This Northern cardinal is 2 months older than the boy holding him!
We have had a good year for returning birds, defined as birds banded by us during other seasons. (We call birds banded by others but captured by us recoveries.) 23 birds of 9 species were returns in 2015 so far. Five Northern cardinals and 3 Common ground doves are residents that stay at BBCFSP year-round, while the balance were birds that came to spend the winter here from points north. These wintering birds include 7 Ovenbirds, 2 Gray catbirds, 2 Common yellowthroats, and one each of Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Black-and-white warbler, and Western palm warbler. The returning Great crested flycatcher could be either a resident or a winter visitor.
Return data gives us information about the longevity of birds in the wild and about the suitability of the habitat for overwintering. BBCFSP has proven over the years to be an excellent location for Ovenbirds to spend the winter, and they usually make up most of the non-resident returns. Some of these birds live to be fairly old and return here year after year. The oldest individual we have caught so far is the Northern cardinal pictured above; he was banded as a hatching-year bird in Sept 2005, making him 10 years old. The record known age for a Northern cardinal is the wild is 16 years! The Ovenbirds were all originally banded between 2010 and 2014, the catbirds are from 2010 and 2011, and the balance were mostly from 2013 and 2014.
We had a little bit of excitement the other day when a Red-shouldered hawk hit one of the nets, carrying with it iguana prey. We were able to grab the bird and band it, although we had to release this powerful bird before a lot of photos were taken. These talons can hurt!
