By Morning Flight Counter Gautam Apte Our second season of spring migration monitoring at Metzger Marsh was a resounding success, and we were thrilled to share the results throughout the season both in person and on our social media channels! A more detailed season report is provided here. A detailed narrative with featured images is first, with some short-form summary figures included so keep on reading to learn more! As always, please remember you can support this project by donating via the BSBO website at https://www.bsbo.org/donate.html. The month of March was spectacular. We expect the highest volume of birds to pass through in this early season, and this year was certainly no exception. While large numbers of birds are almost always on the move this early, the biggest flights require favorable weather conditions with relatively warm temperatures and southerly winds. Luckily, warm fronts came around early and often this season, and the birds came with them. The first few days of the count were bitterly cold – one last gift from the frosty winter that left the lake frozen for the first week of the count. Migratory activity was generally slow before the first warm front hit a week later, but some signs of winter were evident with a few Iceland and Glaucous Gulls moving past over the pack ice on the lake. As temperatures slowly warmed, waterfowl began to exit the Lake Erie Marsh region and head north, and there were some excellent flights of dabbling ducks over the marsh and divers over the lake as we expect in this season. Waterfowl numbers were similar to the previous season, with a few exceptions. Numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, Redheads, and Canvasbacks were slightly up from the 2025 season, while Northern Pintail and Greater Scaup weren’t as abundant.  Glaucous Gull, March 2 One of the more surprising datapoints of the season was the low total of 2,875 Canada Geese this spring – a decrease of 70% from the 2025 total (9,614). This difference came entirely during March, when Arctic-nesting “Lesser” Canada Geese are moving north over Lake Erie. During the late May molt-migration of nonbreeding “Giant” Canada Geese, numbers were much more typical for this species. The stark difference in March could be due to a number of reasons – perhaps some geese had already left before the start of the season on 1 March, or perhaps the deep-frozen Lake Erie Marsh region wasn’t offering the resources necessary for these birds to put on fat before their migration and some geese opted for a different migration route. In a similar vein, we did not observe any Cackling Geese this season, a steep decrease from last year’s total of 23. For the first time in its relatively short history, the project saw a day of over 100,000 individual birds moving past on March 7. As expected, the bulk of this flight was blackbirds with a particularly significant total of 50,415 Red-winged Blackbirds. Other significant totals this day included Tundra Swans (1,419), Greater White-fronted Geese (143), and American Crow (139).  Common Grackles, March 9
A huge flight of Tree Swallows (9,323) on April 2 was a notable highlight, as were substantial movements of Rusty Blackbirds on April 9 (2,687) and April 15 (5,046), coinciding with the last couple of large Red-winged Blackbird flights of the season. The biggest flight of Lapland Longspurs this season (1,155) came on April 12, over a month later than last season’s big push in early March. We still have much to learn about the migratory behavior of this abundant Arctic species, and more data from the project in future years should help us glean more information about their spring habits! By mid-April, Blue Jays were already on the move – beginning about two weeks earlier than their 2025 migration! As typical, they arrived rapidly and flights of thousands were already happening as soon as April 14.  Comparison of seasonal Blue Jay abundance between 2025 and 2026 As the season transitioned towards late April, shorebird movement – which had been unimpressive up until that point – became a major feature of the flights. April 18 was an excellent day, with rainy conditions forcing shorebirds to pass close by over the marsh as they headed west along the lakefront. Pectoral Sandpipers (842), American Avocets (53), and American Golden-Plovers (124) were all major highlights of the day, and 10 species of shorebirds were recorded in total. We continued to see American Avocets on several other days in April, resulting in a surprising season total of 250, aided by an astonishing count of 169 on April 22 which furnished a new state record. This species is a scarce but regular migrant through the western Lake Erie region, traveling from stopover and wintering sites on the Gulf Coast and skirting the western half of Ohio en route to their breeding grounds in the central prairies of the continent. Many more are recorded some years than others, and we hope data from our count can help evaluate what factors influence this variation, and how they tie into the broader picture of conservation for this species.  American Avocets, April 22 April drew to a close with continued warm weather, and the requisite first wave of warblers started trickling in with Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers and Palm Warblers leading the charge. While these species were abundant around the region, their numbers in active migration (flying over) were substantially reduced this year – due to factors we will continue to investigate as the project continues. Also arriving in April were the first Baltimore Orioles, Bobolinks, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as expected. There were some great flights to be enjoyed towards the end of the month, with spectacular movements of American Pipits and Blue Jays, and steady streams of Sharp-shinned Hawks coursing over the dike at very close range putting on a great show for all who came out to check out the migration.
