BSBO
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    • Bird Migration Profiles
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    • Kenn Kaufman's Crane Creek - Magee Birding Blog
    • Local Birding Hotspots
    • Local eBird Tips
    • Regional Bird Checklist
    • Timing of Spring Migration
    • Timing of Fall Migration
    • Timing of Fall Shorebird Migration
    • Spring Migration Wave Theory
    • ABA Code of Birding Ethics
    • Ohio Bird Alpha Codes
    • Birder Calling Cards
    • Birding Ohio
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Mission and Vision Statement
    • Equality and Diversity Policy
    • Annual Report
    • BSBO Board of Directors
    • BSBO Staff
    • Visit BSBO >
      • Directions
      • Building Improvements
      • Anna Macke Mikolajczyk Window On Wildlife
      • John Gallagher Memorial Birding Trail
    • eNews
    • BSBO Videos >
      • BSBO's 20th Anniversary by Deb Neidert
    • BSBO Blogs >
      • BSBO CONSERVATION BLOG
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
      • BSBO Education and Outreach Blog
    • Contact Us
  • Support BSBO
    • Donate
    • Join or Renew
    • Education Center
    • Sponsor A Mist Net
    • Year-End Appeal
    • Help BSBO while you shop
    • Our Wish List
    • Birds and Business Alliance
  • RESEARCH
    • Peer-Reviewed Publications
    • Songbird Research >
      • Migration Monitoring
      • Prothonotary Warbler Research
      • Building Collision Study
      • Oak Openings
    • Project SNOWstorm >
      • About Project SNOWstorm
      • Meet Buckeye
      • Meet Wolverine
    • Northern Saw-whet Owls
    • Research Highlights >
      • Gray-Cheeked Thrush from Colombia, South America
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
    • Past Research >
      • Colonial Wading Birds
      • Ohio Winter Bird Atlas
      • Shorebirds
    • Reports >
      • Annual Project Reports
      • Navarre Marsh Annual Banding and Survey Data
    • Research Volunteer Form
    • Research Volunteer Page
  • EDUCATION
    • Bird Migration Profiles
    • Family Activities >
      • Free Online Resources
    • Young Birders >
      • Ohio Young Birders Club
      • Young Birders Network
      • Youth Birding Camps
    • Teachers >
      • Songbird Banding and Migration Programs
      • Students Against Balloon Releases
    • Group Programs >
      • Presentations by Request
    • BSBO Bird Knowins
  • Conservation
    • BioBlitzes
    • Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Communities
    • Responsible Wind Energy
    • Conservation Updates
    • Position Statement on Feral and Free-Ranging Cats
    • Habitat Designations
    • Easy Ways for YOU to Support Conservation
  • EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
    • Lake Erie Pelagics
    • WHERE THE BIRDS ARE
    • Birds at Home
    • Highway Clean-up
    • BSBO's Biggest Week In American Birding
  • NW OHIO BIRDING
    • Responsible Owl Viewing
    • Magee Marsh WA Closures
    • Kenn Kaufman's Crane Creek - Magee Birding Blog
    • Local Birding Hotspots
    • Local eBird Tips
    • Regional Bird Checklist
    • Timing of Spring Migration
    • Timing of Fall Migration
    • Timing of Fall Shorebird Migration
    • Spring Migration Wave Theory
    • ABA Code of Birding Ethics
    • Ohio Bird Alpha Codes
    • Birder Calling Cards
    • Birding Ohio
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Black Swamp Bird Observatory's
​Songbird Migration Monitoring

Follow Along During Migration
Volunteer Opportunities
Like BSBO on Facebook or follow on Instagram for daily updates and photos from our Navarre Marsh banding station during spring and fall migration.

​Visit the BSBO Bird Bander's Blog for more detailed information and insights during the banding season. 

Navarre Marsh Banding Station

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BSBO has been conducting standardized spring and fall migration monitoring efforts at its Navarre Marsh Banding Station since 1989. This long-term study has gathered data on over 400,000 individual birds of 150 species and has supported several affiliated projects through supplemental data collection during monitoring efforts.

The banding station is located in the Navarre Marsh unit of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge on the southwest shore of Lake Erie, behind the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio. This extensive marsh complex consists of open-water marsh units, cattail marsh, and upland areas in varying degrees of succession. The station is comprised of Carolinian forest (Eastern Cottonwood, Hackberry, Black Locust, Kentucky Coffeetree), dogwood and honeysuckle understory, and buttonbush marsh.

