecutive scores. For example, birds with scores ranging from 10 to 14 comprised one group. It was necessary for one group to have only four consecutive scores. I made this group be the birds with scores 1-4 because their large number ensured an adequate sample.

RESULTS I examined the legs of 1,222 Black-capped Vireos between 30 March and 25 September. I found evidence of leg scale molt during most of this period, 11 April to 22 September. In total, 498 individuals in this sample were molting leg scales.

Although I observed podothecal molt on some Black-capped Vireos throughout most of April and May, it was infrequent. Not until the last two days of May and the beginning of June did this increase (Fig. 2). The peak frequencies occurred throughout most of June and all of July (ordinal dates 160-214; Fig. 2). Afterward, the frequency of leg scale molt decreased but remained in the 10-20% range until the birds migrated south in late September (Fig. 2).

I examined both leg scale molt and feather molt on 1,017 Black-capped Vireos. Podothecal molt occurred throughout the period of feather molt. The frequency of those replacing leg scales was greatest prior to and during the early stages of feather molt (Fig. 3). It then decreased steadily as feather molt progressed (Fig. 3). Greater than 40% of the birds with feather molt scores <25 were molting leg scales whereas less than 30% of the birds with feather molt scores >25 were doing so.

DISCUSSION This study is one of only a few to document podothecal molt. I am aware of only two others that give information on this process. Both involved wild birds held in captivity (Gullion 1953, King and Murphy 1990). Although it is often possible to distinguish old feathers from those that more recently replaced, this may not be possible with leg scales. This fact limits the study of podothecal molt Page 6 North American Bird Bander

in several ways. For example, it is not possible to distinguish between individuals that have not yet started molt from those that have completed it.

Furthermore, if scales are replaced a few at a time separated by periods when no molt is evident, it may not always be possible to recognize when birds are in the midst of podothecal molt. Consequently, it may not be possible to know at an individual level when podothecal molt begins, ends, or its duration.

Despite these limitations, it is possible to determine the timing and duration of leg scale molt for a population as this study demonstrates.

I observed podothecal molt throughout most of the period Black-capped Vireos are on their breeding grounds. However, a definite peak of activity occurred in June and July. That I noted leg scale molt in 10-20% of birds sampled in September suggests that the process may continue into southward migration. However, its occurrence during migration and on the wintering grounds remains a topic for further investigation.

At all stages of feather molt, birds were replacing leg scales. However, podothecal molt commenced

before feather molt as shown by the fact that 59% of birds that had not yet started feather molt were already replacing leg scales. Previous studies found that American Coots (Fulica americana) replace leg scales about two months before commencing the prebasic feather molt (Gullion 1953) and Whitecrowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) do so about three months afterward (King and Murphy 1990). I have observed Painted Buntings (Passerina ciris) molting leg scales before their prebasic molt and White-eyed Vireos (Vireo griseus) doing so both before and during this molt. Evans and Harrison (1985) mentioned a Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) that must have shed leg scales during its prebasic molt because it had a scale with an aberrant shape on one leg that was present before the molt but not immediately afterward. Spearman (1966) mentioned that domestic chickens (Gallus gallus) molt tarsal scales 7-10 days after hatching at the time of their first feather molt. Thus, even with information on few species, it is apparent that podothecal molt in birds varies in its timing relative to that of feather molt.

Fig. 1. Tarsus of a Black-capped Vireo showing evidence of podothecal molt. Arrows mark individual scales that are molting. Solid arrows mark scales that are closer to being shed than those marked by dashed arrows.

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Figure 2. Percentage of Black-capped Vireos showing evidence of podothecal molt in relation to date at Fort Cavazos Military Installation, Texas. Solid dots mark percentages for each 10-day period. Lines extending up and down from dots span 95% confidence intervals

Figure 3. Percentage of Black-capped Vireos showing evidence of podothecal molt in relation to feather molt score at Fort Cavazos Military Installation, Texas. Solid dots mark percentages for groups of molt scores. See text for details on molt scores and score groupings. Lines extending up and down from dots span 95% confidence intervals.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Department of the Army provided funding for monitoring Black-capped Vireos at Fort Cavazos, which gave me the opportunity first to notice then to gather data on podothecal molt. The content of this manuscript does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the United States government and no official endorsement should be inferred.

LITERATURE CITED Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of word roots and combining forms. Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, CA. Evans, P.R., and J. M. Harrison. 1985. Moult. In B. Campbell and E. Lack (Editors), A Dictionary of Birds. Buteo Books, Vermillion, SD. Grzybowski, J. A. 2020. Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. Gullion, G. W. 1953. Observations on molting of the American Coot. Condor 55: 102-103.

Jenni, L., and R. Winkler. 2020a. The biology of moult in birds. Helm, London, UK.

Jenni, L., and R. Winkler. 2020b. Moult and ageing of European passerines, second edition. Helm, London, UK. King, J. R., and M. E. Murphy. 1990. Estimates of the mass of structures other than plumage produced during molt by White-crowned Sparrows. Condor 92: 839-843.

Lucas, A. M., and P. R. Stettenheim. 1972. Avian anatomy, integument. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. Pettingill, O. S. 1970. Ornithology in laboratory and field. Burgess Publishing Company, Minneapolis, MN. Proctor, N. S., and P. J. Lynch. 1993. Manual of ornithology: avian structure and function. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. Spearman, R. I. C. 1966. The keratization of epidermal scales, feathers, and hairs.

Biological Reviews 41: 59-95.

Van Tyne, J., and A. J. Berger. 1971. Fundamentals of ornithology. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, NY. Zar, J. H. 1999. Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Recent Literature Compiled by Claire Stuyck (If you would like to help review articles of interest to banders, please contact cstuyck “at” uw.edu, and feel free to mention if you have a particular journal or geographic area of interest).

Contributors to this issue: CMS= Claire M. Stuyck; MSW= Meredith S. Walker; SKA= Steve Keith Albert; VHL= Victoria H. Langham.

Banding History and Biographies Population Trends of the Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) wintering in California.

Pandolfino, E. R., L. A. Douglas, and C. Ray. 2024.

Journal of Raptor Research 58:294-303.

The Ferruginous Hawk is a raptor of conservation concern in much of its range.

Population trend estimates from Breeding Bird Surveys and migration counts for this species are often contradictory and of low credibility. To counter this, the authors of a new study, Edward Jan. - Mar. 2025

Pandolfino, Lily Douglas of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Chris Ray of The Institute for Bird Populations used Christmas Bird Count data to assess population trends for Ferruginous Hawks that winter in California. Evidence suggests that the birds breeding in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon may represent a metapopulation that winters almost exclusively in California. Data for the 25-year period from 199798 2021–22 in the core winter range of Ferruginous Hawks showed a significant positive trend. This contrasts with the continent-wide negative trends observed for most grassland and open country bird species and is surprising given ongoing declines of this species’ preferred winter habitat in California during this same period. The authors posit several explanations that may account for these differences, including the possibility that the Californiawintering Ferruginous Hawks include a large proportion of birds breeding outside of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. MSW, SKA

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Equipment, Techniques, and Station Reports Rise-Up Mist-netting (RUM): a mobile protocol for trapping wary territorial birds. Amorim, P. S., M. F. Rossi, and A. Camargo Guaraldo.

In this important study, Amorim et al. (2021) present the Rise-Up Mist-Netting (RUM) protocol as a novel and effective method for capturing territorial and trap-averse bird species, such as the Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus). The study highlights how traditional mist netting, even with playback and decoys, was ineffective, as birds either evaded or circumvented the net. Similar to targeted mist netting, the RUM protocol utilizes a speaker for playback, as well as a short (6 m) mist net. However, the net in RUM protocol is strung on two PVC or electrical conduit poles and held horizontally by two researchers. Once the bird is too close to evade capture, the researchers synchronously flip the net vertically, ensuring capture. The efficacy of the RUM protocol is demonstrated by the successful capture of 38 Rufous Horneros over 28 days in the study area surrounding the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora campus in Juiz de Fora, Brazil.

This method is particularly promising for urban ecology studies due to its portability, minimal space requirements, and ease of operation.

Additionally, the RUM protocol offers versatility for capturing other elusive species, such as Great Kiskadees (Pitangus sulphuratus).

Despite RUM’s advantages, the authors’ do not specifically mention how the net is stabilized during bird extraction. For example, what happened to an end of the net when one researcher presumably moves away from the pole to extract the bird? With enough planning, this logistical challenge can be overcome in future field methods. Perhaps the net could be bagged while walking to where the bird is caught, or could be rolled around the pole, until the researcher is close enough to safely extract.

Additionally, public engagement and explanation of methods should be carefully considered, as the quick setup and flipping of a net may be more conspicuous and confusing to bystanders. As with traditional mist netting, carrying, and displaying signage may be a wise decision. It may also be smart to bring an additional team member to Vol. 50 No. 1

devote to public engagement in crowded areas.

RUM can expand the toolbox for capturing elusive species, allowing researchers to bridge knowledge gaps in individual-based data collection and behavioral ecology. Overall, Amorim et al. provide a compelling case for incorporating the RUM protocol into bird banding practices, especially for urban studies. Its innovation, practicality, and potential for broad application Identification, Molts, Plumages, Weights, and Measurements Recent changes in distribution and plumage phenologies of the White winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) in the Middle East. Kiat, Y., and P. Pyle. 2024. Journal of Ornithology 126.

Changes in species geographic distributions, including those of migration routes, stopover sites, and over-wintering grounds, may affect the phenology of breeding and molt. The White-winged Tern is a long-distance migrant which breeds in Eurasia and winters in Africa and Australasia. This species is known in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East mainly during the migration seasons although it also breeds locally in eastern Turkey and the Persian Gulf. However, in the last decade, there has been an apparent change in the winter distribution of this species, with increasing observations of individuals during December–February in the Middle East, many of them in breeding plumage.

Using data collected from specimens stored at the Natural History Museum at Tring (UK), ringing data from Israel, the online database eBird, and accompanying Macaulay Library (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), authors Yosef Kiat from Tel Aviv University and Peter Pyle from The Institute for Bird Populations described these recent changes in the seasonal distribution and annual molt cycles. While the birds that breed in the north begin to replace their black body feathers immediately at the timesnorthernhemisphere breeding populations. This might suggest yet-to-be discovered local breeding in the Middle East in February–April. In such cases as this, the authors hypothesize that examination of plumage phenology

may help researchers investigate the timing of as yet unknown breeding phenology. MSW, SKA

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Banding Results Annual migratory movement, apparent moltmigration, migration schedule, and diffuse migratory connectivity of Hermit Warblers.

Kim, H., R. B. Siegel, J. L. Stephens, J. C. Hagar, B. J. Furnas, M. -S. Jeong, B. C. McComb, and M. G. Betts. 2024. Avian Conservation and Ecology 19:6.

The Hermit Warbler is a species that generally keeps to itself, away from humans, staying high in the treetops of coniferous forests where they breed in the mountains of southern Washington, Oregon, and central and northern California. Because their secretive nature makes them difficult to study, little is known about the Hermit Warbler’s ecology, behavior, or migration. However, data from the Breeding Bird Survey suggests that this species is declining across its range, and in Washington and California’s Sierra Nevada in particular. In a recent study published in Avian Conservation and Ecology, Hankyu Kim, now a faculty member at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea, along with colleagues including Rodney Siegel from The Institute for Bird Populations, examined migratory connectivity in Hermit Warblers using geolocators. Understanding migratory connectivity, or where different breeding populations of a species spend the non-breeding period, is critical to conserving migratory species that may face threats in different parts of their range as they move through their annual migration cycle.

