Banding Highlights
Tyler Christensen, Sean Graesser, and Anthony Squitieri
Greetings from Costa Rica!
The day after we arrived at our destination in Costa Rica we travelled to Reserva Cabo Blanco, where we began preparations to band the next day. The twelve net lanes had to be located and cleared, and the equipment carried to the banding table. We opened the nets the following morning in the dark at 6:00am. Immediately, and not surprisingly, we started netting birds. Our first capture was a hatching-year Kentucky Warbler, one of the target species of this study, and a very welcome sight just a few days after being caught in a snowstorm.
[Illustration: Savannah Sparrow in Pennington New Jersey, October 30th]
[Illustration: Kentucky Warbler in Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica, November 3rd]
Our first week yielded a highly successful banding session at Reserva Cabo Blanco; In the three consecutive 10-hour days of banding, we captured a total of 97 birds of 25 species. Our most common species were Long-tailed Manakin, Gray-headed Tanager, and Swainson's Thrush, another target species of the project. Other Neotropical migrant species included Tennessee Warbler, Wood Thrush, and Louisiana Waterthrush. Highlights among the resident species included a Greenish Elaenia, a Stub-tailed Spadebill, three Bright-rumped Antillas and two Northern Barred-Woodcreepers.
[Illustration: The Banding Station at Cabo Blanco]
While the banding operation overall went very smoothly, we began a dynamic battle with a resident coati, a Neotropical relative of the raccoon, who quickly learned that our coolers were an excellent source for an easy lunch. At first, when we found the raided cooler upon our return to the station, we assumed someone had forgotten to close the lid. The second time, Sean was sitting at the banding table with his back to the cooler, and turned to see the coati flip open the lid with his nose, grab a bag of Doritos, and run into the forest. Convinced we could outsmart this creature, we hoisted the cooler into a tree. The Coati didn't have to think twice: He climbed up the tree, down the rope, and, standing on the handle from which the chest was hanging, pulled open the lid to snatch our sandwiches and disappear into the undergrowth before we could do anything about it. Never again will we underestimate the cleverness and determination of a hungry Coati. Accepting defeat, we were forced to resort to the only advantage we had: aposable thumbs. A secure knot around the cooler has kept our meals safe ever since.
[Illustration: Sean returning from a net run carrying new birds.]
[Illustration: Anthony with a Long-tailed Manakin]
In addition to our banding operation, we've been able to use our newly-purchased sound recording equipment to capture recordings of several species of resident birds, which we plan to donate to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library, as well as create audio samples to use in censuses of our study sites. Attached are recordings of a Long-billed Gnatwren and a Pale-billed Woodpecker, the latter of which will be the first recording of their vocal behavior to be donated to the Macaulay Library.
[Illustration: Sonogram of a Long-billed Gnatwren Song (audio attached)]
[Illustration: Sonogram of a Pale-billed Woodpecker Calling (audio attached)]
On Wednesday of next week we will drive to Refugio Curu, a private biological refuge, to establish our other banding station. We hope to capture a different array of species that frequent the mangrove swamps found along the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. In the meantime, we will continue recording bird songs, computerizing the data from our first banding sessions at Cabo Blanco, and preparing to move our equipment to Refugio Curu.
Netting Totals from Cabo Blanco 11/3-11/5:
13 Long-tailed Manakin
9 Gray-headed Tanager
6 Swainson's Thrush
5 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
5 Ruddy Woodcreeper
5 Plain Xenops
4 Stripe-throated Hermit
4 Streak-headed Woodcreeper
4 Rufous-capped Warbler
3 Barred Antshrike
3 Red-crowned Antshrike
3 Bright-rumped Antilla
2 Rufous-and-white Wren
2 Northern Barred-Woodcreeper
2 Kentucky Warbler
2 Tennessee Warbler
2 Lesser Greenlet
2 Long-billed Gnatwren
2 Tropical Gnatcatcher
2 Olivaceous Woodcreeper
1 Louisiana Waterthrush*
1 Wood Thrush*
1 Greenish Elaenia
1 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
1 Stub-tailed Spadebill
Total: 97
Other Species Observed:
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Little Tinamou
Thicket Tinamou
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Gray-necked Wood-rail
Squirrel Cuckoo
Green-breasted Mango
Viocacious Trogon
Turquoise-browed Motmot
Green Kingfisher
Hoffman’s Woodpecker
Pale Billed Woodpecker
Great-crested Flycatcher
Eastern-wood Pewee
Clay-colored Robin
Baltimore Oriole
* These two species are known from only very few records in these areas, and represent significant findings.
Our next update will be sent next week, after the completion of our second banding session at Refugio Curu. Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Tyler Christensen, Sean Graesser, and Anthony Squitieri
Nicoya Peninsula Avian Research Station
11 Moores Mill Mount Rose Rd
Pennington, New Jersey 08534
tchristensen@npars.org