Early May felt more like a return to March, with temperatures regularly dropping into the 30s for the first week of the month. Migratory activity was very limited while these unfavorable conditions held up migrants, and indeed we did not record any significant numbers or diversity of the Neotropical migrants we expect until March 9, when temperatures finally rose into the 60s. Favorable conditions arrived again on May 16, and there were some moderate flights of Neotropical migrants for a several-day stretch as peak migration passed through the region. These flights were generally smaller than the peak of May migration in 2025, and we will be investigating this variation with the help of continued data from the project. Understanding the motivating factors for long-distance migrants in particular to engage in morning flight behavior is a priority of our project, and observing inter-seasonal variation like this is a great opportunity to find out exactly what drives the behavior of these birds.  Yellow-billed Cuckoo, May 18
Late May this year was characterized by very calm winds and warm temperatures. Late-season warblers continued to trickle through along with the occasional flycatcher and a smattering of shorebirds, and the Canada Goose molt-migration picked up steam in the final few days of the count with a daily high of 736 on May 29. A rare Eurasian Tree Sparrow on May 30 was also a major highlight. It was a very pleasant end to the count and a great way to wrap up a fantastically successful second season! It was a privilege to be able to spend the spring on the Lake Erie shore once again and share our work with thousands of interested visitors, and we can’t wait to do it all again very soon! GENERAL OVERVIEW From March 1 to May 31, 2026, we conducted our second full season of visible migration monitoring at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. Following the same standardized scientific protocol as in 2025, a single observer counted actively migrating birds on at least six days per calendar week. As in 2025, counts began 20 minutes before sunrise and continued for the next six hours, and this year we sampled 81 days of the 92-day observation period for a total of 499 hours of observation. This season, we recorded a total of 756,606 individual birds in active migratory flight, distributed amongst 195 species. An additional 30 species of birds were observed at the site but not detected in active migration. We also made note of non-avian migratory taxa at the site and incidentally recorded 16 species of insects in active migratory flight. Cumulatively, we recorded 17 new species for the spring survey this year that we did not record in the 2025 spring season. We also were thrilled to welcome a record 2,106 visitors to the count this season, an increase of nearly 50% from last spring! Sharing our research with everyone interested is a priority of this project, and we were elated to see the impact on so many of those who came out to see the site and watch some of the flights this spring. We’re hoping to increase this number even further next spring, so please stay tuned for more details on next year’s season. As expected from the 2025 season, we continued to see striking variation in species composition and raw volume of diurnal flights, with species diversity again peaking towards the end of the count season, while raw volume declined throughout the season.  Monthly trends in raw volume and species diversity of active migration at the Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. Proportions of species observed in active migration across the season were distributed similarly to last season.  Distribution of species diversity from migration survey season totals. We continued to record weather data this spring and found some slight differences from last season. April was strikingly warm, averaging nearly 5 degrees warmer than last year, and conditions were generally windier during the whole season. Easterly winds were generally less frequent than last year, and the theme of the spring seemed to be warm, windy, and rainy.  Monthly summary of weather conditions during the morning flight survey. While the similarities between the 2025 and 2026 season data are encouraging from a long-term monitoring perspective (stable datasets between years indicate strong potential for the project to effectively indicate trends within species), there were of course some significant and notable differences this year. That being said, it’s important to bear in mind that two years is not enough time to form a solid understanding of trends at a migration monitoring site, so these differences are not likely to reflect changes in the overall populations of these species but are probably influenced by a number of other factors that should become more clear as we continue collecting data for this project.