Kim and colleagues deployed these transmitters on Hermit Warblers in seven locations spanning their breeding range, including Yosemite National Park in the spring and summer of 2019 intending to recapture the birds when they returned to their breeding territories the following year to retrieve the geolocators and the data they carried. But we all know what happened in 2020. Kim was able to recover enough geolocators and gather enough data to complete the first study of migratory connectivity in this species. Kim and colleagues found that Hermit Warbler breeding populations from up and down the West Coast mix together during the nonbreeding season across the non-breeding range in southern Mexico and Central America. However, the Hermit Warblers that bred in Yosemite, in the southern part of the species breeding range, spent the non-breeding season in the most eastern part Jan. - Mar. 2025

of the non-breeding range- southeastern Mexico.

Though the sample size of birds tracked from Yosemite was small, this suggests a form of chain migration in which these more southeasterly breeding populations are migrating to southeasterly portions of the non-breeding range. Deforestation in this part of Mexico has been particularly severe in recent years and may contribute to the decline of the Sierra Nevada breeding population of this species.

The researchers also found that Hermit Warblers migrated relatively quickly during northbound migration to the breeding grounds, but more slowly on the way south to the non-breeding grounds. Kim and colleagues hypothesize that the faster migration north may reflect competition to establish favorable breeding territories. In addition, birds need to time their breeding so that it coincides with the flush of food resources (insects) in spring. This is seen in many other species of migratory birds.

Hermit Warblers are known to molt soon after the breeding season, which coincides with their migration south. Kim and coauthors suggest that the slower progress of the post-breeding migration may be because the birds are molting as they migrate through the mountains of Northern California and the Sierra Nevada. Anecdotally, Kim notes that he caught Hermit Warblers undergoing flight feather and body feather molt in early July. The authors describe the proposed molt migration in Hermit Warblers as a “continuous” rather than a “stopover” molt migration seen in other species because the warblers apparently do not stop migration for an extended period to complete their molt, but rather move slowly but steadily towards the non-breeding grounds while they molt. This study highlights the importance of Sierra Nevada forests for the conservation of this species, as the populations that breed there are in decline, and populations that breed farther north undergo molt, an energetically demanding process, as they migrate through this region. Kim recommends further study of migratory connectivity in the southern portions of the Hermit Warbler’s breeding range- including the Sierra Nevada- to boost sample sizes and further elucidate migration connectivity patterns for this population.

MSW, SKA

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Genomics-informed conservation units reveal spatial variation in climate vulnerability in a migratory bird. Miller, C. V., C. M. Bossu, J. F. Saracco, D. P. L. Toews, C. S. Rushing, A. RobertoCharron, J. A. Tremblay, R. B. Chandler, M. G. DeSaix, C. J. Fiss, J. L. Larkin, S. Haché, S. Nebel and K. C. Ruegg. 2024. Molecular Ecology 33:e17199.

Identifying genetic conservation units (CU) in threatened species is critical for the preservation of adaptive capacity and evolutionary potential in the face of climate change. However, delineating CUs in highly mobile species remains a challenge due to high rates of gene flow and genetic signatures of isolation by distance. Even when CUs are delineated in highly mobile species, the CUs often lack key biological information about what populations have the most conservation need to guide management decisions. Here we implement a framework for CU identification in the Canada Warbler, a migratory species of conservation concern, and then integrate demographic modelling and genomic offset to guide conservation decisions.

In a study published in Molecular Ecology, lead author Caitlin Miller, along with scientists from The Institute for Bird Populations and other organizations, found that patterns of whole genome genetic variation in this highly mobile species are primarily driven by putative adaptive variation.

There was also significant spatial variation in climate vulnerability, with the Northwestern birds being identified as the most vulnerable to future climate change. However, the steepest population declines have occurred within the Eastern populations.

Overall, the authors illustrate that genomics informed conservation provides a strong foundation for identifying current and future regional threats that can be used to inform management strategies for a highly mobile species in a rapidly changing world. MSW, SKA

Birds and other wildlife breeding in the Southwest of the U.S. may have adapted to breed in one of the hottest and driest regions of North America. The Southwest is also a climate change hotspot. Protected areas such as national parks and monuments are ideal places to study how climate change is affecting bird populations. A recent study authored by three scientists from The Institute for Bird Populations and a colleague from the National Park Service analyzed southwestern bird monitoring data collected in six national parks between 2007 and 2018 and climate data to examine how drought and the timing of the North American Monsoon affect bird populations in the region. Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Wupatki National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, and Bandelier National Monument—are part of the National Park Service’s Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network, in which the birds were monitored using point counts.

The Southwest’s birds, especially species of montane forest and grassland habitats, are among the fastest declining in North America. As average temperatures rise and extreme heat waves become more common, precipitation is declining. For the last 23 years, the Southwest has been experiencing a "megadrought," the driest multi-year period in the region since the year 800 C.E., driven in part by climate change. Drought can affect bird populations both directly and indirectly. When coupled with high heat, drought can kill birds via dehydration and heat exhaustion. It can also reduce insect populations or alter plant communities, leading to a loss of food resources, nesting sites, or habitat structure. The North American Monsoon, a significant precipitation phenomenon unique to the region, is also being affected by climate change.

The monsoon occurs from July through October, when shifting wind patterns bring moisture Breeding birds of high-elevation mixedfrom the Pacific, Gulf of California, and Gulf of conifer forests have declined in national Mexico over the U.S. southwest and northwestern parks of the southwestern U.S. while lower Mexico, leading to frequent rain and often violent elevation species have increased, with thunderstorms.

Scientists are still uncertain responses to drought varying by habitat. how climate change will affect the monsoon Jones, H. H., C. Ray, M. Johnson, and R. Siegel. precipitation totals, but many studies predict that 2024. Ornithologica Applications 126:duae007. climate change will delay the monsoon, such that it starts later in the summer and ends in the early fall.

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The authors found that the effects of the drought on birds varied according to elevation. Birds that breed in the higher elevation conifer forests, like Red-breasted Nuthatch and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, seemed to benefit from drier years in the short term, likely due to earlier snowmelt which allowed them to start breeding earlier and possibly produce more young. However, over the longer term, many of these same species are declining, most likely due to habitat loss as drought exacerbates tree death and severe, stand-replacing fires. For the most part, these declining population trends mirrored similar declines detected from Breeding Bird Survey data across the Colorado Plateau, suggesting that the protected areas in the study are being affected by tree death and wildfire similarly to how they are across the broader regional landscape. Dry years seemed to be hardest on lower-elevation grassland birds such as Horned Lark and Chihuahuan Meadowlark, likely because grass doesn’t grow as tall or as dense in dry years which provides less cover for ground nests.

Less precipitation also means less insect prey to feed to nestlings. In contrast, later monsoons (which are predicted by many climate-change models) seemed to benefit grassland birds, possibly because fewer late summer nests were lost due to flooding and hypothermia caused by intense rainstorms.

However, the authors also found that species that rely on the monsoon's food pulse to fuel their molt, “molt migrants” such as Black-headed Grosbeak, Warbling Vireo, and Lazuli Bunting, were negatively impacted by later monsoons compared to species that don’t molt in the monsoon region, perhaps because of a mismatch between the timing of their molt and the monsoon’s abundant resources.

Our study shows that human-caused climate change in the Southwest is already affecting bird populations and, in many ways, we are entering a new era of climate—one in which we are only beginning to understand how wildlife is being affected. Longterm monitoring, like the data from the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring Program that we used here, is more important than ever to act as a warning system about the changes we are seeing and to understand what is driving them.

MSW, SKA

Jan. - Mar. 2025

Human Dimensions, Ethics, and Welfare

A bird in the hand: connecting children and wildlife through hands-on experiences with birds. Shin, Seunguk, Carena J. van Riper, Human Dimensions of Wildlife 1-19.

Attitudes, perspectives, and subsequent environmental stewardship actions are influenced by human-wildlife interactions. The education and outreach opportunities that bird banding provides using up-close and hand-on interaction with birds and the scientific process are a significant opportunity to broaden perspectives and foster attitude changes.

Environmental education programs seek to engage and encourage participants to develop positive attitudes by facilitating direct nature experiences to build pro-environmental behaviors. Children are developmentally predisposed to being strongly influenced by direct contact with their surroundings and are ideal participants for these types of education programs. Unfortunately, the impact of these experiences is difficult to study and populations that include children are particularly understudied. This body of work is one of the first to address this gap.

In partnership with a local park in Urbana, Illinois, the researchers recruited 23 11-15 year olds participating in one of three week-long summer camps in July 2022. A bird education program was developed to provide two one-hour sessions on two different mornings during the week. One goal of the program was to provide hands-on interaction with local bird species using mist-netting; two trained researchers demonstrated safe capture and handling techniques with an educational focus on morphology and ecology of the species captured.

Educational modules centered on learning goals of 1) general bird knowledge 2) connection to birds and nature and 3) environmental values; these modules use short lectures followed by discussion and culminating in a creative project. Self-reporting surveys following a within-group pre- and post-test design were used to evaluate change in 1) knowledge of birds, 2) connection to birds, 3) connection to nature, and 4) environmental values. Average bird knowledge did not significantly change compared to prior assessed knowledge; however the researchers observed changes and expansion of knowledge that wasn’t captured in the assessments. There was Page 13 North American Bird Bander

a positive change in self-reported psychological connection with birds, and a moderate increase in connection with nature. Environmental values did not change to a statistically significant degree relative to values reported prior to participation.

This important study is one of the first to empirically demonstrate the positive attitudes that mist-netting has on wildlife conservation in children. Despite these exciting results there are significant barriers to meaningful experiences with nature whose barriers aren’t explored in this paper. Urbanization and the ubiquity of screens are further complicated by the growing disparity of social determinants

to children’s access. This work presents an approachable proof-of-concept in both study design and educational curricula that can be applied with other populations and settings. Future work may benefit from a complimentary qualitative (e.g. interviews, focus groups) to interpret children's lived experiences and how they influence their values and potential stewardship behaviors. The broader implications of this work demonstrate the power of influencing positive attitudes towards environmental stewardship that education and outreach with mist-netting can achieve. CMS

News, Notes, Comments Sedge Wren Recaptures and a Longevity Record Recaptures of banded birds have the potential to provide much valuable information. Examples include adding to knowledge about movement, migration routes, migration speed, site fidelity, and longevity. Here, I report on recaptures and a longevity record for Sedge Wrens (Cistothorus stellaris) banded at a site on the Texas Gulf Coast.

From 2012 through 2024, I banded Sedge Wrens at the Clive Runnells Family Mad Island Marsh Preserve in Matagorda County. The preserve is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy of Texas and includes large areas of grassland and wetland. The wrens occur there during their nonbreeding season from November through May and can be relatively abundant. I visited the site 1-3 times annually to capture Sedge Wrens in grasslands and an adjacent brackish wetland using a single 6-m mist net with a mesh size of 24 mm.

I banded 288 Sedge Wrens at the preserve over the 13-year period and later recaptured 15 (5%) of them. That I have recaptured this many of these birds is probably due to my work at the same site consistently over a relatively long period. Eight of the recaptures occurred in a different non-breeding season than the original capture, that is, these birds made at least one round trip migration between Vol. 50 No. 1

captures. This provides evidence that at least some Sedge Wrens return to the same wintering site each year. It is known that Sedge Wrens seldom return to the same breeding sites between years (Herbert et al. 2021), but these recaptures provide the first information concerning their winter site fidelity.

