Date: 5/10/25 12:33 pm From: Chicobander <jshieldcastle...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Chico Basin Ranch Banding Station Report- Bird Conservancy of the Rockies-5/9/2025
That is a good question. But what needs to be considered also is that
weather depicts where these songbirds migrate. Last week there was storms
in the eastern Midwest and here in the Western Plains/Colorado area. As I
said when you look at Birdcast last week the whole central plains was lit
up. The birds that particular night migrated from Texas boot to North
Dakota and onto Canada. The best way to assess bird numbers is to have a
network of research stations in the different regions of the U.S. and
compare what is being observed. I am not going to deny that bird
populations are declining. However, we must realize that these birds are
fluid and go where the wind takes them. Unless they are breeding species,
they may not stop over where they normally do in a certain year/season if
weather is pushing them elsewhere.
An Example is that at another banding station I have worked for many
decades, we would get hundreds of Swainson's Thrushes each spring. One
spring we did not capture/band maybe 50 % of our average Swainson's
Thrushes. But after reaching out to other research/banding stations, we
found out that the birds had just migrated a little farther east that year.
That was a crazy spring weather season. This shows the value and importance
of having multiple research stations and collaboration between them. One
station cannot predict bird populations especially in one year's worth of
data because weather which is a major factor with where these birds
migrate. This could give the wrong impression if only using one season or
one year's worth of data. A decade's worth of migratory bird data or more
would even/average out the strange weather or other factors during any
individual season or year for a better evaluation of bird numbers and
behaviors.
Another Example was sometime in the late 1990's (I believe it was 1998),
there were tremendous number of fires in southern Mexico/ Central America
that year prior to spring migration. The trans-Gulf migrants were extremely
late in arriving in northern Ohio that spring. Some were 2 weeks later than
normal. Just think about it, these birds had to fly hundreds of miles
either over burnt habitats that provided little to no food for them to
prepare for the long distance flight across the Gulf or they had to fly
around the fires expending lots of energy that they would need to fly the
18-24 hours nonstop across the Gulf. Who knows how many birds never made it
back that spring? The migratory songbirds that do not cross the
Gulf/migrate up western and Central side of Mexico as well as those species
that winter in the Caribbean were not affected as much and pretty much
arrived on schedule.
Also sometime around 2006 or so there was the Horizon oil fires in the
Gulf. That also affected those migrants crossing the Gulf that year as
well. The wind drift toward the East also curtailed some of the Caribbean
wintering species like the Black-throated Blue Warbler. So, there are
usually multiple factors involved with understanding what is happening with
our migratory bird populations.
Hope this addressed some of your questions.
Thanks for the questions and thoughts,
Julie Shieldcastle
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
On Friday, May 9, 2025 at 8:46:59 PM UTC-4 David Suddjian wrote:
> What I wonder is that with various long term reports of many species
> showing declining trends across many species/habitat groups, and major
> losses of bird numbers since the 1970s etc., why are we surprised that
> there are often poor migratory showings? Shouldn't we expect fewer and
> fewer migrants, even now at what ought to be the peak of a typical
> migration season? If the reported population declines are as great as those
> reported, surely we will have fewer birds. I wonder, as often it seems we
> think maybe they took another route, or maybe they are just late, or? Are
> the long term trends that are highlighted in reports of the state of birds
> wrong?
>
> Just wondering,
>
> David suddjian
> Littleton, CO
>
> On Fri, May 9, 2025 at 1:21 PM Chicobander <jshiel......> wrote:
>
>> It was a more beautiful day than yesterday and still no more birds. Makes
>> me wonder if they went up the Central Plains as last week the Birdcast view
>> was lit up from TX to North Dakota with the bird migration forecast. Seems
>> like we should have an overabundance of Orioles and tanagers. Yes, A couple
>> Summer Tanagers were spotted at the Banding station olive grove and at
>> least one at HQ pond. Hoping for improvement in the bird numbers tomorrow.
>>
>> We captured two new species for the season: Yellow Warbler and Chipping
>> Sparrow. There was 2 Yellow Warblers captured. One was already banded when
>> we extracted it out of the net. The other we banded today. The banded bird
>> was a second-year male we banded in May of 2023. This bird is four years
>> and counting! Can you imagine a bird that weighs the equivalent of 2
>> nickels flying to Central America or northern South America for the
>> winter?! This Yellow Warbler has made the round trip twice. So many
>> obstacles these birds can possibly encounter in the skies or while on the
>> ground during migration. This is one of the values of mark from bird
>> banding to learn what these birds are capable of and how long they can
>> live. When I worked at a bird migration station in NW Ohio. We captured
>> several Yellow Warblers over the years that bred in the vicinity. The
>> oldest individual was an 11 year old female and she was still flying. Other
>> Yellow Warblers returning to NW Ohio were 6 and 7 years old or more. Quite
>> a feat if you ask me for a small bird to travel several thousand miles
>> round trip.
>>
>> An American Robin we banded at Chico in September 2022 was recovered in
>> Wyola, Montana as reported by the Bird Banding Lab a few weeks ago. Another
>> interesting piece of information, I would not have thought an American
>> Robin would take to the skies for WY. So much to learn about these birds!
>>
>> The White-eyed Vireo is still singing around the banding station. We
>> banded in on April 30th. It has not been recaptured since it was banded.
>>
>> *8 New Birds Banded*
>> Yellow Warbler-1
>> Audubon's (Yellow-rumped) Warbler- 1
>> Chipping Sparrow-1
>> Northern House Wren-2
>> Swainson's Thrush-1
>> Hermit Thrush-1
>> Gray Catbird-1
>>
>> Recapture- Northern House Wren
>>
>> Return- Yellow Warbler
>>
>> The banding station will be open tomorrow from Sunrise until @11 AM. The
>> station will be closed on Sunday and reopen on Monday. Remember to sign up
>> on the Aiken Audubon Website (https://www.aikenaudubon.com) if you are
>> planning to visit Chico Basin Ranch.
>>
>> Have a good day,
>>
>> Julie Shieldcastle
>> Chico Basin Ranch Bird Bander
>> Bird conservancy of the Rockies
>>
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