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 Pictured from Top Left, Clockwise: White-throated Sparrow, Blackburnian Warbler, Eastern Whip-poor-will, Brewster's Warbler (Golden-winged x Blue-winged hybrid), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (black-crowned variant), Prothonotary Warbler, Green Heron, and Scarlet Tanager With the spring migration banding season now behind us, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights and observations from the banding station. Spring 2026 was...average. BUT THAT'S GREAT! After a few years of slower spring migrations, 2026 was kind of a return to normal. Average number of birds banded, average net hours, average birds per net hour... It was nice to have a migration season that felt like years past. That being said, warblers (the family we're most known for capturing) were mostly average or below average by species. Warblers that were above average were: Prothonotary, Worm-eating, Northern Parula, Bay-breasted, Pine, Northern and Louisiana Waterthrush, Connecticut, Mourning, and Common Yellowthroat. Ruby-crowned Kinglet is another species that we typically catch a fair number of, but were below average this season. Males seemed to come through at their typical timeframe in mid- to late-April, but there wasn't as big of a push by females in early-May. Golden-crowned Kinglet, too, (although not captured at the same rate as Ruby-crowned in spring) was also below average. However, the end of March (before the banding season began) had some exceptionally warm days that may have expedited passage by these miniscule migrants. But given the somewhat lower numbers by typically high-captured species, two species made up for the discrepancy with exceptionally (and record breaking!) high numbers which accounted for ~20% of total birds banded: White-throated Sparrow and Gray Catbird. Peak capture dates for each species were: White-throated Sparrow - April 24, 146; Gray Catbird - May 13, 94. Aside from their peak capture dates, these two species remained consistent throughout much of the season, with White-throated Sparrow nearly reaching 1,000 birds banded (there were even some individuals still around the station when we closed up on June 3). During the Biggest Week in American Birding, we did get a little jealous of some of the rare species that showed up in the region, that did not get the memo to fly over to the banding station. However, we did have a number of species that we rarely catch show up, giving us informative looks at what we consider to be "rare" birds:
And lastly, another "rare" species that it was an exceptional year for was Eastern Whip-poor-will (EWPW), with 8 being banded. The first EWPW of the season was seen in early April on a day that - due to the weather - the station was not able to operate. The first to be banded was April 24, the last May 14, and a peak capture date of May 4 with 3 banded. Some springs we don't even catch or record a single EWPW, so to have 8 captured plus more singing throughout the marsh made the early mornings even more worthwhile! While there is much work ahead on data entry, presented here is a preliminary breakdown of some of the numbers from this season: Total Birds Banded: 7,574 Species Banded: 105 (+1 hybrid) Banding Days: 55 Total Number of Net Hours: 6,206 Number of Returns (birds banded in a previous season/year): 181 Number of Volunteers: 57 Species with New High Records:
Species that Matched High Records:
Top Ten Species Banded (with average):
For more numbers and graphs from the spring 2026 season, head over to our Migration Tracking page. If you'd like to support our research efforts, you can donate directly through our Sponsor a Mist Net program. Mist nets are a vital tool at the banding station, allowing us to safely capture birds in order to band them and collect data from individuals. Mist nets are also our biggest expense. The sun and weather gradually breakdown fibers in the net, holes form from larger birds and vegetation snags, and deer will often run through them - creating even larger holes and breaking tension lines within the net. In an average year, we end up needing to replace all of our nets - 25 in total. You can help us in our efforts by clicking the below. We'd like to thank our passionate group of volunteers and seasonal technicians that put all their effort into ensuring a successful banding operation for both data quality and bird safety. We couldn't do it without all your help!!! Check back tomorrow for an exciting post from one of these awesome volunteers!
Many thanks to Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for their continued support of this project (both in research and management of this invaluable habitat); Vistra Corp.'s Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station for preserving and allowing access to this incredible area; and Winous Point Marsh for their commitment to research and conservation and for providing housing for BSBO's spring passerine tech. A big thank you to all who follow along with and share our daily updates! And another big THANK YOU to all of our BSBO members and donors who make all of our research, education, and outreach programs possible! While banding, one of the most important pieces of information collected about a bird is its age. For songbirds, banders are generally determining whether a bird is a younger bird or an older bird, typically by looking for differences in molt (after the breeding season, young birds and adult birds molt differently, generally allowing us to distinguish ages until the next breeding season). Some birds have cryptic feathers and molt patterns making aging difficult to impossible. And then others (like thrushes) have some easy age clues. A common trait among juvenile thrushes is spotted breasts and pale shaft streaks in the greater coverts. While the spots will disappear after summer (think about young American Robins and the lack of spots come fall), the shaft streaks will remain until they molt the following year. For banders, these streaks stand out right away and generally tell us that the bird is young (a hatching year in the summer/fall or a second year in the spring/summer). If the streaks are bold enough, you can even see or photograph them in the field! This lets you know you’re looking at a younger thrush.
