Today we banded our first-of-the-season Chuck-will’s widow, which is by far the most bizarre bird we capture here. Chuck-will’s widows are a member of the nightjar family (named for their call) and are adapted to catch prey while flying around in the dark. As a consequence, they have a massive mouth. The tiny bill is deceptive because the gape goes back to behind the eye, although this is obscured by feathers until suddenly the whole head opens up like Pac-man. (If you don’t remember Pac-man, go ask the nearest 50something about it. While you’re there, have them tell you where the song lyric that is the post title comes from)
We also caught a couple of our mascot species, the Black-throated blue warbler. This is our top species for numbers in most years, although the bulk of their southbound movements comes through our area in October. Migration continues at a steady pace and the diversity is slowly creeping up as we add more of the less-frequently banded species.
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Chuck-will’s widow | 1 | – | – |
| Blue-gray gnatcatcher | 3 | – | – |
| Northern parula | – | – | 1 |
| American redstart | 3 | – | – |
| Black-throated blue warbler | 2 | – | – |
| Worm-eating warbler | 6 | – | 2 |
| Northern waterthrush | 3 | – | – |
| Swainson’s warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Ovenbird | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| DAILY TOTAL | 24 | 8 | 23 | 103.29 | 27.11 |
| SEASON TOTAL | 337 | 19 | 23 | 2757.19 | 14.00 |