I banded a Sedge Wren in definitive basic plumage (after second year) with number 2830-35833 on 31 Mar 2018. I recaptured this bird on 17 Nov 2019 and again on 15 Dec 2020. Although I did not record the precise location of each capture of this bird, all were within the same area of the preserve and could not have been separated by more than 400 m. The Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) of the United States Geological Survey considered this to be the first longevity record for the species with a minimum possible age of 4 years, 6 months (Bird Banding Laboratory 2023).

The BBL compiles and continually updates a list of longevity records for birds. To qualify as a longevity record, a bird must not only be the oldest on record, but also to have been encountered sometime after the season in which it was originally banded (Walker et al. 2024). Consequently, many species have been recaptured but lack a longevity record (e.g., Winter Wren, Troglodytes hiemalus).

It is likely that Sedge Wrens have the potential to live much longer than 4.5 years. Longevity records for several migratory species of similar and smaller Page 14 North American Bird Bander

size have greater longevity records. For example, a Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus) lived at least 6 years, 6 months, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) 8 years, 8 months, and a Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), 10 years, 2 months (Bird Banding Laboratory 2023).

It is likely that the relatively short longevity record for Sedge Wren is a consequence of the fact that the species is infrequently banded and, therefore, rarely recaptured or recovered. Shieldcastle published several reports of the numbers of each species banded within the area covered by the Inland Bird Banding Association, which includes large proportions of both the Sedge Wren’s breeding and non-breeding ranges. The total number of Sedge Wrens banded in this area over the 5-year period 2016-2020 was 168 (Shieldcastle 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). For comparison, the number of Winter Wrens, a species with no longevity record, banded during the same period was far greater, 1,116 birds.

For wren species that are more frequently banded, longevity records are about twice that of the Sedge Wren. For example a House Wren (Toglodytes aedon) lived 9 years, a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 9 years, 2 months, and a Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) 8 years (Bird Banding Laboratory 2023).

LITERATURE CITED Bird Banding Laboratory. 2023. North American Bird Banding Program longevity records.

Version 2023.2, Eastern Ecological Science Center, US Geological Survey, Laurel, MD. Herkert, J.R., D.E. Kroodsma, and J. P. Gibbs. 2021.

Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. Shieldcastle, M. 2017. Annual report of birds banded in the IBBA region, 2016. North American Bird Bander 42: 134-147.

Shieldcastle, M. 2018. Annual report of birds banded in the IBBA region, 2017. North American Bird Bander 43-44: 129-137.

Shieldcastle, M. 2019. Annual report of birds banded in the IBBA region, 2018. North American Bird Bander 44: 248-255.

Shieldcastle, M. 2020. Annual report of birds banded in the IBBA region, 2019. North American Bird Bander 45: 172-178.

Shieldcastle, M. 2021. Annual report of birds banded in the IBBA region, 2020. North American Bird Bander 46: 83-90.

Walker, L., R. Rogosky, and K. Harvey. 2024. North American Bird Banding Program Longevity Records. North American Bird Bander 49: 58-60.

I thank The Nature Conservancy of Texas for allowing access to the Clive Runnells Family Mad Island Marsh Preserve. I thank the preserve’s manager, Steven Goertz, for his hospitality, logistic support, and assistance capturing birds. I also thank numerous people, especially Nicholas Glover and Paula Cimprich for their enthusiastic and energetic efforts in capturing and banding Sedge Wrens.

David A. Cimprich 2000 County Road 3640 Copperas Cove, TX 76522 vireo7@yahoo.com

Sedge Wren Photo by David Cimprich

Jan. - Mar. 2025

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A summary of EBBA’s 2025 Annual Meeting

By Maren Gimpel The Eastern Bird Banding Association held its 102nd Annual Meeting from 28 February – 2 March, 2025, at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort on beautiful Kiawah Island near Charleston, SC. Over 85 bird banders, ornithologists, and conservationists from across the eastern U.S. and Canada gathered to network, learn, and catch up with old friends.

bonfire at Mingo Point before having a traditional Low Country BBQ dinner.

The Friday opening speakers, Felicia Sanders of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and Fletcher Smith of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources gave, a presentation titled “The Southeast’s critical role in the survival of Red Knots.”

The sun sets at Mingo Point, Kiawah Island

The weekend kicked off with a series of workshops held on Friday afternoon, covering topics such as mist net repair, an introduction to Motus, how to apply lock-on and rivet bands, tools of the trade, and banding first aid. Friday evening attendees enjoyed a happy hour watching the sun set over the Kiawah River with fire-roasted oysters and a Vol. 50 No. 1

Attendees enjoyed freshly shucked oysters

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Saturday was jam-packed with presentations.

After a morning welcome from outgoing President Ariane Giudicelli, this year’s meeting host and incoming President, Aaron Given, gave a presentation on Kiawah Island that included both its fascinating history and the array of banding and bird conservation projects taking place on the island. Before lunch, we heard from previous EBBA Grant recipient Megan Linke on her work studying King Rail movements and habitat use across both managed impoundments and tidal marshes in coastal South Carolina, followed by William Oakley, who shared his research on the annual survival, abundance, and behavior characteristics of SC’s wintering Ammospiza sparrow populations. Cailin O’Connor presented her work focused on tracking the fall migration of rehabilitated passerines via the Motus network to determine survival and changes to migratory route, and Charlie Muise presented on efforts to restore a Piedmont grassland with prescribed fire and invasive plant removal, and the banding research taking place there. The Bird Banding Laboratory chief, Antonio Celis-Murillo, provided an update from the BBL, and Chris Hill gave a talk about how movements dominate population dynamics of a non-migratory population of Loggerhead Shrikes.

Michael Gamble with his poster

After lunch, we heard from Adam Smith about the migratory movements and stopover timing of Saltmarsh Sparrows, as inferred by Motus automated telemetry. Ben Nickley from Berkshire Bird Observatory gave an inspiring talk about a project to create habitat for kestrels by installing nest boxes with community support and volunteers.

Medha Pandey (newly elected to EBBA’s Council) presented her research on the temporal changes in the prevalence of the Lyme Disease spirochete in bird-borne Blacklegged Ticks, and Garrett Rhyne a prior recipient of an EBBA memorial grant, shared how barometric geolocators placed on Swainson’s Warblers revealed unprecedented details of their migration ecology, a project partially funded from an EBBA grant. The next two presentations focused on molt, including research on the patterns, processes, and implications of molt limits presented

by Michael Gamble, and a helpful exploration of molt cycles, calendars, and terminology by Annie Lindsay of Powdermill. Our last two talks were given by Jennifer Quintero, who presented on an analysis of two decades of fall bird banding data collected in subtropical Florida, and the neotropical migration trends the data revealed, and Wenyi Zhou, who shared his work banding birds in an IndoBurma biodiversity hotspot in southwestern China.

The Saturday happy hour poster presentation included “Using automated radio telemetry system Dave Brinker demonstrates a raptor bow net to track breeding season activity patterns of Page 17 Jan. - Mar. 2025 North American Bird Bander

songbirds in early successional habitats,” by Grace Muench (newly elected to EBBA’s Council); “Field methods to improve received signal strength based localization,” by Michael Gamble and Ashley Long; “Where do the Baltimore Orioles at my feeders go in the summer? A study of wintering orioles in South Carolina,” by Amy Tegeler and Jennifer Tyrrell; and “Banding together: Leveraging bird banding as a tool for community engagement and science communication,” by Emma M. Rhodes and Kyle Shepard.

Unfortunately, our Saturday keynote speaker Clark Rushing, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, was unable to join us in person, but he provided a recording of his talk “Do trade-offs among energyintensive life-history events constrain migratory bird resiliency to climate change.”

The day was capped off with our famous bucket raffle where attendees won all kinds of bird-related treasures from jigsaw puzzles and ornithology books, to banding supplies and birdthemed art. We raised over $800, which will be put toward research grants.

The weekend wrapped up with a choice of three field trips on Sunday morning: a beach bird walk to a local hotspot, and two banding sessions

– one at the Kiawah Island banding station and one to band marsh sparrows. Participants on the bird walk were led by Cami Duquet, the Outreach and Stewardship Coordinator of SCDNR, and were treated to large concentrations of shorebirds and seabirds at Captain Sams Spit including Red Knots, Piping Plovers, and Black Skimmers. The Kiawah Island banding station hosted about 20 people and captured over 65 birds including species such as Yellow-rumped Warblers, Gray Catbirds, Hermit Thrushes, American Robins, and a Mourning Dove.

About 11 km away, 21 intrepid people gathered in the saltmarsh during high tide to help flush marsh sparrows into mist nets. The group captured 43 birds including all three target species (Seaside, Saltmarsh, and Nelson’s sparrows), Marsh Wrens, a Red-winged Blackbird, and a Clapper Rail.

In between all of the meeting activities, attendees marveled at Kiawah Island’s stunning scenery including pristine beaches, live oaks dripping with Spanish moss and of course admiring sunning alligators.

We are most grateful to our sponsors from the weekend- Lotek, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Town of Kiawah Island, Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Avinet, Kiawah Conservancy, Audubon South Carolina and the American Bird Conservancy.

Members of Council after having joined Aron Given in a marsh sparrow banding session Vol. 50 No. 1

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Additional Photos of EBBA’s annual meeting provided

by Dan Zamoda

Jan. - Mar. 2025

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2025 Annual Membership Meeting of the Eastern Bird Banding Association

By Maren Gimpel, Secretary EBBA held its annual membership meeting on Saturday 1 March, 2025. President Ariane Giudicelli welcomed members and introduced those currently serving on Council. The short agenda included a mix of announcements and business items. 2nd Vice President Annie Lindsay announced our 2026 meeting will be held 20-22 March, 2026 at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA, so mark your calendars.

Cailin O’Connor, chair of the Memorial Grant committee, announced that EBBA Council approved funding in full to Taleen Madikians, an undergraduate at Loyola Marymount University for her proposal “Older chicks get better food: An analysis of isotope ratios in Great Black-backed Gull.” She also shared that presenter Megan Linke was a previous EBBA Memorial Grant recipient for her research. Her talk at this meeting was “King Rail movement and habitat use among managed impoundments and tidal marshes in coastal South Carolina,” Proceeds from our bucket raffle and silent auction help sustain our grants.

One item of business was a required vote on a bylaw amendment. Committee chair Clifford Berek explained an inconsistency in our bylaws.

The bylaws stated a minimum number of days required in advance of a special membership meeting, but no mention of advanced notice for a regular membership meeting. The 30 day notice was added to Article 5.1 for consistency. This was unanimously approved by the membership.

Nominating Committee chair Annie Lindsay thanked two people whose terms were concluding: Alison Van Keuren and Laura-Marie Koitsch, and thanked them for their service to EBBA. She proposed a slate of Officers and Councilors for the coming year and they were approved by the membership, as follows: President – Aaron Given, SC 1st VP – Annie Lindsay, PA 2nd VP – Clifford Berek, NJ 3rd VP – Margaret Rohde, PA Secretary – Maren Gimpel, MD Vol. 50 No. 1

Treasurer – Andy Thiede, CT Editor – Bob Pantle, NY Councilor Class of 2028 Grace Muench, DE Medha Pandey, NY Dan Zmoda, PA David Brinker, MD EBBA is looking forward to the year ahead, with plans to create more opportunities for our members to learn, share knowledge, and network with other bird banders across the eastern United States and Canadian provinces, and to continue supporting student research in the field of avian conservation.