 Every banding season is a monumental task, and we would not be able to conduct this important research without the support of numerous individuals and organizations. We would like to thank our passionate group of volunteers and seasonal technician that put all their effort into ensuring a successful banding operation for both data quality and bird safety. We couldn't do it without all your help!!! Many thanks to Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for their continued support of this project (both in research and management of this precious habitat); Vistra Corp.'s Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station for preserving and allowing access to this incredible area; and Winous Point Marsh for their commitment to research and conservation and for providing housing for BSBO's fall passerine tech. A big thank you to all who follow along with and share our daily updates! And another big THANK YOU to all of our BSBO members and donors who make all of our research, education, and outreach efforts possible! And now, an initial summary of the fall 2025 season: Fall Recap: Navarre Marsh Banding Station
Species with Record Highs:
Top Ten Species Banded:
View reports and other numbers from the season here: www.bsbo.org/migration-tracking. Be sure to follow along with us during spring migration, starting in April 2026! Support this important migratory research today by sponsoring a mist net!  As we enter June, birds from here all the way to the Arctic are starting to nest or are already raising young. Migration, a phenomenon that starts in February with raptors and waterfowl, ends in early June with the last of the landbirds and shorebirds heading north through the mid-continent. For many, now is a transition time of changing from migrant birds to those breeding, and even switching to non-avian interests such as butterflies or dragonflies. For others, it is a time to reflect on the past few months of excitement and dream of the great southward migration of fall. But there is a unique migration that is ramping up in late May and will be gone by mid-June. It is a migration that goes unrecognized by most, even though it is so obvious around them. A migration that is part of the life cycle of many species of bird and is of evolutionary significance to their survival. While exhibited by many species, maybe the best example of this migration in the mid-continent region of North America is that taken on by a bird thought to be extinct as little as 75 years ago but is one of today’s most recognized birds: the Giant Canada Goose, the Canada Goose subspecies of temperate North America. This unseen, or at least unrecognized, migration by this common species is the Molt Migration of non-breeding individuals. Most people that have been out and about over the last couple of weeks may have noticed the flocks of geese that seem to have materialized out of thin air. We have seen the pairs defiantly raising broods since late April, so where have these new flocks come from and why did they become suddenly abundant?  A flock of molt migrant geese heading to the fields to feed as they stage in the Lake Erie Marsh Region in preparation for heading to more northern destinations. These are the two-year-olds (birds hatched last calendar year) with a few failed breeders mixed in. The Giant Canada Goose does not breed until three years old in most cases. In an evolutionary sense, these individuals could become a burden on the breeders of their species and compete for food resources against growing youngsters. So, it is in the best interest of the species, or in this case the subspecies, for these individuals to leave the breeding grounds and travel elsewhere for the important “summer molt” period. That is what these flocks of geese represent. This “cohort” of the population is staging in preparation to migrate north to molt. So they will disappear and we Midwesterners will be back to just pairs and rapidly growing goslings passing through their own ugly duckling stage. The end points of this molt migration are as traditional as the more known spring and fall grand migrations taken on by a host of species. Just as a Bald Eagle, Pectoral Sandpiper, Common Loon, Blackpoll Warbler, Song Sparrow, hen Northern Pintail, or Interior Canada Goose return to their breeding grounds, these molt migrant Giants repeatedly return to their population’s ancestral molting grounds (Teaser: notice I said hen Pintail; some cool things go on with ducks that are very different than geese and play a major role with speciation and sub-speciation, but that’s a story for another time).  Auxiliary markers such as neck collars have been utilized to obtain resightings of birds without having to capture them again. This Ohio Giant Canada Goose is wearing a white neck collar that was useful in gathering movement data of Ohio-hatched birds. From band recoveries and, even more importantly, from additional auxiliary markers such as neck collars and radio transmitters, we have determined some of these traditional molt destinations. It can be very specific and fascinating. For Ohio, Giant Canadas raised in the central portion of the state (influenced by the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area population) have the west shore of James Bay as the dominant summer molt destination. To the Ohio Giant population, it is immaterial that this happens to be the breeding grounds for the Southern James Bay population of the Interior Canada Goose. To the Interior, it’s potentially a different story, especially if habitat loss reaches the subarctic and competition becomes a problem.  