CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. – My alarm is going off as I quietly, yet eagerly, get out of bed at the dark and early time of 4 a.m. Today, I get to do something that I love that also benefits bird conservation.
Weather permitting, the team treks to each of the 10 mist nets scattered at the site to check for wild birds. Once extracted from the net, each bird is transferred to a soft cotton bag for transport back to the banding station. After banding and collecting measurements from the bird, the researchers release it.
Photo by Fred Zwicky
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I arrive just before dawn at the U. of I.’s Phillips Tract, a former farm that is now a 130-acre natural area just east of Urbana and is used for scientific research and student training. I unlock the gate, park and gather the supplies I keep on site. Then I wait for the volunteers to arrive. The team today is a dedicated mix of staff, graduate students and undergraduates – all of whom are committed to helping capture, band and monitor the birds that use this site.
Birds throughout the world are in trouble, and habitat loss is one of multiple reasons for their decline. Understanding the birds’ life cycles and habitat requirements during migration is becoming increasingly important – especially as climate change continues to affect the world.
Collaborative bird banding helps fill in the knowledge gaps, which is why I do this work. This bird-banding station is in its fourth year of operation, and this is an ideal location for it. The Phillips Tract is a mix of plots, including – but not limited to – tallgrass prairie and old field/successional woods. Another lure for birds choosing to use this site is that the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork River runs through it, giving them access to the fresh, readily moving water they need.
Students and researchers take photos of many of the wild birds before releasing them, including this banded ruby-crowned kinglet.
Photo by Fred Zwicky
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As I gather our supplies, I hear a barred owl giving its elongated “whoooooo” call. This makes me smile, invigorating me for what is to come. As volunteers arrive and light from the impending sunrise starts to expand across the landscape, other birds start singing and calling.
Off in the distance, a killdeer can be heard vocalizing “kill-deer” over and over. Northern cardinals give their “chip” calls back and forth, and I catch the tail end of a field sparrow song ping-ponging to a stop.
Beveroth explains how to examine a magnolia warbler.
Photo by Fred Zwicky
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Once everyone is gathered, we head back to the banding area. Now we can hear the “peent” of an American woodcock, a unique and charismatic bird. I would love to catch that bird. When we reach our banding area, the volunteers spring into action. Headlamps are turned on, tables are set up and banding supplies are placed in designated areas. The volunteers head out to open the 10 mist nets that we have scattered across the site. These fine-mesh nets are 12 meters long and 3 meters high. We use them to capture the birds.
While the others go to open the nets, I grab my clipboard, don my binoculars and head out to do a few five-minute standardized bird surveys. I get lucky and see a Cooper’s hawk at one of my survey points and hear many ovenbirds and gray catbirds, two species commonly found at the station. I also hear the happy voices of volunteers and know they are also excited for what is to come.
We gather at the banding station, then split up to go do our first net checks. I find the first net empty, but my enthusiasm is intact. I know that birds do not always congregate around the nets and there are days where some nets catch more than others.
By the time I reach the third net, I see some movement and know that we have a bird. It is a male Canada warbler – one of my favorite warbler species. It is small, with steely blue and yellow plumage and what looks like a black necklace. I “body grab” the bird, a method of extraction I like to use. I manage to get the warbler out of the net quickly after removing the mesh from its foot. Not all birds are so easy to extract. Chickadees and American robins will try with all their might to get out of the net to avoid capture, which results in further entanglement. We’ve also caught a blue-winged warbler.
When in doubt, the researchers consult field guides to determine the species of the bird. Individual characteristics can be subtle and vary by age and sex.
Photo by Fred Zwicky
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Warblers are long-distance migrants. Some travel thousands of miles from their summer breeding grounds to their winter sanctuaries. These birds are here to rest and fuel up prior to continuing their incredible journey south.
I put each bird into its own cotton bag for holding until processing and head to my last net, where I notice some brown “things” caught in the net, most of which are leaves, as it is the beginning of fall. One of them is not a leaf, but a Swainson’s thrush, another long-distance migrant. Having heard many of their “whit” calls earlier today, I am not surprised by this capture.
At the banding station, we try to process all the birds as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. We band each one and take its measurements. All the leg bands are numbered, and we’ll share the information with the federal Bird Banding Laboratory, where it will be placed in a large database that has been around since 1920 and is used by scientists.
Our measurements give us information about the current body condition of each bird and can supply comparison data across individual species. If a banded bird is captured again somewhere, it will provide information about the bird’s migratory requirements and life cycle.
After I weigh the warbler, I look up to see hopeful eyes looking at me. Students regularly come out to learn about bird banding through observation. We often let the visiting students release the birds after processing and a quick tutorial on how to safely hold them.
I pass the bird to a student. She opens her hand and the warbler takes off with a burst and a “chip.” It will spend the rest of its day foraging and packing on fat to prepare for the next leg of its journey south.