Message from the President

When I was asked to become an officer of EBBA back in 2022, I had a vision to bring our annual meeting to “The South”. For the past year, I have spent a majority of my “EBBA time” as 1st Vice President planning the 102nd Annual Meeting which occurred just a short time ago at Kiawah Island in South Carolina. There had not been a meeting in a southern state since the joint meeting with IBBA in 2012 which was held in Tennessee. There was some uncertainty at first about how well-attended a meeting in the south might be, but it turned out to be a resounding success and I can’t thank everyone enough for your support! You can read more about the meeting in this issue of NABB. It is my utmost honor and pleasure to be stepping into the role of President of the Eastern Bird Banding Association. I am excited to work alongside EBBA members and Council to continue the legacy of this historic organization. The work we do is so important – not only for the birds that we monitor at our local sites but also for the future of bird conservation, research, and education across the world.

As most of you already know, bird banding is a cornerstone of ornithological research tracing its roots back more than 200 years as a tool for science. It provides invaluable data that helps us Page 20 North American Bird Bander

understand migration patterns, breeding success, population dynamics, and much more. We are in an era where habitat loss, climate change, and other environmental challenges are threatening bird populations at a historic rate, and the information gathered through bird banding and other marking programs are more important than ever.

As your new president, I am committed to promote EBBA’s mission and build on the foundation that has been established as well as explore new ideas and opportunities to increase our relevance in the ornithological community, by focusing on the following objectives.

1. Support Research: We will continue to strengthen our research grant program by exploring new ways to increase the amount of support that we are able to offer to researchers.

2. Education and Outreach: The future of bird conservation depends on inspiring the next generation of scientists and conservationists. One of my goals is to expand EBBA’s educational programs and outreach efforts by providing more opportunities for hands-on bird banding training as well as offering workshops, webinars, and additional educational resources.

3. Enhance EBBA’s Digital Presence: We have made great strides over the last couple of years in bringing EBBA into the 21st century, and I am excited to build on the momentum we have created. We will work to enhance our digital resources, including improving our website, increasing engagement on social media platforms, and developing online training modules. Through these efforts, we hope to inspire new members, share the results of our research, and raise awareness about the importance of bird banding.

I would like to thank Ariane Giudicelli for her leadership and service as President over the last year. I’d also like to thank outgoing, current, and incoming Council members for dedicating their precious time to help guide EBBA’s present and future. I look forward to working with all EBBA members to support our mission “to promote and encourage sound, ethical bird banding practices and investigations into bird biology, behavior, and ecology through banding, marking, tagging, and other tracking methods”.

Aaron Given President

Save the Date!

March 20-22, 2026 Eastern Bird Banding Association Conference and Meeting.

Antiochian Village, near Ligonier, Pennsylvania Join us in the beautiful laurel Highlands region of southwest Pensylvania for the 2026 EBBA conference, which will be held at the all-inclusive Antiochain Village conference center near the historic town of Ligonier. We will draw from the rich local and banding and orinthology community to put together a program of excellent speakers, poster presentations, and workshops. Field trips will included birding in local hotspots and banding demos at Powdermill Avian Research Center’s new banding Lab. Annie Lindsay Jan. - Mar. 2025

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Powdermill Avain Research Center’s newly built banding lab Page 21

Inland Regional News Inland Bird Banding

Founded 1922

IBBA Conference set for 24-26 October 2025 at Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, MN The conference will be based in the historic town of Hastings, which is located just 43 km away from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport (MSP), along the mighty Mississippi River, near its confluence with the nationally designated Wild and Scenic St. Croix River. Lodging is available in a number of quaint river towns including Hastings, Afton, Prescott, and Hudson. Hastings is home to Spiral Brewery, one of a small number of breweries with a woman head brewer. River Falls, Hudson, Stillwater, and St. Paul are home to many other unique local breweries.

Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is a 501 c3 non-profit organization that serves 55,000 visitors per year through K-12 Environmental Education Programming, public events and 293 ha of wildlife habitat with a robust trail system. The Nature Center is open to the public 361 days a year and operates two campuses, one in Hastings, Minnesota, on 172 ha on the bluffs of the St. Croix River and one in Wisconsin on 121 ha, just south of Hudson city limits. The Nature Center’s Minnesota Campus opened to the public in 1981 and has been operating a year-round banding station since that time. The newer Wisconsin Campus has been the location of numerous banding projects through the years. In 2022 the new Al and Laurie Hein Visitors’ Center opened to the public at that location and a MAPS station was started by Rick Schmid. The Nature Center hosts two Motus towers. Carpenter Vol. 50 No. 1

Nature Center’s bird banding research team currently operates two Project Owl-net Stations, a MAPS station at Dakota County Parks, and is part of the range-wide Wood Thrush nano-tagging project under Sarah Kendrick. Through the years Carpenter Nature Center’s field team have hosted and/or collaborated on many projects including a Sedge Wren research project, the Smithsonian Wood Thrush data logger project, National Park Service Bald Eagle research, Osprey and Burrowing Owl work. The early Midwest Peregrine Society banding was performed under CNC’s permit, as was banding by The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota and Betsy Finch of the Raptor Conservation Alliance in Nebraska to name a few of the many sub-permittees through the years.

The

Midwest is a great birding location and Minnesota has a state list of 452 species, with 313 of these occurring regularly. In 2024 Carpenter Nature Center held a site Big Year and listed 212 species on the property. The site features a mix of northern and southern species, from nesting Clay-colored Sparrows and Henslow’s Sparrows to the furthest south Common Raven nest in Minnesota. During October, Carpenter Nature Center is a popular destination for apples (CNC boasts a teaching orchard with14+ varieties of apples), fall colors and for bird migration. Volunteer Ben Douglas hosts point counts in the fall from CNC’s Administration Page 22 North American Bird Bander

Building lawn and in 2024 the counts resulted in high counts of 114 Red-headed Woodpeckers, thousands of Blue Jays and a number of Golden Eagles. A few of the well-known Minnesota specialties, including Northern Shrike, scoters, and Pine Siskin, begin to move to the middle of the state in mid-October.

Nearby Point Douglas Park, where the St. Croix River meets the mighty Mississippi, is a magnet for the occasional rare gull and interesting waterfowl.

For those wishing to extend their trip, there are many birding hot spots and bird-centric organizations within 3 hours of Carpenter Nature Center. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth and Sax Zim Bog are two of the best known. Other facilities include the International Owl Center in Houston, MN, the International Crane Center in Baraboo, WI, the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN, the Bell Museum of Natural History and the UMN

Raptor Center in St. Paul. Nearby wildlife refuges include the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge, Crew Meadows and Sherburne. There are a number of other banding stations in the area at Lowry Nature Center, Riverbend, St. Olaf, Wood Lake Nature Center, Whitewater and at the site formerly known as Warner Nature Center. For those who want the full Minnesota experience, the Saint Paul Curling Club is over 100 years old and will be open for the season in early October. Meanwhile the nearby Mall of America is large enough to house an entire amusement park complete with roller coasters.

The Science Museum of Minnesota, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the quirky Spam Museum are just a few of the places to visit in our great state.

Watch the IBBA website (inlandbirdbanding.org) for further details on the conference.

Great Horned Owl

by George West

Jan. - Mar. 2025

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Golden Eagle

by George West

Inland Flyway Review MAPS 2024 Report Steven Gabrey, Coordinator Van Buren, AR swgabrey@gmail.com The MAPS program, operated by the Institute for Bird Populations (birdpop.org), has collected banding data from over 1,200 stations across North America since it began in 1989. This report, the fourth annual IBBA MAPS review, includes information from 14 MAPS stations operated in the IBBA region in 2024. Twelve of the 15 stations reporting in 2023 return for 2024, along with 2 stations highlighted in previous years.

Geographic distribution of the reporting stations covered the entire IBBA range. The Great Lakes was again the best represented region, with 7 stations reporting. Six stations were located in the South, and 1 in Canada. Seven states and 1 province were represented: Alabama RUFF, WEHL, Arkansas BMRD, STPR, Illinois BIGM, SPFD, WATE, Minnesota HRBO, SPLK, Ohio BSBO, OAKS, Saskatchewan NWSO, Tennessee WPNC, and Texas FDLY. Three stations have been in operation for more than 30 years WATE and WPNC, 34 years each; OAKS, 33 years; 6 have been in operation for 5 years or less.

As in 2023, HRBO in Minnesota had the distinction of having the most “mosts” in 2024, including the most newly banded birds for the 2024 season (284), the most newly banded birds in a single day (77 on 13 Jul), and the most species banded in a single day (18 on 13 Jul). BIGM in Illinois takes the top spot Vol. 50 No. 1

away from HRBO for the most newly banded birds per net-hr (69.6) in 2024 and OAKS in Ohio retains the top spot for most species banded (35). Gray Catbird made the top 5 new bands list at 7 stations, Carolina Wren at 6 stations, and Indigo Bunting at 5 stations. Gray Catbird, American Robin, and Indigo Bunting were the most frequent top 5 birds in 2023.

I appreciate the efforts of the banders for providing their station’s information. Thanks to the Danielle Kaschube and the IBP staff and to leadership and other IBBA board members for their assistance contacting MAPS banders in the IBBA region.

Banders wishing to contribute to the 2025 report are welcome to contact me at swgabrey@gmail. com any time and I will be sure to put you on the email list in the fall.

Station summaries (Data are presented in Table 1 in alphabetical order by state first, then by MAPS ID code).

AL – Alabama Audubon and Jefferson County Greenways (RUFF) Birmingham, AL Contact(s): Lianne Koczur, Lianne@alaudubon.org, Birmingham, AL.

Alabama Audubon and Jefferson County Greenways partnered to start the MAPS station at Ruffner Mountain in 2023. The banding station area is Page 24 North American Bird Bander

mostly composed of shrub and forest habitat, with a small pond in the center. Nine of the nets were placed within the shrub and forest habitat and one was placed in a small area of open field. This was our second year of banding at Ruffner. We banded 113 birds of 18 species (7 fewer species than last year). Our most common species were Hooded Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren. We banded 25 Hooded Warblers this year, compared to 9 last year. We recaptured 36 individuals, 16 of which were banded in 2023: 4 Carolina Wrens, 2 Eastern Towhees, 1 Northern Cardinal, 4 Kentucky Warblers, 1 Swainson’s Warbler, and 4 White-eyed Vireos. We had two new species for the station: Swainson’s Thrush and Tufted Titmouse. I would like to thank Jamie Nobles for all of his help running the station. We also had several volunteers that helped throughout the summer: Kevin Shaw, Eva Ledvina, Saranda Blythe, Mercedes Maddox, Sue Buckingham, Jess Searcy, Ava Lyerly and Carter Baumann.