Molt migrant Canada Geese from midwestern states were encountered throughout the James Bay lowlands during banding operations of the Interior Canada Goose populations that breed in this subarctic region. Northeast Ohio Giants head to the… northeast, causing some of Toronto’s headaches of fouled beaches and the like. Mercer County-influenced populations from western Ohio seem to home into the western shore of Hudson Bay and into Manitoba Province. The Lake Erie Marsh region population of Magee and Ottawa NWR is a bit of a mystery as no large concentration has been discovered, but perhaps they cover the landscape of northern portions of Ontario. Michigan studies indicated a movement from breeding grounds in Michigan to the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec where James and Hudson Bays link. Regardless, come October and November, these molt migrants will return to their home breeding areas to begin the next phase of their lives. If nature isn’t fascinating enough, the Giant Canada Goose is just one example of a myriad of stories on how birds and all wildlife cope with survival both day-to-day and through generations. This is just scratching the surface of “Molt Migration” as it represents the strategy by delayed breeding species. Another form of “Molt Migration” occurs in species where the male takes little part in raising the young (ducks, for example). After breeding with the female, behavior and hormones slowly change in the male, often triggering a molt migration to a far-off land to go through the drastic molt that ducks endure each summer where they become flightless for a period as new flight feathers grow. Again, through molt migration, they cease to be a burden on the female and growing youngsters. Examples in northwest Ohio are the large flocks of male Mallards that migrate in late summer to the Lake Erie Marsh Region annually to molt. Another example is large flocks of Northern Pintail males that move to the shores of James Bay to molt, a long way from the prairies where they breed. SO, now when you see those flocks of Canada Geese in late May, think and dream about what far-off lands they will soon be heading to to retire last year’s coat of feathers. Birds are so fascinating in so many ways!
As we looked at the forecast in preparation to wrap up our fall banding season, Saturday, November 4th, looked like it would be the perfect day to close: warm, the lightest of breezes, and sunny skies to ensure that we were putting away dry nets. But, when Saturday morning came around, we woke up to clouds and drizzle. It mostly stopped sprinkling…and then it started again…and then it stopped again. The rain was light and intermittent enough that we still opened the nets to see what we could get, but it definitely wasn’t the day that we had hoped for. “This is awful,” we moaned. “All we wanted was one American Tree Sparrow to really make it feel like winter and the end of the season.” Well, we never did catch a tree sparrow, but…we caught a NORTHERN SHRIKE!!!  Northern Shrike, AKA “Coolest Bird Ever!!” Only the second Northern Shrike ever caught at the station (the other one was caught in 2007), this is a bird that really deserves the capital letters and all the exclamation points. Although there are 33 shrike species worldwide, only two of them reside in North America: Loggerhead Shrike (LOSH) and Northern Shrike (NSHR). The two look very similar, but, along with other subtle plumage differences, NSHR has a narrower black mask that usually doesn’t cover the top of the eye or the top of the bill, unlike the wider mask of the LOSH. While LOSH breed in the southern United States, NSHR breed in the Arctic and only come down to the upper U.S. over the winter, so it’s not super common to see them. But, boy, are we glad this one came to visit! Having only seen shrikes from a distance before, we were surprised by how large they actually are, about the size of a robin. They’ve also got rather chunky heads, sort of reminiscent of a parrot, although they’re more closely related to ravens and crows. And, as some of us can now personally attest to, they’ve got very sharp beaks! Like falcons and hawks, shrikes have a special feature on their beaks: a projection known as a tomial tooth that aids them in capturing and killing their prey. Seems a little vicious for a songbird, right? Except shrikes aren’t your average songbird…  The small projection near the tip of the NSHR’s beak is called a tomial tooth. If you only know one fact about shrikes, it’s probably this one (and if you know nothing at all about shrikes, you might be in for a shock!): Both LOSH and NSHR are carnivorous songbirds and are known as “butcherbirds” for their habit of impaling their prey on spikes. I know we’re well past October now, but, since we caught our shrike just a couple of days after Halloween, it was pretty seasonally appropriate! Although they do eat insects, such as grasshoppers and bees, NSHR will also eat small birds and rodents and are capable of taking down prey that is just as large as they are, like robins. When taking down larger animals, they’ll bite the neck and use their tomial tooth to pinch the spinal cord, then they’ll shake their head back and forth to break the neck. Often, they’ll then impale their prey on either a natural spike, such as a hawthorn, or on barbed wire, creating a cache or a “larder.” This serves a couple of purposes: One is that, for insects that are poisonous, leaving the insect for a few days allows the toxins to break down so that it can be safely eaten. Another is that shrikes have a tendency to kill more than they need, so they have extra for days when hunting isn’t as successful. (I won’t include any impalements in this post, but if you’re curious, just Google “shrike larder,” and you’ll find plenty of photos.) On a lighter note, some other fun facts about shrikes are that they’ll often hover like a kestrel while hunting, and they can actually mimic other birds’ calls. Additionally, when nesting, the NSHR builds such a deep cup nest that sometimes all that can be seen of the incubating female is the tip of her tail. And finally (sorry, back to impalement!), young shrikes practice their impaling skills on leaves, which is really pretty cute and can be seen in this video: https://www.audubon.org/news/watch-new-shrike-film-shows-previously-undocumented-butcher-bird-behaviors. This was an atypical fall season in many ways, not the least of which was having to close for several days due to the ridiculously cold weather. However, we all decided that, after catching a shrike, we really couldn’t complain! We couldn’t have ended the season on a better note than getting to see this wintry visitor up close, and those of us who got nipped by it will wear their scars with pride.  NSHR's leg being measured for an appropriate band size. Bloody finger marks are shrike bites.
