Frontenac Bird Studies

Male Indigo Bunting (Seabrooke Leckie)

The penultimate visit to MABO in 2009 was completed on July 25. Weather during the morning was more like spring with cool temperatures, thick fog and cloudy skies. A result of 18 new birds banded and 24 total captures was less than we were anticipating given the time of year. We continue to await any substantial movement of young birds at both MAPS stations. We are banding a few young birds here and there but the results so far are indicating low productivity in the area as a whole. Despite a shortage of hatch-year birds, we continue to sample adult birds in high numbers, including the Indigo Bunting pictured above.

HY Scarlet Tanager (Leckie)

This was the first hatch-year Scarlet Tanager (note the wing bars indicating Juvenal plumage) captured in 2009. We have banded enough Scarlet Tanagers this summer to suggest that both survivorship and productivity indices can be calculated on an annual basis. Veery, Wood Thrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ovenbird and Northern Waterthrush are a few other examples of species sampled in sufficient quantity at MABO and/or RRID to produce vital rate statistics.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Leckie)

A few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, all females, have slipped into our nets this summer. We release all hummers unbanded as we don’t have the special permits to band this species.

Wood Thrush (Leckie)

Thus far, results for Wood Thrushes and Veerys, abundant breeders at MABO, has been “hit and miss”. We have banded high numbers of adults but have yet to capture a single hatch-year in 2009. Considerably less common at MABO is the Hermit Thrush and yet we banded a juvenile here during visit 6! Naturally, these findings raise many questions that indicate a need for more data. A substantive network of stations across southern Ontario would be powerfully instructive toward an annual assessment of temporal and spatial variation in rates of productivity and long-term factors influencing population change. For the Frontenac Arch, we are committed to expansion of the MAPS program to bolster demographic monitoring in this region and hopefully to serve as a model for other areas in the province.

Maplewood Bog-Visit 6 of 7

New birds banded (18 of 12 species)

American Redstart-1
American Goldfinch-1
Indigo Bunting-1
Red-eyed Vireo-6
Song Sparrow-2
Scarlet Tanager-1
Hermit Thrush-1
White-breasted Nuthatch-1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-1
American Robin-1
Wood Thrush-1
Hairy Woodpecker-1

Captured and released unbanded (1 of 1 species)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird-1

Recaptures (5 of 5 species)
American Robin-1
Song Sparrow-1
Common Yellowthroat-1
Black-and-white Warbler-1
White-breasted Nuthatch-1