[nysbirds-l] What happened to the hummers?
For 13 years, fellow bander Ted Hicks and I have banded Ruby-thr Hummingbirds in the Adirondacks at Schroon Lake in Essex Co. What I report here is the results of a very disturbing 2024 hummer season at Schroon Lake as well as some results from hummer banding at my camp at Jenny Lake near Corinth in Saratoga Co. and some equally disturbing observations from Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Franklin Co., ME where I have previously banded. At Schroon Lake (SL), we typically conducted each year two banding sessions in late-May/early Jun, followed by 4-5 sessions once young appeared from late-Jul to mid-Aug. Typically Ad/M outnumbered Ad/F early in the season, that ratio reversing later in the season; while Juv/M usually outnumbered Juv/ F. Oldest retrap was a F over 8 yrs old. Greatest number captured in one day was 78 in 3 hrs in Jul 2012. For the 2024 season we experienced for the first time in 13 yrs a 2-hr trapping session on 7/27/24 where we did not catch a single hummer. Our total seasonal catch in 8 trapping sessions was 106 birds, second from the bottom in 13 yrs, including only 6 returns none over 2 yrs old. Had we not conducted the 8th trapping session, our 2024 season total would have been an all-time record low of 100 captures. These results were in sharp contrast to a record 184 birds captured last year which included 23 returns from previous yrs. The 2024 decline in numbers as well as age of return birds suggests some tragedy befell them. Hummer migration can be quite perilous: they go south during the hurricane season and north during the tornado season, these conditions possibly somehow playing a role in their survival. At Jenny Lake (JL) where I conduct weekend banding sessions May to Oct, the season started with the usual late-May rush, but then crashed. During 4 trapping sessions through the month of Jun I did not catch a hummer. Sugar-water consumption peaked in May at an anemic 86 g/day (years ago it had been as high as a little over 1000g/day), dipped to 23 g/day in Jun, then surged to 140 g/day in early Aug, exceeding the May peak. This is unusual because normally May peaks are always higher than those in Jul/Aug. Years ago at JL, one of my banded females tied the North American age record of 9yr-0mo originally set in OK. I banded her as an adult in May, then recaptured her at least once in each of the following 8 years, for a total of 25 times. That record has since been superceded by some 10-yr old birds. Concerned about these SL and JL abnormal results, I decided to contact two feeder operators in ME where I previously banded hummers for 19 yrs. The situation was the same: bad news. One feeder hostess with 9 feeders who was accustomed to using up to 1.5 gal/day of sugar-water reported that from mid-May when the hummers arrived until the time I contacted her in mid-Jun described her situation as "absolutely devastating." Feeders were being cleaned every few days to freshen the sugar-water, and only a half gallon of sugar-water was made over the entire month. The other operator who ran 5 feeders had the usual numbers of hummers upon arrival in May, but by mid-Jun was refilling some but not all of her feeders every 3 days, not every day as previously for Jun. The results from ME appear to corroborate the NY hummer decline making it look more regional than local. I'd be interested in any other quantitative data elsewhere in NY about the 2024 hummer season now drawing to a close upstate. Thanks, Bob yunickanneb...@aol.com -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [nysbirds-l] Barn Swallow question
Further to Bob Paxton's comment about Tree Swallows' love affair with feather lining of their nests, I have found these birds very resourceful with their feather gathering depending on the nature of their local habitat. For years I have monitored nest boxes in Upstate counties of Schenectady, Saratoga, Schoharie and Montgomery. Depending on location, these swallows gather feathers of a wide range of species, as well as in varying quantity. Rural areas are more endowed with local fowl than are suburban areas leading to easier gathering. For instance the nest boxes at the Landis Arboretum in rural Schoharie Co. with roosters crowing in the distance had much