One of the most striking birds to be encountered in wetlands, the golden-fronted Prothonotary Warbler (PROW) captures the attention of anyone who catches a glimpse of these glittering inhabitants of forested swamps. To better understand their relationship with the marshes of northwest Ohio, BSBO has been fitting PROW with nanotag radio trackers since 2021, following their movements in spring and summer by utilizing the Motus network of automated radio telemetry towers (read more about that project HERE). To complement that study and learn more about the dispersal of birds following the breeding season, our research team is beginning a new fall project to mark traveling PROW, and we could use your help!
Just as we've documented an increasing trend of PROW at our Navarre Marsh banding station in the spring, we've also noticed this same trend in fall. To document these birds following their departure from our banding station, we are now outfitting fall birds with a color band in addition to their federal aluminum band. It's hoped that one of these birds may be spotted during its southern migration, standing out better in binoculars and photos with a green band. But the highest chances for encounters will come next spring when these birds return to the marshes to breed, along with the thousands of birders and photographers visiting the region during spring migration.
If you happen across one of these green marked PROWs, let us know! The best documentation is with a camera, but if you spot one of our banded PROWs, please email [email protected] with the date of the sighting, the location, the color combination, and a photo (preferable). While it would be great to get a photo of the federal band and its number, this isn't always possible to accomplish. But a photo with the combination of green and silver will at least let us know whether the bird was banded as an adult (green above silver) or a young of the year (silver above green). We look forward to hearing from you soon as we try to learn more about this shimmering species. When spring migration comes to a close, we at Black Swamp Bird Observatory quickly switch gears and begin new banding endeavors. Summer is when we transition over to a different program called MAPS, or Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship, which focuses on breeding birds. MAPS is a continent-wide banding scheme where stations throughout the country all follow the same protocol to collect data on the birds that breed in their area. The breeding season is separated into ten-day periods, and banding occurs on one day during each of those periods. BSBO runs two MAPS stations: one at the BSBO office in Magee Marsh and one in Oak Openings Preserve Metropark.  Sunrise in Oak Openings We all have sort of a love-hate relationship with MAPS; it’s great to get to work with a different suite of birds than we see at our migration station in the Navarre Marsh unit of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and it’s so much fun when we start to catch baby birds, but it’s also usually ridiculously hot and filled with mosquitoes, deerflies, ticks, and chiggers…so it can be a little unpleasant. But throughout the summer season, we lucked out most days with biting insects and the weather. Our first day at Oak Openings in June was probably the coldest day we’ve ever had out there, and we actually managed to stay in long sleeves for the entire morning. The bugs weren't too bad, either, although the deerflies at BSBO started to pick up at the end, and some of us are bug magnets… MAPS banding is a very different feel than migration banding in that it’s usually a lot slower. If we catch 45 birds at Navarre, it’s a pretty slow day, but 45 birds at MAPS is a REALLY good day! This is mostly because, since the birds are breeding, they’re not moving around as much. They’re either sitting on the nest or foraging, and because there are lots of insects around, they don’t have to fly far to find food. Numbers may pick up when the young start to fledge, but, until then, we get a fair amount of downtime in the mornings. That being said, we’ve had some pretty exciting moments this summer, mostly at our Oak Openings site. One of those moments had to do with a bird that we didn’t even capture! We’d heard reports of a Mississippi Kite (MIKI) in the region and thought we might go looking for it after we’d finished banding. But, luckily for us, while we were going through our checklist of observed species at the end of the morning, we saw what we first thought was a hawk flying overhead…but it was the kite! We got a pretty good look (although not good photos…) before it flew away. As you might guess from the name “Mississippi” Kite, this elegant raptor is a southern bird, very unusual this far north. Not only was this bird a lifer for all of us, but we got to add a new bird to the Oak Openings list!  