AL – Wehle Forever Wild Tract (WEHL) Midway, AL Contact(s): Eric Soehren (eric.soehren@dcnr. alabama.gov) and John Trent (john.trent@dcnr. alabama.gov), Wehle Land Conservation Center, Midway, AL. The Wehle MAPS station (#16727) located on the Wehle Forever Wild Tract in Midway, Bullock County, Alabama, completed its 19th season of operation in 2024. The number of new birds banded in 2024 (87) was slightly lower than 2023 (88), but still above our station average of 82.8 birds/year. We had a slightly higher-than-average capture rate of 16.6 birds banded/100 nh (average is 16.1). This year’s top five species for new banded birds were Kentucky Warbler (13), Carolina Wren (12), Hooded Warbler (12), Northern Cardinal (6), and Indigo Bunting (5). We recaptured 16 individuals banded within the 2024 season. An additional 23 individuals banded in previous years were also recaptured with the most notable being a Hooded Warbler first banded in 2018 as an ASY-M. Although a late migrant, we added Gray-cheeked Thrush to our breeding status list raising our total to 94 species detected since our station’s inception.

This thrush was also a new species banded, which now stands at 46 species for the station.

Jan. - Mar. 2025

AR – Boston Mountain Road (BMRD) Mountainburg, Crawford County, AR Contact: Steven Gabrey, van Buren, AR; swgabrey@gmail.com This is the third year of MAPS banding at this site, about 8 km north of Mountainburg, near Lake Fort Smith State Park in Crawford County. This station is on privately owned land that is mostly mixed hardwood forest with a few scattered small openings, mostly on the hilltops. The most common trees are southern red oak and eastern red-cedar, along with a variety of other oaks and hickories.

The forest canopy is mostly closed, and there is little understory or ground cover in the forested areas. Number of new birds banded decreased in 2024 (35) compared to 2023 (43), but was about the same as in 2022 (31). Red-eyed Vireos had been the top species in both 2023 and 2022, but they were replaced this year by Tufted Titmice (6 new birds). Red-eyed Vireos (5 new birds) came in second this year, and Indigo Buntings dropped to the bottom with just 1 new bird banded. Redeyed Vireo remains at the top of the overall list (24 banded) followed by Indigo Bunting in second (14) and Tufted Titmice (13) in third. One new species was added this year (Kentucky Warbler) bringing the station total to 20. Recaptures of birds banded in 2024 included 1 Carolina Wren and 1 Indigo Bunting. Recaptures of birds banded in previous years included a Red-eyed Vireo from 2023 and an Indigo Bunting from 2022. Overall, we have recaptured 8 individuals: 5 Indigo Buntings, and 1 each of Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, and Carolina Wren. The highlight of the year was another ASY-M Scarlet Tanager banded on 4 Jul which was the second tanager to be banded at the station in our 3 years, and, according to the BBL website, he is the 15th to have been banded in Arkansas since 1960 (none of these banded in Arkansas have been encountered, and none banded elsewhere have been encountered in Arkansas).

AR – Stone Prairie Wildlife Management Area (STPR) Mayflower, Faulkner County, AR Contact: Maureen McClung, Conway, AR; mcclung@hendrix.edu.

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The Stone Prairie Wildlife Management Area is a 400-ha property that consists of 3 major habitat types, including oak-hickory forest, oak woodland, and open prairie, through which a perennial stream travels. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has been managing this area since 2017 for wildlife, particularly the Northern Bobwhite, via targeted herbicide application and prescription burning. Originally, this MAPS station was sited to capture these three habitat types, but the area has opened up so that it includes less forest and more woodland. With increasingly hot summers, we often need to close our nets early for the safety of birds, which leads to fewer net hours overall for the season (437 this year). Nevertheless, it is fascinating to watch the landscape changes and study the birds’ responses. This year, we maintained similar productivity at our nets, with 33.9 new bands per 100 net-hr (compared to 34.0 in 2023) and 148 total new bands (compared to 155 in 2023). Contrastingly, we applied new bands to three fewer species (29 in 2024 compared to 32 in 2023); however, we chalk this trend up to missing out on late migrants in May, which were a boon to our species numbers in 2023. Banding 29 species is still >3 species greater than in 2022 and previous years. Our most encountered birds (new bands plus recaptures) included Indigo Bunting (34), Yellowbreasted Chat (29), Eastern Bluebird (20), Carolina Wren (11), and Carolina Chickadee (11). We saw 14 individuals whom we had banded in previous years (5 from 2021, 4 from 2022, and 5 from 2023).

This was the first year we have not caught any birds that were first banded in the inaugural year of the station (2020). Eastern Bluebirds have never come close to making the “most encountered” list (having only captured 4 across the previous 4 years of the station). When considered along with the capture history of Black-and-white Warblers, which were on this list our first 2 years, but are rarely captured anymore, it is likely that the birds are telling the story of the vegetation. Some other noteworthy mentions from 2024 include 26 May when we caught a DCB-M Blue Jay. Though dirt common in Arkansas and often heard at the station, we have never caught one. A most victorious day was 12 Jun when we finally captured a FCA-M Yellow-throated Vireo. This species has oft sung Vol. 50 No. 1

from the trees at the station, but has never graced our nets. We also were excited to find a DCB-M Worm-eating Warbler 2 Jul, which we rarely hear at the station, so this bird was particularly surprising.

IL – Big Marsh Park (BIGM) Chicago, Cook County, IL Contact: Lila Fried, Chicago, IL, lilakfried@gmail.com, and Stephanie Beilke, Milwaukee, WI, stephanie.beilke@gmail.com Big Marsh Park is a 121-ha property located in the South Deering Community Area of southeast Chicago. The station is on land that has been managed by the Chicago Park District for the past decade and is surrounded by Lake Calumet, defunct industrial parks, a golf course, and a decommissioned landfill. Habitat consists of emergent marsh edge, cottonwood-dominated woodland with invasive buckthorn understory, and prairie dominated by dumping piles of “slag,” a byproduct of the steel industry. We put up 7 nets in the cottonwood/ buckthorn habitat and 1 net in the emergent marsh.

This is the fifth consecutive year of operation for the station. We had more effort over all this year due to more favorable weather conditions and increased volunteer availability compared to last year, with 7 total banding sessions compared to last year’s 5. Our total number of captures this year (220) was notably higher compared to 2023 (141), owing at least partly to increased effort. This year’s top species banded were Gray Catbird (56), Yellow Warbler (30), American Robin (27), American Goldfinch (15), and Common Yellowthroat (10).

We recaptured 22 individuals that were banded in previous years. Red-eyed Vireo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and Least Bittern were captured for the first time at the station this year, although all have been known breeders at Big Marsh. Note that the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Least Bittern were released unbanded.

IL – City Water, Light, and Power (SPFD) Springfield, IL Contact: Tony Rothering, Auburn, IL; arothering94@gmail.com.

The SPFD MAPS station is located on property owned by the local municipality (City Water, Light and Power – CWLP). It is bordered on the east by Page 26 North American Bird Bander

Lake Springfield (human-made water reservoir), on the northwest by Interstate 55, and on the south by residential housing. The station primarily consists of secondary growth, oak/hickory forest with an invasive understory (bush honeysuckle). Along the interstate, there is old field habitat (non-native grass/ forb) which also creates a field/forest edge. Of the 10 nets in operation, two nets are in the edge habitat with the other eight in the forest. Two of the forest nets are near a stream that runs through the property, and one of those nets stretches over the stream (perpendicular to the water channel). A project initiated by a local conservation/restoration group working with CWLP to remove the invasive forest understory and re-establish a native understory has been temporarily (we hope) put on hold. Roughly 40% of the woodland area in which the 8 nets are located has been cleared of the invasive understory.

We are hoping the project will continue as we would like to monitor how these modifications affect the future bird diversity and density. The number of new birds banded has fluctuated considerably over the 10 years the station has been in operation.

The highest number (176 birds; 37 birds per 100 net-hr) was during our first season of operation (2015) and the lowest number (84 birds; 20 birds per 100 net-hr) was in 2022. The total number of newly banded birds this year (112) was below the average of previous years (121.9). The diversity of newly banded birds (19 species) also was below the previous years’ average (23.3). On 18 Jun (4th banding day of the season), we had the highest daily number of captures (51 total, including 42 newly banded and 9 recaptures) since the inception of our MAPS station. Without this 1 busy day, our seasonal numbers would have been significantly lower as we only averaged 13 captures/day over the other 7 banding days. Coinciding with the partial removal of the invasive understory (described above), we continued to see lower numbers of Gray Catbirds than in years past (post-removal average is 11.8 compared to 24.5 pre-removal). We have seen the opposite trend with American Robins as their numbers have increased slightly since the initiation of this invasive understory removal project (post-removal average is 31.0, compared to 28.5). Notable 2024 recaptures included a Common Grackle originally banded in 2016 as SY. Jan. - Mar. 2025

IL – Waterfall Glenn Forest Preserve (WATE) Lemont, IL Contact: Brian Kraskiewicz, Wheaton, IL; bkraskiewicz@dupageforest.org, and Glenn Gabanski, Darien, IL; ggabanski@fieldmuseum.org.

The 1013-ha Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve (property of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County) consists of prairies, savannas and oakmaple woodlands surrounding Argonne National Laboratory and adjacent to the Des Plaines River valley. Our MAPS site is located primarily in a bluff savanna, but extends a bit into prairie, shrubland, and a pine forest. In 2004 considerable amounts of buckthorn, honeysuckle and other select weedy invasive trees and shrubs were removed from the hardwood forested portion of the site. Changes to the habitat since the station was started in 1992 have resulted in changes to our most common species. Following the removal of the invasive shrubs and trees in 2004, Gray Catbird and Indigo Bunting have replaced Black-capped Chickadee and Northern Cardinal as our most often trapped species. This was our 34th year of running our MAPS station. Seven of our 10 nets are within the restored savanna, 1 is along a stream between restored and unrestored forest, 1 is near the shrubland, and 1 is near the edge between the savanna and the pine forest. Based on banding totals 2024 was an above average year, possibly due to the emergence of 17-year cicadas. We knew from 2007 to expect cicadas in our nets, but only two banding days this year saw the nets filled with dozens of cicadas. Removing all these cicadas from the nets and dealing with the noise made for some less-than-ideal days. However, with this plentiful food source, we were not surprised to see our numbers increase over last year. Even in our 4th decade we continue to have some interesting captures. One was a re-trap Indigo Bunting originally captured 23 Jun 2020 and aged as SY (hatched in 2019). That means this bird was in its 6th year of life. Another surprise was a juvenile Carolina wren. We rarely hear this species, and it was only the second individual we banded. The first was in 2020. Near the end of the season we caught a Brown Thrasher, a bird we often see and hear but

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rarely trap, two Northern House Wrens. This was the first time this year we detected them on our site.

One final note, after a busy season we captured not a single bird on our last day of banding. This has never happened to us before.

MN – Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve (HRBO) Duluth, St. Louis County, MN Contact: David Alexander dalexan1@d.umn.edu, and Margie Menzies mmenzies@hawkridge.org Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve is a 148-ha property sitting on a former glacial shoreline ridge overlooking the western end of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. The habitat is somewhat mixed, but predominantly alder thicket, aspen, and some mixed maple/oak forest. The area shows major signs of human alteration including recovering pastureland, and pine plantations. In July 2016, approximately 10-20% of the large trees were downed by a storm with straight-line winds of nearly 160 km/h, so the habitat is a variety of successional stages. This year was dry at the end of the summer, but very wet at the beginning. Unfortunately, the really stormy and wet weather coincided with nesting. As a result, overall numbers of most species were down which was also reflected in the decreased number of new birds, with 284 newly banded birds this year compared to 347 in 2023. For 2024, we did have a similar of number of previous years’ recaptures (67 birds) as in previous years, which is always encouraging. One interesting note is that our top 2 birds banded from last year (Nashville Warbler, 64 birds; Tennessee Warbler, 25 birds) did not make the top 5 this year. Amazingly, we did not band any Nashville Warblers during MAPS this year; our average is 31 per year. Recaptures continue, which is one of the joys of MAPS. We had an American Redstart and an American Goldfinch, both of which were at least 6 years of age when recaptured this year.

