T.G Talks Tussling birds

By Bronwyn Robinson 

Male and female northern parula always exciting to capture and band a parula so far this fall we have banded 10 in the fall after not getting any in the spring 

Sometimes the inability to chill out is distinct to a bird’s personality. Back home in ye olde Brampton, I’ve got two budgies, one of whom has terrible anxiety and despises any beast that isn’t herself, her reflection, or her far more rational sister. Even earlier today we had a male and female Northern parula (shown below), and while the fluffy boy exercised patience, his lady counterpart (the angry blur) gave us heck. Sometimes, however, it’s just their tendency as a species to stress out. There are a few species we band here at the marsh that are more likely to lose their cool than the usual back talking sparrow.

Thrushes, like the Swainsons and Veerys we see a lot of, are prioritized for banding when we bring them in from the nets. While many birds tolerate being handled by us and shown to the public, thrushes are a little less willing, and it’s our job going along the nets, collecting birds and banding them to minimize stress. Catbirds too, like the family of four we had today, are banded first before the warblers and sparrows that don’t mind waiting an extra few minutes.

Another species prioritized for banding is the Canada warbler, like the handsome lad I plucked from the net today, shown below. These little guys have a fabulous speckled collar and bold eye ring that really stands out. Since they’re a species at risk, they’re prioritized in the banding queue, as would any other threatened species we don’t want to hold onto for too long.

Canada Warbler  our banding protocol requires us to band this species at risk first  so far this fall we have banded 21 in the fall after banding 21 in the spring . In contrast we have only banded 1  olive sided flycatcher which is another species at risk