Blurry Mississippi Kite from Oak Openings One of our favorite birds at the Oaks station is the Red-headed Woodpecker (RHWO). Most years, we only catch one of these noisy birds, maybe two, if we’re lucky. This year we ended up with three! Two of them were caught in the same net at the same time, making it likely that they’re a breeding pair, but, since we can’t sex them, we can’t say for sure. RHWO are not sexually dimorphic, meaning that the male and female look exactly the same. Some birds that are impossible to sex by plumage are still able to be sexed during the breeding season because of their breeding characteristics: a cloacal protuberance (CP) means it’s a male, and a brood patch (BP) means it’s a female. However, in some species (often cavity nesters), the males help incubate the eggs, so they develop a brood patch, as well. This is the case for RHWO, and the males also don’t develop a CP, so there’s no way to sex them at all. Male or female, though, they’re just such handsome birds!
Finally, the most exciting bird this summer, perhaps, was a return Eastern Wood-Pewee (EAWP). We hear EAWPs singing their heads off every week at Oaks, but this was the first (and only) that we’d had in the nets. And boy, was it a doozy! “It’s just a wood-pewee,” you say, “What’s so interesting about that?” Well, it’s neat partly because we just don’t get that many recaptured or return flycatchers. Secondly, this particular bird was banded as an after-hatching-year (AHY) in 2014, making it at least 10 years old and setting a new longevity record for the species! This is actually the second longevity record that has come from Oaks, the first being a 10-year-old Blue Grosbeak back in 2017.
Species longevity and other population statistics are an important piece of conservation information that can be gained from MAPS banding. For more information about the MAPS program, check out www.birdpop.org/pages/maps. With the breeding bird season now behind us, we're busy getting back into fall migration operations in the Navarre Marsh Banding Station. Here is an initial breakdown of the numbers from this summer: Oak Openings:
BSBO Headquarters:
With the spring migration banding season now behind us, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the ups and downs of the past couple months. While every season is unique, overall, it was kind of an unusual season: cold weather and many nights of north and east winds weren't conducive to a normal spring. Our first push of birds, which usually happens at the end of April, was really more of a trickle. Instead of getting days with hundreds of White-throated Sparrows or hundreds of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, we ended up with them spaced out over a much longer period of time. Even Myrtle Warblers (which tend to be a major mover in early spring) had one day of ~180 birds banded, and then a sparse showing following this one push.
Without southwest winds to facilitate movement, birds took their opportunity to migrate whenever they could, rather than coming all at once. This lack of a tail wind combined with northerly winds also meant that birds were more distributed across the landscape, rather than being directed to our part of the lakeshore. But aside from the less-than-ideal wind direction, the season was also unusual in terms of species abundance. On the whole, most warblers were below the long-term average. However, some, such as Northern Parula and Black-throated Blue Warbler, were well above average. But most noticeable in absence were the thrushes. While Hermit Thrushes had a strong and protracted migration (being well above average), the other brown thrushes were all below average. Although Swainson's Thrush ended up not being too far off from average, their lack of presence was continually noted throughout the spring. Typically, we will capture the first Swainson's Thrush in early May, with the bulk of birds traveling through in mid- to late May. But, we didn't capture a Swainson's until May 11, with the busiest day for the species only having 37 birds banded. We actually banded all the other brown thrushes before having a Swainson's!
Aside from the sort of "slow" nature to this spring's migration, we did have some other interesting captures this year. While the station focuses on songbirds and near-songbirds, our nets will capture (but not always hold!) anything that flies. This included a Sora and Solitary Sandpiper this season, neither of which has been banded at the station in a number of years. We were also able to start operations early enough most mornings to capture an Eastern Whip-poor-will and two Eastern Screech-Owls (plus three return screech-owls).