MN – Carpenter Nature Center and Dakota County Grassland Bird Bison impact study (SPLK) Hastings, Dakota County, MNContact: Jennifer Vieth; Jennifer@CarpenterNatureCenter.org

on grassland nesting birds of reintroducing bison to the restored prairie landscape. In addition to point counts, the MAPS research site contains nets in a control area and 3 separate bison paddocks. Year one was in 2022 prior to the bison reintroduction.

Year two was in 2023 and required some juggling to keep consistent effort, while avoiding the paddocks the bison were utilizing. Year three was back to the original 10 net lanes as the bison were at the far end of the park. Unfortunately, the weather, specifically high winds, required early net closures on many days resulting in lower numbers of birds encountered. This project is one of many that the bird banding research team at Carpenter Nature Center have undertaken through the years. Much of the research has been performed on the nature center’s 293 ha of restored and natural habitat in the St. Croix River OH – Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) Oak Harbor, OH Contact: Ryan Jacob, Oak Harbor, OH; ryanjacob@bsbo.org

Located to the west of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) headquarters, the BSBO MAPS station follows a nature trail loop within a section of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. The area is reclaimed farmland, having been planted with trees 30+ years ago and with minimal management, allowing for natural succession to occur. The site hosts scattered Eastern Cottonwood and Swamp White Oak with a heavy Gray Dogwood understory.

In 2024, 216 birds were banded (average of previous years 248.2) surpassing 2023 by 30 birds. Having only operated for 6 seasons, the station is still somewhat in its infancy, but during that short time, the disappearance of Yellow Warblers has notably stood out. This was our lowest year for Yellow Warblers, with only 15 banded (average 64.4; previous low of 22 in 2023). Common Yellowthroat was also low with 3 banded (average 8). But it was not all lows as 3 species set new high records: American Robin with 50 (average 16.4), Downy Woodpecker with 5 (average 2), and Northern House Wren with 11 (average 3.4). As a forest edge Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center’s bird scrub-dweller, Gray Catbirds maintained a healthy banding team paired up with the Dakota County presence (73; avg. 79.6). But the increasing number Parks natural resources team to research the impact of woodland-associated species suggests a maturing Page 28 Vol. 50 No. 1 North American Bird Bander

habitat that could explain the lack of scrub-dwelling warblers. As a younger station, it is no surprise that we banded 4 new species in 2024: 1 each of Tennessee Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Wood Thrush, and Hairy Woodpecker. Along with the Eastern Phoebe, a Traill’s Flycatcher and a (late) Yellowbellied Flycatcher were banded, but flycatchers overall were seemingly absent throughout much of the season. Most of the return birds in 2024 were banded in 2023, however, there was a Gray Catbird originally banded ASY-F in Jun 2021 and 2 Northern Cardinals originally banded AHY-F and AHY-M in 2022. An additional Northern Cardinal was recovered, having originally been banded in May 2023 at our migration station about 11 km to the east. Our migration station also happened to recover 1 of this summer’s young birds, with an HY-M American Robin banded in Jul showing up with a proliferation of American Robins in Oct (as well as being a high summer for American Robins, it was also a high fall).

OH – Oak Openings Preserve Metropark (OAKS) Whitehouse, OH Contact: Ryan Jacob, Oak Harbor, OH; ryanjacob@bsbo.org The Oak Openings Preserve Metropark of the Metroparks Toledo system encompasses a mosaic of unique and rare habitats in northwest Ohio, notably oak savanna interspersed with sand dunes.

Black Swamp Bird Observatory’s (BSBO) goal is to document bird use and species composition of 4 habitats within the site (representative of habitats located throughout the 2000-ha preserve and region) and assess breeding bird response to land management. These habitats include successional savanna dominated by forbs, young oaks, and sassafras; grassland/sand dune hosting wild lupine, blazing stars, and mature oaks; managed oak forest dominated by black oak and lowbush blueberry; and unmanaged forest with a white oak canopy and fern understory. In 2024, 191 birds were banded, just above average (169.5) and only 2 birds fewer than 2023 (193). Scrub-dwelling species did well throughout the summer (even though management is occurring to reduce woody vegetation and Jan. - Mar. 2025

preserve grassland/savanna) with Gray Catbird (44), Common Yellowthroat (14), and Bluewinged Warbler (5) surpassing their previous years’ averages (18.3, 7.1, and 1.7, respectively). Indigo Bunting, however, has maintained lower numbers in previous years with 7 banded this year compared to an average of 15.1 for previous years. This was also our third year in a row without capturing or documenting a Lark Sparrow at the site (although they can still be found breeding in other established sites within the region). Tufted Titmouse was the only species to set a new high record with 18 banded (previous high of 11, avg. 4.1). Hooded Warblers were quite prevalent throughout the region, including 2 banded, marking the sixth and seventh birds to be banded at the station (this species appears to be on the rise at the northern end of its range, with most bandings at the site occurring since 2010). Two Tennessee Warblers were also banded at the end of the season, marking the third and fourth occurrence for them (first capture of the species was in 2019, with a second capture in 2023). And 2 new species were banded in 2024 (quite a feat given the station’s longevity) with a late Wilson’s Warbler at the beginning of Jun and a pre-basic Black-throated Green Warbler in Aug. Of the 24 return birds in 2024, the oldest 2 had original banding dates in 2018: a Gray Catbird banded as an ASY-M in Jun 2018 and a Field Sparrow banded as an SY-M in Jun 2018. Additionally, 4 birds were from 2020: a Baltimore Oriole, Common Yellowthroat, and 2 Field Sparrows.

SK – Saw-whet Acres Banding Station (NWSO) Edenwold, SK Contact: Jared Clarke, Edenwold, SK; clarkejared@hotmail.com.

The Saw-whet MAPS station is located 32 km NE of Regina, Saskatchewan, near the village of Edenwold.

It has been in operation since 2013 and operates 7 nets. The station’s habitat is predominately tame hay land, made up of species such as meadow brome and alfalfa, with a few small wetlands and stands of trembling aspen and willows. The station sits on the edge of the Aspen Parkland ecoregion, but the majority of the surrounding landscape is annual dry cropland such as wheat and canola. This

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year saw our lowest capture rate in our 12 years of operation with only 175 new birds banded (previous years’ average 247). The top 5 captured species were Cedar Waxwing (29), House Wren (26), Yellow Warbler (21), Gray Catbird (19), and Least Flycatcher (11). Cedar Waxwing numbers were double or triple compared to the last 3 years, after having shown steady declines over the last decade.

Least Flycatcher and American Robin (4) numbers dropped by over 65% over the long-term averages.

Surprisingly we captured 3 new species this year, 1 bird of each Blue Jay, Purple Martin and Orchard Oriole. The Orchard Oriole was a SY-F and we located her nest within the station boundaries, the first confirmed breeding record of this species here!

She was paired with an SY-M and they successfully fledged young. Only in 2019 have we documented a single Orchard Oriole at the station during the breeding season, with no evidence of breeding at the time. Total number of individual recaptures was slightly below average this year, (20; average of 23.4). The 2 oldest recaps this year were both banded in 2019, a Warbling Vireo and a Yellow Warbler. This was the first recapture of the SY-F Yellow Warbler since she was banded, while the AHY-U Warbling Vireo was previously recaptured in 2023. Otherwise most other recaps were from 2023. It was a delight to use our new banding shed this season and band in what felt like luxury!

TN – Warner Park Nature Center (WPNC) Nashville, Davidson County, TN Contact: Laura Cook, Warner Park BIRD Program, Nashville, TN; laura.cook@nashville.gov.

The Warner Parks, 1293 ha, are in southwest Davidson County, Nashville, Tennessee, and managed by the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation Department. The MAPS banding site is on the Warner Park Nature Center (WPNC) campus with a year-round public banding station. The center is located on the edge of large urban natural area park with two state highways nearby. Habitat is forest edge near a creek and small pond. Six nets are in edge habitat and four nets are along a stream. Four of these 10 nets were added 2021, the other 6 nets are in the same location since MAPS was launched at WPNC in 1991. All ten sessions were completed in 2024. Five tanagers, nineteen thrushes, six Vol. 50 No. 1

vireos and seven flycatchers were banded, as well as several warblers (out of four species). Thirtytwo birds from previous years were recaptured, and the oldest were a Northern Cardinal banded as an AHY-F on 6 Jul 2021 and recaptured 14 May as an ASY-F making it at least 4 years old. Some highlights of the season include capturing a Canada Warbler, a species we do not see at our station often, as well as an interesting Eastern Wood-Pewee with a definite brood patch but determined to be a male through genetic analysis, a behavior not documented in this species. No Kentucky Warblers were captured this season, which was a notable absence from previous years, and is likely linked to the recent invasive mid-story plant removal at our banding site. All sessions were publicized through the nature center and 332 visitors learned about birds, banding, and the MAPS Program.

This was the fourth year during MAPS we radiotagged birds with 434 MHz solar transmitters from Cellular Tracking Technologies as part of our Motus research project focused on thrushes. We captured and radio-tagged a single thrush this MAPS season – a SY-U Veery. This Veery was detected in Warner Parks until 9 May 2024, and was then detected at a MOTUS station in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario on 13 May 2024. This was the 34th year of our MAPS station, the oldest continuous MAPS station in Tennessee and one of the first in the Southeast. We are continuing to work on analyzing the data. The Bird Program is supported by Metro Parks and Recreation and funded by Friends of Warner Parks, a non-profit support group. The MAPS project is coordinated by Sandy Bivens, Kathy Shaw and Laura Cook and made possible by a team of 22 dedicated volunteers and nature center TX – Lake Findley (FDLY) Alice, TX Contact: Mike Stewart, Alice, TX; a.tristis@gmail.com

This was our third year of operation for the Lake Findley MAPS station located in Jim Wells County, Texas. The net lanes are in approximately 3 ha of mesquite-hackberry woodland near the lake’s edge.

We were not able to operate the station during period six due to travel and nine due to weather.

From 7 May to 4 Aug, 92 new birds were banded Page 30 North American Bird Bander

with 22 recaptures. This was higher than last year’s totals, even though we missed 2 of the periods. Of the 29 species newly captured, Northern Cardinals were the most numerous with 12 newly banded.

Painted Buntings came in second with 9, and we had 3 species tied at 7. Olive Sparrows led the

Jan. - Mar. 2025

recaptures with 11, with others listed in the table below. Banding highlights include recapturing an Audubon’s Oriole banded last year, 4 HY Bullock’s Orioles that all hit Net Two at once, and a busy second period with a nice mixture of locals and late migrants including 7 species of warblers.

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Species Snapshot: Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) This is the 17th installment in our regular feature presenting a brief synopsis of the banding and encounter records submitted to the Bird Banding Lab for a particular species. Each installment will feature a new species; suggestions for species to be covered or data to be presented are welcome (swgabrey@gmail.com).

Space limitations of NABB prohibit any in-depth analysis of the data and these notes are not meant to show any trends in population parameters such as population density or growth rate, geographic distribution, etc.. and should not be viewed as a definitive analysis of the status of the species. Although the banding program began in the 1920s, the currently available digital records for banding data include only those records from 1960 to the present (pre-1960 banding data are available in other formats, however). All encounters, including those of birds banded before 1960, are available in digital format. This summary includes only those birds banded in the United States and Mexico between 1960 and December 2024; a brief review of encounters of birds banded in 1959 or earlier is included at the end.

