Over 100 species of birds migrate through south Florida every year in a process that starts in mid-August and ends sometime in early November. The trip is long, with birds in some cases flying from Ontario to Brazil. It’s quite an ordeal for a small songbird and usually takes at least a week, but usually several. Of course, just like anyone, they can get hungry and a little sleepy on a long road trip. Enter Key Biscayne! Our little island, and by extension our little banding station, is key migratory stopover habitat and crucial to the birds that pass over us every night during migration season, both spring and fall. I suppose one can think of us as the lone Wawa in the night, a beacon promising snacks and a place to rest for a moment. Sites such as ours are known as stopovers and they are essential for bird migrations across the country and around the world. Due to the intense urban and agricultural sprawl across South Florida, the quantity of natural stopover habitat is decreasing, and the quality of remaining native cover is declining as invasive species disrupt habitat structure and food sources. It is so incredibly important that people preserve and restore extensive, intact areas that are rich in resources with a diverse array of habitats to shelter birds during the most perilous stage of their lifecycle.
At sites like Cape Florida and Crandon, migrating birds can rest fully for several days and load up on food without too much risk of invasive competition, such as from Eurasian collared doves, or invasive predation, such as from cats and dogs. Sometimes they only stay for a single afternoon before departing, but many of our birds spend several days at the park working to store fat that will help them fly thousands of miles. As a general rule, songbirds spend more time and energy at stopovers than during flight because they accumulate energy more slowly than they expend it while flying. Furthermore, as we have seen this year with the arrival of Milton and Helene, many birds will seek shelter at stopover sites during adverse weather conditions, as it is both more physiologically taxing, but also outright dangerous for a small bird (or any bird, really) to fly during a major hurricane.
Mid-migration stopover habitat has often been overlooked by science, which is why CFBS is a crucial dataset to understanding neotropical bird migration, primarily that of songbirds. The information we glean from when, where, and how birds migrate help us better understand and manage migratory birds during this trying time in their lives. Using this information, we can map out the actual journey and routes birds take, allowing us to create plans to enable birds to have the easiest and safest migration possible. Such plans include reducing light pollution in populated areas and keeping stopover sites stocked with abundant and varied food sources such as oil and fat-rich seeds, nutritious fruit, nectar-producing plants, and insects.
If you want to help songbirds safely and comfortably migrate South for the winter and North for the summer, you can help by working to make your backyard into a mini stopover site. You can do so by planting native species of plants in your yard, providing adequate water sources, and planting enough cover for birds to be able to shelter from predators. Stay tuned for more information about how to support our station’s important work for Give Miami Day. If you’re interested in learning how you can help us fundraise that day by hosting a champion page, reach out to us at info@capefloridabandingstation.org. Happy migration!
Post written by Anda Castillo, volunteer extractor. Data compiled by Nicole Rita.
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAPTURE | 10/13 – 10/ 26 TOTAL | SEASON TOTAL |
| Chuck-will’s widow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Acadian flycatcher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Traill’s flycatcher | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Eastern phoebe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Great-crested flycatcher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow-throated vireo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Red-eyed vireo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| White-eyed vireo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Veery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gray-cheeked thrush | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Swainson’s thrush | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
| Wood thrush | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gray catbird | 62 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 71 |
| Blue-gray gnatcatcher | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Tennessee warbler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern parula | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16 |
| Magnolia warbler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Cape May warbler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Black-throated warbler | 47 | 0 | 6 | 53 | 109 |
| Yellow-throated warbler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Prairie warbler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Bay-breasted warbler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Blackpoll warbler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Black & white warbler | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 45 |
| American redstart | 12 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 119 |
| Worm-eating warbler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 57 |
| Swainson’s warbler | 10 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 48 |
| Ovenbird | 15 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 160 |
| Northern waterthrush | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 |
| Louisiana waterthrush | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Common yellowthroat | 11 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 46 |
| Hooded warbler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Yellow-breasted chat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern cardinal | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Rose-breasted grosbeak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Painted bunting | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Common grackle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 197 | 2 | 28 | 227 | 807 |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| TOTAL FROM 9/2 – 9/7 | 162 | 16 | 21 | 417.84 | 38.77 |
| TOTAL FROM 9/8 – 9/14 | 94 | 11 | 23 | 332.49 | 28.27 |
| TOTAL FROM 9/15 – 9/21 | 56 | 15 | 23 | 193.16 | 28.99 |
| TOTAL FROM 9/22 – 9/28 | 34 | 11 | 23 | 371.58 | 62.97 |
| TOTAL FROM 9/29 – 10/12 | 234 | 28 | 23 | 371.58 | 62.97 |
| TOTAL FROM 10/13 – 10/26 | 227 | 25 | 23 | 498.59 | 45.53 |
| Season total so far | 807 | 37 | 23 | 2005.32 | 40.24 |