Three layers of data are collected at the station, with this protocol from Navarre being used as the model for the Midwest Migration Network. Each operating day, migration is documented through three standardized methods:
  • Banding (birds captured or recaptured with data about the individual recorded)
  • Point Count (all birds seen or heard during a five minute period from a designated location)
  • Presence/Absence Checklist (all species banded, on the point count, or encountered during the day)
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Operating Protocol:
  • Spring operations begin near 1 April and continue into early June
  • Fall operations begin near 15 August and continue until the end of October
  • The station is operated daily (weather permitting) each season
  • Nets are opened 30 minutes before sunrise and remain open until at least 11:00 a.m.
  • Nets are checked every 30-40 minutes (depending on conditions of the day)
  • 23 mist nets of the standard 2.6 x 12 meter size are used each day, in permanent net lanes
  • Birds are placed in individual holding bags and marked at the net as a new capture or a recapture

​Once at the station, all birds are identified to species or subspecies and banded with an aluminum band stamped with a unique nine-digit serial number. After being banded, birds are aged, sexed, wing length measured, weighed, and visually inspected for fat deposits and breast muscle condition. Recaptured birds undergo the same data collection process, only receiving a new band if their original band is in need of replacement.

A project of this magnitude would not be possible without the dedication of numerous volunteers throughout each banding season and donors who support the resources needed to operate this station.

All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

Support Our Work!

You can support BSBO's research efforts today by donating or volunteering your time. Check out our Sponsor a Mist Net page to learn how your donation can directly impact our research or help us in the field by becoming a songbird banding volunteer.
Sponsor a Mist Net
Volunteer

Significance of the Region

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By volume, BSBO's Navarre Marsh Banding Station is one of the largest songbird banding operations on the continent. While the number of birds banded annually at the station presents the opportunity for a significant amount of data to be collected, it also demonstrates the immense volume of birds using the lakeshore of Lake Erie.

The beach ridge habitat found in Navarre is one of the largest remaining of this kind of plant community near the lakeshore. Along with neighboring state and federal areas, these beach ridges act as safe havens for migrating birds in both spring and fall, providing areas to rest and refuel before continuing their journeys. Lake Erie itself acts as a barrier to birds, forcing them down and concentrating them into these available habitats. With a landscape largely segmented by agriculture and development, the beach ridges and marshes near Lake Erie host millions of birds during their annual passage. Based (in-part) on BSBO's long-term dataset from Navarre, the Lake Erie Western Basin has been designated as a Globally Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society.

Learn more about the timing of migration through the region:
​Timing of Spring Migration
Timing of Fall Migration
Timing of Fall Shorebird Migration
Spring Migration Wave Theory 

Monitoring Objectives

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​Data from this project has been used to develop the Lake Erie Management Plan and the Beneficial Wildlife Impairments section of the Clean Water Act, and has been widely used for local and regional management plans. From this long-term dataset, BSBO has been able to develop the "Wave Theory" of spring songbird migration, detailing the arrival and peak time of many species, by sex and age. 

​Ongoing monitoring objectives include:
  • Population status​
  • Arrival and departure timing of species and their sexes
  • Longevity and age ratios following the breeding season and winter
  • Morphometric changes
  • Stopover duration and body condition changes over time
  • Site fidelity to stopover sites​

Collaboration

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On average, BSBO bands 6,000 passerine and near-passerines in the spring and 5,000 in the fall of 100 species, with nearly 1,000 recaptures and 150 returns each season. If you're interested in collaborating on a project or collecting data with us during the migration season, please fill out this form of interest.

BSBO's Navarre Marsh Banding Station resources:
  • An onsite MOTUS tower (166.38 mhz)
  • Glue-on and leg-loop nanotag deployment experience
  • Permission for feather sampling
  • Banding permission for passerines and near-passerines, hummingbirds, and various non-passerines
  • A dataset of over 400,000 individuals as well as recapture records
© 2023 www.bsbo.org 
All rights reserved

The mission of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory is to inspire the appreciation, enjoyment, 
and conservation of birds and their habitats through research, education, and outreach.


We are located at the entrance of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area
| 13551 W. State Route 2  |  Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449  |  419.898.4070  |