Banded birds Numbers and Age and Sex Categories.– Since 1960, 648 Greater Roadrunners have been banded in the United States and Mexico (Table 1). Sex was identified (either at banding or upon encounter) for 18% (n =115) of these; 61% were males (n = 70) and 39% were females (n = 45). Fourteen percent of the males were aged as “first year” (HY or L; n = 10), 80% were aged as “adult” (AHY, SY, ASY, TY, or ATY; n = 56), and 6% were aged as U (n = 4). Nine percent of the females were aged as first year (n= 4), 76% were aged as adult (n = 34), and 15% were aged as U (n = 7). Fifty-one percent of the 533 roadrunners for which sex was not identified were aged as first year (n =274), 37% were aged as adult (n = 193), and 12% were aged as U (n = 66).

Table 1. Number of Greater Roadrunners banded and encountered in the United States and Mexico between Jan 1960 and Dec 2024 by age at banding and sex (either sex at banding or sex updated upon encounter).

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Geographic distribution.– A total of 644 Greater Roadrunners have been banded in 9 United States and 4 have been banded in Mexico (Table 2). Three states (California, n = 187; Texas, n = 184, and Arizona, n = 131) together accounted for 77% of all banded roadrunners.

Table 2. Number of Greater Roadrunners banded and encountered in the United States and Mexico between Jan 1960 and Dec 2024. All encounters occurred in the state in which the bird was banded.

Seasonal distribution.– Overall, 54% of all Greater Roadrunners were banded in Summer (May-Aug; n = 348), 11% in Fall (Sep-Oct; n =72), 21% in Winter (Nov-Feb; n = 134), and 14% in Spring (Mar-Apr; n = 94; Table 3).

Table 3. Number and seasonal distribution of Greater Roadrunners banded in the United States and Mexico between Jan 1960 and Dec 2024.

Encounters Numbers and Age and Sex Categories.– There have been 12 encounters representing 12 Greater Roadrunners in the United States between Jan 1960 and Dec 2024. No encounters had age or sex mismatch errors, and no roadrunner was encountered on the day it was banded or on more than 1 occasion. Sex was identified for 1 of the 12 encounters, a male aged as AHY (Table 2). Six of the remaining 11 roadrunners were aged as first year (HY = 4, L = 2), 3 were aged as adult (AHY = 2, SY = 1) and 2 were aged as U (Table 2). Time elapsed between banding and encounter dates ranged from 1 day to 2 yr 10 mo 0 days. Minimum age at encounter (MAE) ranged from 0 yr 2 mo to 3 yr 9 mo. MAE was less than 1 yr 0 mo for 8 of the 12 encounters. The oldest roadrunner for which sex was identified (and the oldest roadrunner overall) was male banded as an Page 34 Vol. 50 No. 1 North American Bird Bander

AHY in Mar 1979 in Arizona and encountered in Mar 1982 at its banding location (MAE = 3 yr 9 mo).

The second oldest roadrunner was banded as an AHY-U in Feb 2019 in New Mexico and encountered in May 2021 (MAE = 2 yr 11 mo) and the third oldest was an AHY-U banded in Oct 1986 in Arizona and encountered less than a week later (MAE = 1 yr 4 mo). One roadrunner banded as an L-U in May 1969 in Oklahoma had an encounter date of Aug 1976; however, the date coding indicates that the exact encounter date was not specified by the reporter and is instead based on the date of the postmark on the reporting note.

Consequently, no MAE could be calculated.

Geographic distribution and how obtained codes.– All 12 roadrunner encounters occurred in the state in which they were banded (Table 2). Distance between banding and capture locations was 24 km or less or not reported for all encounters. Five of the roadrunners were found dead (how obtained code = 0); 2 were caught due to injury (how obtained code = 3); 2 were caught by hand (how obtained code = 28); 2 were seen or photographed while the bird was free (how obtained code = 29 or 52); and 1 was recaptured during banding operations (how obtained code = 66).

Birds banded before 1960.– Five Greater Roadrunners banded in 1959 or earlier have been encountered, all of which occurred in the same state in which the bird was banded. MAE for all 5 was 1 yr 7 mo or less.

Sex was not identified for any; age was reported as AHY for 3 and as U for 2. The first roadrunner to be banded and later encountered was an AHY-U banded in May 1950 in California and struck by a vehicle (how obtained code 14) in Nov 1950. Four roadrunners banded between Jan and Apr 1952 at a single location in Nevada were also encountered, 1 in Nov 1952 and 3 in Jan 1953; all were recaptured during banding operations (how obtained code = 66) at the banding location.

Acknowledgements.– I thank the nearly 100 permit holders who have banded Greater Roadrunners over the years, all the individuals who reported encounters, and Matthew Roginsky and staff at the Bird Banding Lab, for supplying the data.

Steven Gabrey 1805 Hidden Valley Street Van Buren, AR 72956

Greater Roadrunner Renee Grayson https://flic.kr/p/2mejkzm https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/2.0/

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Western Bird Banding Association Grant Announcement 2024 Grant Award The Western Bird Banding Association small grants program awarded a $1000 grant to Lauren Hill.

Lauren is a master’s student at California State University at Los Angeles working in the lab of Dr. Eric Wood. An abstract of her research study follows: "This study will examine migratory bird population structure along the Pacific Flyway, emphasizing the linkages between a newly recognized avian migratory corridor in Southern California and probable breeding destinations for avian migrants using this passageway. Each spring, Bear Divide funnels tens of thousands of birds through a narrow, low-elevation mountain pass in Los Angeles County. I will use high-resolution genetic markers from DNA that I will extract from tail feather samples collected from two long-distance migratory songbird species that passed through Bear Divide, the Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) and Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia). Combining four years of bird banding data and DNA collected at Bear Divide between springs 2021-2024, this study will rely on and build upon the Bird Genoscape Project’s existing genoscape database to 1) Examine the genetic population structure and probable breeding origins of Wilson’s and Yellow Warblers at Bear Divide, 2) Compare passage timing between species and sub-populations, as well as across years, and 3) Identify differences in migratory body condition and morphometrics of species and sub-populations, exploring trends in Vol. 50 No. 1

body mass, fat deposition, feather wear, and wing length across years.”

WBBA plans to offer a grant of $1000 in 2023 for a research or monitoring project for individuals and/or organizations engaged in projects in the New World using marked birds. Preference will be given to projects taking place in the WBBA regional area. Research projects should help test a hypothesis, while monitoring projects are intended to help individuals or institutions establish or continue monitoring programs that investigate changes in bird populations. Students (graduate and undergraduate) as well as organizational interns are encouraged to apply.

Grant awardees will be asked to submit results of their research projects for publication in future issues of North American Bird Bander, as well as to present results at a future WBBA annual meeting.

More information on how to apply is available on the WBBA website at: www.westernbirdbanding. org/research-grants.

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2024 AMERICAN FIELD ORNITHOLOGIST (AFO) AND WESTERN BIRD BANDING ASSOCIATION (WBBA) JOINT ANNUAL MEETING SCIENTIFIC SESSION ABSTRACTS H S C

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Paul Heveran, Florence, AZ J.P. Gyekis, State College, PA The phenomenon of migratory birds engaging in morning flight over Arizona has been poorly studied throughout much of the state’s ornithological history. From 20 July to 1 December 2023, author PH conducted observations of birds in flight in the Lower Sonoran Desert region of Pinal County for 15-200 minutes after sunrise on 52 mornings. A second season of counting at the same site began on 1 July 2024, and monitoring is ongoing. Time and direction were noted for each passing migrant, and patterns of average flight height and behavior of different species were recorded. Weather and sky conditions were also recorded each morning.

In 2023, a total of 7,641 migrants were recorded, representing at least 90 species. By continuing past the monsoon season, late-season migrants such as Brewer’s Blackbirds were recorded. White-winged Doves predominantly flew south, while Lark Sparrows and others moved in a range from south to east. Tallies in July through late August 2024 of known monsoon molt migrants (Western Kingbird, Phainopepla, and Bullock’s Oriole) were much higher than in 2023 when monsoon moisture was delayed. We documented the passage of multiple species not typically found in this open desert habitat. Particularly notable were the occurrence of multiple Black Swifts, a Arizona rarity, and large numbers of Vaux’s Swifts migrating through.

Much more remains unknown about morning flight statewide. Collaboration between multiple count sites would improve our understanding of when these movements happen and how they are affected by weather, geography, and other factors.

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Danielle Kaschube, The Institute for Bird Populations Steven Albert, The Institute for Bird Populations The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) initiated two long-term bird monitoring programs using banding to use banding data to calculate demographic rates in bird populations. IBP’s flagship program, the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program, is a temperate zone breeding season monitoring program. Since its inception in 1989, over 1300 stations have operated, and it has become North America's largest, long-term, constant-effort bird banding program. Its data has been used in over 150 peer-reviewed publications, including publications showing the effects of climate change on time of breeding and bird size. To help increase the accessibility of the data to researchers, IBP created the MAPS Data Exploration Tool, which allows researchers access to raw data and calculated continent-wide demographic estimates.

The Monitoring Overwinter Survival (MoSI) program began in 2002, and over 250 stations have operated in 22 countries. MoSI has increased the understanding of Neotropical birds, and through a series of grants, banders have also been able to implement conservation actions. Both MAPS and MoSI began with goals of demographic research, but the stable network of banders over a large geographic area has been instrumental in helping cooperative efforts like the Bird Genoscape Project.

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Alfredo Leal Sandoval, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa.

The Tropical Dry Forest (TDF) is one of the world's most threatened ecosystems, and Mexico has a significant extent of this habitat, with numerous species of birds (both migratory and

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resident) dependent on it. The TDF of Sinaloa (TDFSS) is the largest ecoregion in the country, which faces deforestation and conversion to agricultural systems. Tropical Dry Forest has a high seasonality that intensely defines the patterns in its annual ecological cycle. Here, we describe the general vegetation structure in Cosalá, Sinaloa, and its relationship with the abundance, richness, and diversity of birds. In 2020, we conducted 53 point counts distributed across different vegetation types and detected 133 residents, 61 Neotropical, 25 summer, and 6 vagrant migratory species. We also analyzed vegetation structure variables and the bird community, using data from a permanent banding station. We also evaluated the planthummingbird interaction network and the change in key and peripheral species during three weather periods. Finally, we examined the organization, diversity, and composition of the bird community in deciduous forests, sub-deciduous forests, secondary deciduous forests, and agroecosystems).

The results show that vegetation structure is crucial for birds: lower trees provide food, shelter, and protection. Bird richness and abundance in the TDF had a negative correlation with vegetation height. In the case of hummingbirds, our results reveal a significant influence of floral resources and long-distance and altitudinal migratory movements on the interactions of these birds. Regarding vegetation types with the highest diversity and migratory species, agroecosystems have the most diversity and migratory species.

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Kerrie Anne Loyd, Arizona State University Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are declining across its geographic range, yet in Arizona this species is frequently observed using urban and suburban habitats.

