Urban color banding 9 2010

WHAT IS COLOR BANDING?
BANDING?

Wintering Birds in Urban
Landscapes: A PSBO project
Sound Science→Scientific Information→ Informed Public

SPECIAL PERMIT TO COLOR BAND
PSBO has been granted a permit to color band:

• Black‐capped Chickadees
• Chestnut‐backed Chickadees
• Dark‐eyed Juncos
• Fox Sparrows


Photo
taken
with
motion‐
activated
camera
installed
near
feeder WHAT DOES IT
LOOK LIKE?


WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
• Wintering Birds in Urban Landscapes focuses on
how urban Puget Sound supports the songbirds
that spend the winter here.
• Which species use area during winter?
• How do wintering birds use the urban landscape?
• What role do backyards, parks, & invasive plants
play?
• What breeding populations are represented?


HOW DOES IT WORK?
• Every bird has unique number and color combination.
• Example:
– Black‐capped Chickadee
– Banded 3 Feb 2008 as Adult
– Band #2510‐93227
– Color combo: W/O‐K/S

• Appears healthy
• RESIGHTED 38 TIMES (at one site)

WHY COLOR BANDING?
• Collect data on habits of individual birds

• No need to recapture
– Easy on the birds

– Collect data in any weather conditions

• Gets people interested in their birds

• Fun to watch: instant gratification

• Easy to become a volunteer spotter for PSBO


COLLECT DATA ON HABITS OF
INDIVIDUAL BIRDS
• 25 Oct 08 O/W‐K/S was
observed not using left foot
• 2 Nov it was recaptured ‐
had swollen leg, not using
left foot
• 26 Nov picture taken
showing using foot again


CHESTNUT BACKED CHICKADEE COLOR BANDED 1/20/08 SILVER (lefT) - BLACK(right)
FIRST BANDED in yard 9/29/06
# of sightings

120
100

Positively ID’d 113 times at 16376 28 Pl NE
80

Shoreline, WA
not seen
60

after
and another three times at 16358 28 Pl NE, Shoreline (not ice/snow
40

shown on this graph)
storm of
12/18/08
20
0
1/20/2008

2/3/2008

2/17/2008

3/2/2008

3/16/2008

3/30/2008

4/13/2008

4/27/2008

5/11/2008

5/25/2008

6/8/2008

6/22/2008

7/6/2008

7/20/2008

8/3/2008

8/17/2008

8/31/2008

9/14/2008

9/28/2008

10/12/2008

10/26/2008

11/9/2008

11/23/2008

12/7/2008
16376 28 Pl NE

MATE OF
n
ORANGE / LIGHT BLUE o
t
(LEFT)-
BLACK/ SILVER (RIGHT) s
e
e
n

a
f
t
S -K e
r

i
c
Sound Science→Scientific Information→ Informed e
Public
/
s
n

6/02/09
Chestnut-backed
chickadee
O/LB-K/S
(male, #251093213)
was observed feeding
four fledglings.
ID of new mate not
determined yet.
(Previous mate was S-K)

6/23/10 was observed
bringing 5 fledglings
to feeder

INTERPRETING RESULTS
• Black‐capped Chickadee:
– K/R‐LB/S only seen on
16 Mar, 31 May, 8 June, 22 Oct
• Is this a rover?
• How large is its range?
• Are winter ranges and rover ranges
the same size?
• Do rovers fly longer distances?
• Do they have a different home
range?


6/11/2009
all adult chickadees in yard
at 6:06 pm were color banded

This chestnut-backed
chickadee was feeding
3-4 begging fledglings
at that time.


Black-capped chickadees started
building nest late May’09 in the
nest box in a small blue spruce.

• Parents: O/K‐LB/S W/LB‐O/S
• 3‐4 young fledged, 1 egg failed both parents feeding

This banded black-capped chickadee (R/W-LB/S)
and an unbanded chickadee (probable new flock
member) were feeding 5 newly fledged offspring
6/21/2009


ORJU O/W-S/STO 160153238
FIRST BANDED 9/25/2006, RECAP 11/02/08, COLOR BANDED 3/01/2009
If breeders arrive in my yard in February, does this male use the yard for wintering and
# of sightings
breed further north?
20
15
10
5
0

10
0

0

0
01

01

01

20
/2

/2

/2

6/
13

20

27

3/
2/

2/

2/

D A TES SEEN


Oregon junco study
• Male junco, O/O‐S/STR*
was observed feeding two
begging youngsters July
2009.
• Returned 2/15/2010
expected to breed here
again.

