All days aren’t created equal. The radar last night showed more birds leaving South Florida than were coming in from points north, so today we only banded two migrants and two resident species: Northern cardinal and a Common grackle. Both were in heavy molt which is common with songbirds in the late summer. Most species molt all of their feathers when they are done with breeding and prior to migration. Many then molt their body feathers again in spring but retain the larger flight feathers. Indigo Buntings are a good example of this:
The bird on the left is an adult male in fall; his wings have touches of the blue and black he wears in breeding season but the rest of his plumage is a warm brown.
By spring the body feathers and greater coverts are molted again and replaced with the gorgeous turquoise plumage commonly associated with Indigo buntings, as shown by the bird on the right.
(I’m cheating by going into the archives for bird photos today)
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Black & white warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Ovenbird | 1 | – | – |
| Northern cardinal | 1 | – | – |
| Common grackle | 1 | – | – |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| DAILY TOTAL | 4 | 4 | 22 | 108 | 3.70 |
| SEASON TOTAL | 10 | 6 | 23 | 181.5 | 5.51 |