Speaking of returns (birds banded in a previous season), we introduced a new piece of technology to our operations this season: a tablet loaded with the past eight years of banding data to make our recapture recording and age verifications much smoother. With this, we already know that, of our recaptured birds, about 125 were return birds. While most of these birds were from the fall of 2022, many were older with quite a few having been originally banded in 2021 and 2018 and even a couple from 2015. So, while migration may have felt a little "off" this spring, it was still an interesting season regardless. Our goal isn't to capture as many as birds as possible, but rather to document the passage of birds from year to year in a consistent method. Every year (and every individual species) is different; some are high, some are low, and some are average. But, even the slow years allow us to gain critical information that can be used to aid the conservation of those species that pass through this area every spring. While there is much work ahead now on data entry, presented here is a preliminary breakdown of some of the numbers from this season: Total Birds Banded: 5,647 Species Banded: 102 Banding Days: 52 Banding Hours: 268.62 Total Net Hours: 6090.26 Number of Volunteers: 43 Species with New High Records: Tree Swallow - 51 American Robin - 42 Yellow-shafted Flicker - 21 Top Ten Species Banded: Gray Catbird - 468 White-throated Sparrow - 461 Magnolia Warbler - 349 American Redstart - 328 Myrtle Warbler - 294 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 237 Hermit Thrush - 211 Swainson's Thrush - 200 Yellow Warbler - 191 Common Yellowthroat - 179 For more numbers throughout the season, head over to the 2023 Spring Daily Banding Totals on our Passerine Research Page. We would like to thank our incredible, dedicated group of volunteers and seasonal techs that put all their effort into ensuring a successful banding operation, for both data quality and bird safety. We couldn't do it without all your support!!! We would also like to thank the amazing crew at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for their continued support of this project and Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station and Energy Harbor for preserving and allowing access to this incredible habitat. If you would like to support BSBO's research efforts, please consider our Sponsor a Mist Net program, which directly contributes to our banding programs. Learn more and Sponsor a Mist Net here. 
 WHIP-poor-WILL, WHIP-poor-WILL! The Eastern Whip-poor-will (EWPW) is often heard but very rarely seen, which is why it was so exciting to catch one in the nets a few mornings ago! Whip-poor-wills are pretty widespread throughout the eastern United States, but their nocturnal habits and highly camouflaged feathers mean that most people can go their whole lives without ever seeing one. It’s even unusual to see one at the banding station; although we open the nets before sunrise, we’re often just a little too late for the whip-poor-wills. Our EWPW was easily identifiable as a female because of the smaller, buffy spots in her outer rectrices. A male would have had large white patches on either side of the tail. In addition to sexing the bird, we were also able to use several plumage characteristics to determine that our bird was an after-second-year, or ASY. One of these diagnostic features is that the rectrices and outer primaries were very broad and truncate instead of narrow and pointy. Another clue is that the primary coverts and outer greater coverts had distinct brown spots with dark edging instead of buff tipping/edging that would indicate a younger bird.
EWPW are part of a family of birds known as nightjars, most of which are nocturnal, cryptic insectivores. One other relative, the Common Nighthawk, occurs in northwestern Ohio, but it can be quickly differentiated from EWPW by the presence of white wing patches that are very visible in flight. Like all nightjars, EWPW have large heads, rictal bristles (or “bristicles” as we like to call them), and very soft body plumage. They also have middle toes that are pectinate, meaning that they have little projections, like the teeth on a comb. These specialized toenails are used as grooming tools to brush feathers and rictal bristles. Another fun adaptation of EWPW is their deceptively tiny beaks. Because EWPW are strictly insectivorous, they don’t need very strong beaks. However, since they catch insects while flying, that dinky little beak opens up into a massive gape that allows them to easily gobble up fairly large bugs.
Unfortunately, these fascinating birds are not nearly as numerous as they used to be. Habitat loss due to agriculture and urbanization and food source loss due to pesticides are major drivers of the population decline. Additionally, as a ground-nesting bird, EWPW are particularly vulnerable to predation, both from other wild animals and from outdoor cats and dogs. One easy thing that we can all do to help EWPW and other birds is to keep our cats inside. If you’d like to read more on the topic of cats or on what else you can do to support conservation, check out BSBO's Position of Feral and Free-ranging Cats and Easy Ways for YOU to Support Conservation.
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