MAPS Songbird Population Study

MAPS - Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship - is a  continent-wide breeding season study started in 1989 by the Institute for Bird Populations in Point Reyes, California. About 400-450 stations operate nation-wide in any given year.

We have banded over 2,400 birds. Click summary to see the banding results of our 20-year study.

The 2010 schedule is now available but please note - participation for new volunteers is limited to observing, and we can only accept a very limited number of volunteers on each banding day. Please call for the schedule (banding is on Tuesdays and Sundays) and to reserve a spot. 410-741-9330.

Day 7 (July 25, 2010)

Day 6 (July 13, 2010)

Day 5 (July 6, 2010)

Day 4 (June 22, 2010)

Day 3 (June 15, 2010)

-- We had 11 recaps/6 species as follows: Common Yellowthroat/1, Wood Thrush/3, Ovenbird/3, White-breasted Nuthatch/1, Ac

 Day Two (June 6) Summary

WEATHER FOR DAY TWO: Skies were partly cloudy, temps and humidity levels seemed slightly higher than seasonal norms.

HEAD BANDER: Mike Quinlan assisted by Sandy Teliak and Woody Martin.

DATA RECORDER: Cynthia Bravo

HIGHLIGHTS:

-- We banded 18 birds/9 species compared to Day Two/2009 (2 June) of 7 birds/7 species and Day Two/2008 (3 June) of 28 birds/13 species.

-- Our season’s total is now 32 birds/13 species compared to 2009’s 29 birds/15 species or 2008’s 49 birds/22 species.

--We banded an Ovenbird that had just recently fledged from the nest. Such a bird is aged as Local meaning it is incapable of sustained flight. After a short period of time, once the bird has become strong enough for sustained flight, it would be deemed a hatch year (HY) bird if recaptured in the same calendar year in which it was born. This bird was caught in the same net and round as it’s parents. The adult Ovenbirds (migrant breeders) probably returned to Jug Bay in the early May or later timeframe. This is the earliest banding date for an Ovenbird aged as Local. Of the other three Ovenbirds aged Local, one was banded on 13 June (1990) and the other two on 25 June (2000).

-- With over 2,420 bandings since 1990, we’ve only banded 30 birds deemed Local in age and 564 birds deemed HY. Since year-round resident birds don’t have to deal with migration, they are prone to start their breeding cycle earlier then migrant breeders. Consequently, we typically start capturing resident HY and Local birds earlier in the breeding season then we would migrants. From 27 May thru 12 June 1990-2009, we banded 44 birds deemed HY or Local. Of those, 34 were of year-round resident species. The other ten were Louisiana Waterthrush which are an early migrant returnee (mid-April) to Jug Bay.  Historically, we don’t capture/band HY or Local birds from migrant breeders such as Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, Acadian Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat till 13 June or later (excepting the aforementioned Louisiana Waterthrush) .  Historically, year round resident species such as Carolina Wren, Carolina Chickadee, Downey Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Cardinal account for only 20% of all bandings. These same species however, account for 38% of all HY or Local bandings. Carolina Wrens are typically very productive – of 148 bandings since 1990, 100 were aged as HY or Local. Their high mortality rate over severe winters (such as this past winter) necessitates this high reproduction rate . So far this season, we have not banded any Carolina Wren - possibly due to high mortality given excessive snow fall this winter.

-- We banded a probably mating pair of White-breasted Nuthatches caught in the same net on the same round. This is only the 8^th and 9^th White-breasted Nuthatch banded since 1990. The last such banding was of a HY banded on 21 June 2008.

-- We banded a Louisiana Waterthrush, our 60^th since 1990.

-- We banded a Grey Catbird, our 28^th since 1990. While not uncommon to Jug Bay, they are infrequent visitors to our MAPS study site.

-- We had 5 recaps/4 species. The earliest banded recap was of a Wood Thrush banded by us on 24 June 2007 and recaptured 8X in 2008, none in 2009 and now 1X in 2010.

