Hi folks, Well the MAPS season is over here. Last banding day was today, Saturday August 3. I'm starting to get used to the slow days that MAPS often brings, particularly here. This year, in 8 days of 6 hours each, we handled a total of 85 birds. That would be a decent day at the migration station where I first got into banding! Of great interest are 3 possibly related events. On our first day, the first bird we caught was of the Gray-cheeked/Bicknell's complex (GCBT). Unfortunately the bird escaped before we got adequate detail. On our second banding day, a week later, a GCBT was seen. On our last day, today, we captured and banded a GCBT which I am tentatively calling a Gray-cheeked. Many measurements and notes were taken on this bird, which was very heavily in molt, had no fat, and is therefore not apparently in migration condition. Are these all the same bird? If so, why would this northern breeder hang around here all season? 2 birds may be in relative decine. Louisiana Waterthrushes accounted for over 50% of our birds in 2000, 40% in 2001, and just 24% in 2002. I don't have numbers for REVI at hand, but I know we caught more than 2 each of the last 2 years. All 3 of the birds we handled (one recap) were adults. And there has been a notable lack of singing this year. One or two birds at a time, rather than several. Of course it's too early to tell with either of these, but something to look for in years to come. Thanks a lot to master bander Paul Super, and to interns and volunteers Heather, Andrew, Bonnie Jo, Erin, Amanda and Rachel! The breakdown is as follows: 3 unbanded birds (all escapes) 18 recaptures 0 foreign recaptures Louisiana Waterthrush 14 new plus 7 recaps = 24% of birds American Goldfinch 6 + 2 = 7% Wood Thrush 5 + 3 = 7% Acadian Flycatcher 4 + 2 = 7% Carolina Wren 5 + 0 = 6% Indigo Bunting 4 +0 Ovenbird 4 + 0 Eastern Phoebe 4 + 0 Chipping Sparrow 2 + 2 Black-and-white Warbler 3 + 0 Red-eyed Vireo 2 + 1 American Robin 2 + 0 Hooded Warbler 2 + 0 Yellow-throated Warbler 2 + 0 Gray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush 1 + 1 Northern Cardinal 0 + 1 Worm-eating Warbler, Eastern Wood-pewee, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Brown-headed Cowbird all accounted for one banded bird each. Good day! Charlie ===== ************************************************** Charlie Muise, Senior Naturalist Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont Townsend, TN lat 35 deg, 38'23" long 83 deg, 41'22" "Do something. If it works, do it again. If it does not work, do something else. But above all else: Do Something." (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================