This poses new anthropogenic challenges to owl conservation. With the help of numerous Arizona State University undergraduates, I have monitored the Lake Havasu City (LHC) burrowing owls for the past 10 nesting seasons to help answer questions Vol. 50 No. 1

about habitat choices, movement and behavior and document any conservation concerns. I monitored 217 nests, banded 287 birds and recaptured 51 to date. Nest success averages 73% with a mean of 4.1 fledglings per successful nest. I hypothesized that nest site characteristics (diameter, height in wash, plant cover, nearby satellite burrows) might influence nest success, but logistic regression revealed no significant predictors (model X2 (8) = 3.812, p= 0.874). Dispersal distances are higher than other populations reported in the literature, and female birds moved farther (Mean= 2876 m, n = 46) than males (M=1568, n = 25). I hypothesized that sex, habitat (greenspace, residential, suburban commercial or urban business), competition -fledglings at nest, nearest neighbor, or artificial light at night might predict dispersal distances, but results of linear regression suggest that only the number of siblings at the nest site explained variance in natal dispersal (p= 0.017) (F 5,25 =1.912, p=0.128, R2=0.277).

Conservation challenges include secondary poisoning and loss of active burrows to development. Understanding more about our Lake Havasu City population can help fill gaps in knowledge about this species in human-dominated environments and help us focus conservation measures and public education efforts.

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Aya Pickett, Tucson Audubon Society The Empire Ranch Banding Station is one of the furthest south MAPS banding operations in the continental U.S. and has been operating for over 20 years. This presentation will provide an overview of the station, including capture rates, operational procedures, a summary of the 2024 season, and future plans for expansion.

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Sarah Polekoff, Arizona State University, Life Sciences Center

P. Deviche, Arizona State University, Life Sciences Center Page 38 North American Bird Bander

Urban environments expose animals to many potential stressors, including habitat alteration, pollution, and increased disease vectors. These stressors can increase the organism’s exposure to and/or production of pro-oxidants, which, unless compensated by antioxidants, can result in oxidative stress and lead to physiological damage and pathologies. We performed a meta-analysis using 26 studies, for a total of 137 effect sizes, to test the hypothesis in birds that exposure to urban sources of pro-oxidants is associated with elevated oxidative damage but also with upregulated levels of antioxidants and, therefore, not with a state of oxidative stress. We grouped measures of oxidative balance into categories and ran a model for each.

We found that urban avian populations have lower antioxidant capacity, higher dietary oxidative stress, and a tendency for higher oxidative stress overall when compared to non-urban populations of the same species. However, we did not observe consistent effects of urbanization across studies in levels of specific endogenous antioxidants. The effect of urbanization on oxidative stress was most apparent in less commonly studied species.

Additionally, the effect of urbanization on oxidative damage differed among species. These analyses suggest that urban birds have higher oxidative stress than non-urban birds but that the effect varies by species. Differences may also be due to yet unidentified differences among cities or study design, especially for endogenous antioxidants.

More studies are needed from a greater variety of habitats and climates to confirm whether the trends identified in this meta-analysis are universal.

March to mid-May, composed of 80+ species, of which more than 75% are migratory bird species.

From 2021-2024, the Bear Divide Banding Station banded over 100 birds of some migrant species every year. Upwards of 20-25% of some migratory bird species [e.g. Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus); Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)] were outside of the weight ranges, or individuals weighed less than the mean weight presented in Pyle’s Identification Guide to North American Birds, 2nd ed. Other migratory bird species [e.g.

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana); Blackheaded Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)] mirrored the normal weight distribution presented

by Pyle suggesting species-dependent or the biases in banding data focused on certain parts of a bird’s annual cycle (e.g. breeding). This creates a problem as the Bird Banding Laboratory relies on the range of weight values presented in Pyle’s book. Here, we present some of our findings on the weights of some of these migratory bird species and discuss some of these problems.

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Olya Weekley, Tucson Audubon Society Open-top vertical pipes, often referred to as "Death Pipes," present a significant but underrecognized threat to birds and other small wildlife. These structures, used for various purposes such as fence posts, gate anchors, and irrigation/ventilation systems, can become lethal traps for animals seeking shelter or nesting sites. Once inside, creatures are often unable to escape due to the smooth walls and tight spaces, leading to a slow W M B B D : and agonizing death. Cavity-nesting birds are the C L most frequent victims, but other animals, including reptiles and small mammals, are also at risk. The Walter H. Sakai, Thousand Oaks, CA full extent of the fatalities caused by these pipes is difficult to determine, as the trapped animals T. E. Romero, Los Angeles, CA often go unnoticed until the pipes are removed. A Lauren Hill, Los Angeles, CA notable discovery by Audubon California revealed hundreds of deceased animals within a single 20 ft Weight or mass is a useful characteristic to assess (6.1 m) pipe, highlighting the severity of this issue. the condition and health of a bird and is normally To address this issue, the Tucson Audubon Society, measured during bird banding. At Bear Divide, a with support from Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife dawn spring migration site just within greater Los Conservation, expanded Project Death Pipes Angeles, over 1500 birds are banded by the Bear through public education and agency outreach. In Divide Banding Station every spring from midPage 39 Jan. - Mar. 2025 North American Bird Bander

2023, a total of 641 pipes were permanently capped, potentially saving thousands of small animals into the future.

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Sheri Williamson, Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory Hummingbirds hybridize more freely than almost any other family of birds. Thanks in large part to digital photography, community (citizen) science platforms such as eBird and iNaturalist, and social media, the number of known and suspected hybrid combinations involving hummingbird species that breed north of Mexico has doubled since the publication of A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America in 2002. Most of these are intergeneric and some are intercladal, typically involving a member of the Bee clade (Mellusugini) and either an Emerald (Trochilini) or Mountaingem (Lampornithini). Nevertheless, many birders remain unaware of this phenomenon, and while some banders make special efforts to document hybrids, others avoid banding them. More consistent and thorough documentation of hybrids is necessary to aid identification both in the field and in hand and to understand the prevalence, behavioral bases, and evolutionary and biogeographic implications of the phenomenon.

Central Arizona-Phoenix Research (CAP ) LongTerm Ecological project since 2000 and discuss how long-term trends reflect the pressures placed on bird communities by urbanization and human activities.

Data were collected via 15-minute bird point count surveys conducted at 106 sites across the Phoenix metropolitan area. Surveys were completed during the winter and spring seasons of each year from 2000 until the present, where each site was visited twice per season. The data show negative trends for both abundance and occupancy for bird species in the Phoenix area, where abundance decreased over time for all species and occupancy notably decreased over time for some species. As Phoenix has grown, so too have the pressures placed on its natural resources. The long-term CAP bird point count data reveal troubling declines in bird abundance and occupancy, highlighting the importance of proactive urban wildlife management. Monitoring these trends is crucial to balancing urban growth with the preservation of ecological health in Phoenix and the surrounding area.

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Shane Ashton Henderson, Arizona State University In the Valley of the Sun, the city of Phoenix surrounds the Salt River, which provides essential habitat and resources for the unique species in this region to survive. However, urbanization in Phoenix may significantly impact native flora and fauna. It is important to monitor these impacts in order to inform urban wildlife management. Birds are frequently used as indicators of ecosystem health due to their high mobility and visibility. In this poster, I share bird point count data collected by the Vol. 50 No. 1

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Rufous Hummingbird R. Pantle

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Officers

President Ariane Giudicelli.com

email: Arianeg01@hotmail.com Secretary Maren Gimpel email: maren.gimpel@gmail.com

Councilors

1st V.Pres. Aaron Given Laura-Marie Koitsch Rebecca Esch Todd Alleger email: agiven@kiawahisland.com David Brinker Alison Fetterman Margaret Rohde 2nd V.Pres. Annie Lindsay Alison Van Keuren Nick Liadis email: LindsayA@carnegiemnh.org Terms Exp. 2025 Terms Exp. 2026 Gigi Gerben Cailin O'Connor Robin Schweikart Maggie MacNeil Terms Exp. 2027 Imm. Past Presidents:

Treasurer Andy Thiede 3rd V.Pres. Clifford Berek email: easternbirdbanding@gmail.com email: clifford.berek@gmail.com Membership & Back issue Margaret Rohde email: Margaret@wissahickontrails.org

Lisa Kiziuk

Please visit our website or contact the Membership Coordinator for rates and application form www.easternbirdbanding.org

Officers President David Cimprich email: vireo7@yahoo.com Secretary Steven Gabrey email: swgabrey@gmail.com Treasurer Mike Eickman & Memb.Sec. email: redtail15@aol.com

1st V.Pres. Paula Cimprich email: paula.Cimprich@gmail.com 2nd V.Pres. Anthony Rothering email: arothering94@gmail.com

Board of Directors (Past Pres.)Veron "Butch" Tezlaff Erik Johnson Roger Everhart 2nd term Mike Bishop Robert Placier 1st term Back Issues: Steven Gabrey swgabrey@gmail.com

Founded 1923

Please visit our website or contact the Membership Coordinator for rates and application form www.Inlandbirdbanding.org

Officers President Danielle Kaschube & Treasurer email: dkaschube@ birdpop.org Secretary Cyndi Smith email: cyndi.smith9@gmail.com Membership Coordinator Julie Hovis email: jahovis711@gmail.com

1st V.Pres. C.J. Ralph email: cjralph@humboldt1.com 2nd V. Pres. Vacant Immediate Past Pres.

Holly Garrod email: hmgarrod26@gmail.com

Members at Large Board Mmbers Adam Hannuksela ahannuk@gmail.com Jason Kitting jason1991.bnow@gmail.com Allison R. P. Nelson nelson.allison@gmail.com Tania Romero t41romero@gmail.com Claire Stuyck clairestuyck@gmail.com Colin Woolley colin.woolley@birdconservancy.org

Please visit our website or contact the Membership Coordinatorfor rates and application form www.westernbirdbanding.org

Geographic coverage of Eastern, Inland, and Western Bird Banding Associations is shown on the map at left. Send membership applications, subscription inquiries, and manuscripts to the association representing your geographic area.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS? Inform the Treasurer or Membership Chairperson of your association (EBBA, IBBA, WBBA) as soon as possible or at least six weeks in advance of a planned change of address. Delivery of North American Bird Bander cannot be guaranteed unless changes of address are received promptly. ©Copyright 2025 Eastern Bird Banding Association, Inland Bird Banding Association, and Western Bird Banding Association. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

FEATURE ARTICLES 1 Boreal Chickadee Notes From Alaska Michael R. North 5 Timing of Leg Scale Molt in the Black-capped Vireo David A. Cimprich DEPARTMENTS Recent Literature 9 Compiled by Claire Stuyck News, Notes, and Comments 14 Sedge Wren Recaptures and a Longevity Record David A. Cimprich Eastern Regional News 16 A Summary of the Eastern Bird Banding Association's 2025 Annual meeting Maren Gimpel 20 2025 Annual Membership Meeting of the Eastern Bird Banding Association Maren Gimpel 21 March 20-22, 2026 Eastern Bird Banding Association Conference and Meeting Antiochian Village, Near Ligonier, Pennsylvania Annie Lindsay Inland Regional News 22 IBBA Conference set for 24-26 October 2025 at Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, MN Peter Lowther Inland Flyway Review 24 MAPS 2024 Report Steven Gabrey Species Snapshot: 33 Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) Steven Gabrey Western Regional News 36 Western Bird Banding Association Grant Announcement 2024 Grant Award Walter H. Sakai 37 2024 American Field Ornithologist (AFO) and Western Bird Banding Association (WBBA) Joint Annual Meeting Scientific Session Abstracts Walter H. Sakai