DETAILS:

-- We banded 18 birds/9 species as follows: Common Yellowthroat/3, Gray Catbird/1, Louisian Waterthrush/1, Northern Cardinal/1, Ovenbird/3, Red-eyed Vireo/2, Tufted Titmouse/1, Wood Thrush/4.

-- We had four recaps/3 species as follows: Wood Thrush/2 (banded in 2007, 2010), Tufted Titmouse/1 (2008). Eastern Wood Peewee (2008).

Day One (May 25) 2010 Summary

WEATHER: Temp varied between mid-60's to low 70's during the session. Skies were overcast with some slight misting early on. It felt humid.

HEAD BANDER: Chris Swarth assisted by Mike Quinlan, Sandy Teliak and Natasha Hagemeyer.

DATA RECORDER: Karen Caruso

HIGHLIGHTS:

 -- We banded only 14 birds/9 species for Day 1/2010. Since 2004 under our current 14 net configuration, we have averaged 20 birds/12 species on Day One. Range: 10/2004 to 28/2008.

 -- We banded only one true migrant non-breeder - a Gray-cheeked Thrush. This thrush winters in South America and is returning to it's breeding grounds in northern Canada. It is not uncommon for us on Day 1 of our MAPS effort to aperiodically get a true migrant that is only passing through Jug Bay to get to its breeding grounds further north. It is unlikely we will get any more this season. Keeping in mind that the MAPS program is specifically targeted to a site's breeding bird population, our start date is designed to minimize migrant bandings. This is the 14th Gray-cheeked Thrush we have banded since 1980. Another non-breeding migrant that we typically get on Day One is a Swainson's Thrush. Since 1980, we have banded 29 of them.

 --- We banded a female Brown-headed Cowbird. Since 1980, we average one per year. Of the 14 adult Cowbirds we have banded, 13 have been female and only one male. She no doubt is looking for a nest to lay her eggs and have someone else raise!

 -- We banded an adult Tufted Titmouse with an egg in its oviduct. The Tufted Titmouse is a year-round resident at Jug Bay and thus typically starts its breeding cycle earlier then migrants that breed at Jug Bay.

 -- We had six recaps/three species. The number of recaps does not necessarily reflect the number of unique birds recaptured. Today we had the same Oven bird recaptured three different times during the day which accounts for three of the six recaps.  

 -- The earliest banded recap was of a Red-eyed Vireo/2031-91183  banded by us on 25 July 2006. This probable female was subsequently recaptured by us 2X in 2008, 2X in 2009 and now 1X in 2010. Breeding site loyalty is what brings birds back to the same breeding location from year-to-year. Last year we recaptured a Red-eyed Vireo that had been returning to Jug Bay to breed - from its wintering grounds in northern South America - for at least 9 years!!!! Even though we didn't recapture today's Red-eyed Vireo/2031-91183 in 2007, we know that because of breeding site loyalty it was in all likelihood here in 2007 but we simply didn't recapture it.

 -- This season we will be looking closely at Carolina Wrens. They are year-round residents breeders at Jug Bay and typically are seriously impacted by harsh winter conditions. Given the heavy snow fall this past winter, we expect our Carolina Wren population to have dropped considerably.

DETAILS:

 -- We banded 14 birds/9 species as follows: Acadian Flycatcher/1, American Robin/1, Brown-headed Cowbird/1, Gray-cheeked Thrush/1, Northern Cardinal/1, Oven bird/1, red-eyed Vireo/4, Tufted Titmouse/1, Wood Thrush/3.

 -- We had 6 recaps/4 species as follows: Oven bird/3, Tufted Titmouse/1, Red-eyed Vireo/2.

ADDENDUM TO DAY ONE: I failed to note that the American Robin we banded on this date was the first ever to be banded as part of our MAPS effort. This fact was so surprising to me given the woodland nature of our study site. The American Robin becomes the 61^st species on our station’s MAPS banding list.