August is generally a slow month for the banding station as the pace of migration doesn’t really pick up until September. Still, it is worth running the nets as we catch some species that are early migrants we would miss later on. One of these earlier species is the Prothonotary warbler, one of only two warbler species that nest in cavities. Prothonotaries are common in southeastern swamps. This is a hatching-year female. Males tend to be even brighter golden-yellow, especially on their crowns.
Our earliest migrant is the Louisiana waterthrush. These start moving through Florida around the Fourth of July and are almost finished with their migration when we open in mid-August. We did catch a straggler today, mixed in with the Ovenbirds and Northern waterthrushes.
The left photo shows today’s Louisiana waterthrush, and the right photo is a Northern waterthrush for comparison. Differences to notice are the whiter underparts, much larger bill, and bolder supercilium of the Louisiana; smaller bill, yellowish underparts and tapering supercillium of the Northern. Their calls are also distinct: the Northern waterthrush has a very metallic hard chink while the Louisiana’s chink is flatter. Most waterthrushes seen in south Florida are Northerns.
We were only able to band for an hour today in between large thunderstorms but caught 7 birds in that time. Frustrating to have to close nets when birds are bopping all over the woods. The rain at night is good for banders and birders since the migrants have to land. In fair weather the majority of migrants pass overhead without stopping here on their way to points south.
The beauty and diversity of birds is almost a mind-numbing wonder!
Nice comparison photos of the Louisiana and Northern waterthrush! Those could be published in a photographic field guide. Always nice to spot (and catch) a LOWA this time of year. How do you tell the difference between a hatching-year female compared to a bird that is a year or two older? Thanks.
Hi Roxanne,
With waterthrush you can age them by skulling or by (sometimes) subtle plumage characterisitics. We can’t sex them this time of year unless they have extremely long wing chords that fall into the male range only.
Thanks. Did you use skulling to determine that the Prothontary Warbler was a hatching-female?
I skulled for age and used plumage characteristics for sexing.
Thanks. I look forward to more discussion and examples/photos of plumage characteristics and skulling as the banding season progresses.