2021, Week 7: Sep 12 – 18
Week 7 of our fall banding season was the busiest so far with 295 birds banded which averages out to 42 birds per day! This total is well above the Week 7 average of 219 birds, and species diversity was right on average with 21 species banded. As has often been the case this season, strangely, the week started and ended with the busiest days being birds Sunday and Saturday with 64 and 65 birds on those days, respectively. The weather was all over the place this week with some very mild nights (temps in the teens), but also our coldest night of the season so far, as temps dipped down to 1.9 °C at the station and a light dusting of frost covered the reed canary grass! Cloudy skies were also more prevalent as the closing temp stayed below 20 °C on several days.
This week’s highlights include three new species: Townsend’s Warbler, ‘Red-shafted’ Northern Flicker, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We also banded our first ‘Myrtle’ Yellow-rumped Warbler and third Virginia Rail. And finally, we banded 2 more Yellow-breasted Chats which pushed them to a new season record of 15, passing last year’s record!
Orange-crowned Warblers once again led the charge this week with 95 banded, followed by Lincoln’s Sparrow with 55, and ‘Audubon’s’ Yellow-rumped Warbler with 32. These were all at least 1.5 times average for Week 7. Rounding out the top 4 was Common Yellowthroat with 29, which is only slightly above average. White-crowned Sparrow had another strong week with 27, which is close to 3 times average. If these numbers continue they may set a new record this year. Gray Catbirds are quickly petering out with only 3 banded, which is quite typical. Wilson’s Warbler again were below average with only 5 banded, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets have also been very slow to trickle in so far, though it’s still relatively early for them.
The week’s totals are below.
| Species | Number Banded |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 95 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 55 |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 32 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 29 |
| ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow | 27 |
| Song Sparrow | 25 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 5 |
| ‘Unidentified’ Yellow-rumped Warbler | 4 |
| Gray Catbird | 3 |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 3 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 3 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 2 |
| Warbling Vireo | 2 |
| Townsend’s Warbler | 1 |
| ‘Red-shafted’ Flicker | 1 |
| Yellow Warbler | 1 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 1 |
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 1 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 |
| Virginia Rail | 1 |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 |
| Total | 295 |
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