New species rode the E and SE winds into the area, and we captured 18 birds of 8 species on Friday April 9. Common nighthawks arrived this week, and we have heard their ‘beent’ calls every night since. The Gray catbirds have not left yet while the local Northern cardinals are getting worked up for spring.
One of the new species was this gorgeous second-year male Indigo bunting. We can tell the age of many birds by looking for molt limits; basically the difference between their original suit of feathers that grew in when they fledged and the adult feathers coming in. Many songbirds molt their body feathers in spring, giving them their colorful breeding plumage. In the case of this Indigo bunting, the juvenile feathers are brown and the new incoming feathers are turquoise.
Northern and Louisiana waterthrush are two very similar species that overlap a little in migration and on the wintering grounds, with the Louisiana waterthrush migrating earlier in spring and fall. We had both species in the hand on Friday and were able to compare them. The Louisiana waterthrush is slightly larger with a longer bill, white throat, wider supercilliary stripe and more of a ‘milk chocolate’ color to the back. Northern waterthrush have a spotted throat, darker more well-defined spots on the breast and their underparts can be yellowish. They also have a ‘dark chocolate’ color to their upperparts and their call is more metallic than the Louisiana waterthrush.
The quick rain line Friday evening disappointed us over the weekend, with fewer birds banded Saturday and Sunday than on Friday. Severe storms moved down the peninsula late on Sunday with 50 MPH gusts, and another round of storms came through overnight around 2AM or so. In spite of this rough weather we only banded 10 new birds today and recaptured an overwintering Gray catbird. Migrants were in the air according to radar, but they may have used the tailwind to get past extreme southern Florida before encountering the squall lines. This is great for the birds; weather like that would be very dangerous for birds still flying offshore.
TOTALS TO APR 12 2021
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN |
| Chuck-will’s widow | 3 | – |
| Blue-headed vireo | 1 | – |
| Gray catbird | 43 | 3 |
| Hermit thrush | 1 | – |
| Northern parula | 1 | – |
| Western palm warbler | 3 | – |
| Black and white warbler | 6 | 3 |
| American redstart | 7 | – |
| Prairie warbler | 26 | 2 |
| Worm-eating warbler | 13 | – |
| Swainson’s warbler | 4 | – |
| Ovenbird | 6 | 4 |
| Louisiana waterthrush | 2 | – |
| Northern waterthrush | 5 | – |
| Common yellowthroat | 8 | 1 |
| Northern cardinal | – | 4 |
| Indigo bunting | 2 | – |
| Painted bunting | 2 | – |
| TOTAL | 133 | 17 |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| SEASON TOTAL | 150 | 18 | 23 | 3285 | 4.87 |