*Orange over Orange (left)-
Silver over Striped [mauve
over orange] (right)
(to distinguish from older
UW junco study)

ORJU O/O-S/STO 160153212
FIRST BANDED 9/25/06, RECAP 10/05/08 -COLORBANDED 4/05/2009
# of s i ght i ngs
consistent breeder-probable 4 years-- verified for last two seasons

2/ 8/ 2010 2/ 22/ 2010 3/ 8/ 2010 3/ 22/ 2010 4/ 5/ 2010 4/ 19/ 2010 5/ 3/ 2010

D A T ES S EEN ( c a me r a s n o t f u n c t i o n i n g 1 1 / 1 5 / 0 9 - 2 / 0 7 / 1 0 )


ORJU S/STO-LB/W
First banded 2/14/10, recaptured 4/4/10
Was she on a nest during March?
# of s ightings
Or did cold wet weather drove her to more protected area?
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

10

10
0

0

0

0

0

0

0
01

01

01

01

01

01

01
20

20
/2

/2

/2

/2

/2

/2

/2
7/

4/
14

21

28

14

21

28

11
3/

4/
2/

2/

2/

3/

3/

3/

4/
Date s s e e n


WHO’S DOING THE BANDING?
WHO’S
Permitted banders and trained volunteers from
Puget Sound Bird Observatory


HOW IS IT BEING DONE?
• 10 ft high mist nets

• Four banding stations two each
about a mile apart, plus one at
Seward Park

• Twice a month at each station
• 3‐4 hours each time

• Birds banded with colored and
numbered metal bands


Birds caught safely in mist nets

And removed by PSBO banders and
trained volunteers


Where does
banding take
place?

5 Sites:
• 3 Backyards in
Richmond Beach,
Shoreline & Lake
Forest Park
• Shoreline Comm Coll
• Seward Park


N Seattle Color-banding Sites

Note differences in greenspace and urban density at the different sites


HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Observations of
banded birds
sought from
neighborhoods
near banding
sites to determine
home ranges

For Example:
Eastern flocks of
Black-capped
Chickadees have
winter ranges of
about a half mile.


WHAT DO SPOTTERS NEED?
• Binoculars
• Data form or notebook
• (Camera‐optional but
helpful)
– Handheld or tripod at
feeder
– Motion‐activated
camera setup


CAN I COME WATCH?
• Visitors Welcome!
• Call ahead to register, and get directions.

• Shoreline banding site: 206‐363‐4910

• Lake Forest Park banding site: 206‐365‐8867
• Children under direct supervision are welcome.


PSBO IS A NEW NON-PROFIT
NON-PROFIT
• PSBO's Mission Statement:

Puget Sound Bird Observatory
studies birds and their habitats
in the Pacific Northwest to
better understand changes in
bird populations, to inform
decision makers, and to engage
the public with birds and their
needs.


PSBO IS A NEW NON-PROFIT
NON-PROFIT
HELP US OUT & JOIN US!
• Volunteer at a banding site
• Become a bander
• Host banding at your home
• Join one of our committees
• Donate color bands, a net, binoculars
YOU CAN HELP!
More volunteers = more banding sites
More sites = more data


Points to remember when spotting
• 1. ID the species—Black‐capped vs Chestnut‐
backed; Fox Sparrow, not Song Sparrow; Dark‐
eyed Junco (in this area mostly Oregon
Juncos‐don’t worry about the sub‐species)
• 2. Which way are it’s feet facing? A bird can
be looking back at you, but the legs are facing
away from you, so ID it’s left leg first.


Chestnut-
backed
Chickadee
[CHCH]
• Y/R‐O/S
Yellow over Red
Orange over Silver


Which
species?
• Which is
left leg?


DON’T
GUESS
• Better
to have
partial
than
wrong


Be aware of tricky colors


Song Sparrow vs Fox Sparrow

Look at head, breast, back, and bill

Song Sparrow vs Fox Sparrow

• Look for head stripes—first;  Bi‐colored bill distinctive
on FOSP;  Uniformity of color—back of FOSP mostly
same color;  Size—usually FOSP larger

Which is which?


Urban color banding 9 2010

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