larger gatherings of goose, duck and chicken feathers in general than did the boxes at West Hill, a suburban residential area in the Town of Rotterdam in Sch'dy Co where Great Horned Owl feathers made an almost annual appearance. In some areas the tan body feathers of barnyard geese are very popular, but so can be white feathers from domestic ducks. Less numerous are flank feathers from male Mallard, Wood Duck and body feathers of Wild Turkey. Some of the rarer choices are from Great Blue Heron, Great Horned Owl (body), No. Saw-whet Owl (primaries) and the strangest of all: Common Nighthawk. One nest in Montgomery Co contained 5-6 nighthawk feathers including flight feathers (rectrix and wing) suggesting that this swallow had found a dead nighthawk and was harvesting feathers from it. Nighthawks molt away from the northeastern U.S. spring nesting season. Feathers, flight and body, from local passerines also show up in these nests on rare occasion. But far and away, body feathers of barnyard fowl are the most common Tree Swallow nest lining material in these counties. Bob YunickSchenectady -Original Message- From: Robert Paxton To: Joseph Wallace Cc: NYSBIRDS Sent: Mon, Jun 7, 2021 8:35 am Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Barn Swallow question Another element to the white feather game. Swallows (especially tree swallows, but perhaps barns too) habitually decorate their nests with white feathers. Bob Paxton On Sat, Jun 5, 2021 at 10:04 PM Joseph Wallace wrote: This is more about bird behavior than rarity, so apologies if it's o/t, but I watched a swallow engage in extraordinary (to me) behavior at Croton Point Park in Westchester today. It started when I spotted something white drifting slowly towards the ground: a large, downy feather. Just as I focused on it, a Barn Swallow snatched it out of the air with its beak. I expected the bird to head off to its nest, but instead it dropped the feather...and then circled and snatched it out of the air again. For the next few minutes, I watched the swallow repeatedly release the feather, do wide loops around it--sometimes feinting in its direction--and then pluck it out of the air. Twice it let the feather land on the grass, retrieving it once while on the wing and once by landing beside it. Finally the swallow did head off, I imagine to line its nest at last. I'd never seen swallows engage in play, but I can't see how this was anything else. Has anyone else here ever witnessed something like this? Thanks--Joe Wallace -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] ADK Chickadee Irruption Winding Down
This past winter the 7th major Black-c. Chickadee irruption in the past 50+ years of banding occurred at my Adirondack camp at Jenny Lake near Corinth in northern Saratoga Co. at an elevation of 1250 ft. The irruption started slowly in Nov, appeared to falter in Dec, then kicked into high gear in mid-Jan as follows.Date BCCH Banded/Total BCCH Captures Including Previous Bandings12/21/20 3/71/1/21 9/41/12/21 37/401/19/21 41/602/4/21 46/642/11/21 29/732/18/21 17/532/26/21 26/703/7/21 20/573/13/21 10/373/23/21 4/12These captures were made using 3 mist nets, one at each of three sunflower seed feeders over a span of 2.5-3.5 hrs.Here's how these results rank compared to six past major irruptions.Year No. Banded/Returns From Prev. Yrs Total Captures80-81 320/68 38881/82 153/108 26190/91 268/71 33999/00 165/95 26008/09 281/66 34714/15 285/64 34920/21 238/25 263The years referred to here begin Jul 1 (the month newly fledged young appear) running to Jun 30 of the following year.Two aspects of this year's irruption make it unique from others in the past. Its timing was different. Most irruptions begin in Oct/Nov, peak in Dec/Jan usually declining thereafter as birds return to breeding areas. This irruption was barely in progress in Dec/early Jan, began ramping up in mid-Jan, peaked in Feb into early Mar, declining thereafter. Sunflower seed consumption had a similar pattern. It averaged 100-200 g/day in Nov/Dec, skyrocketed upward in Jan to a peak of 1850 g/day (4 lbs/day) by 2/4/21. It ran 1300-1850 g/day from mid-Jan to mid-Mar when a total of 114.5 kg (252 lbs) was consumed.Secondly, its age composition was different. It consisted mostly of immature birds hatched in 2020 and relatively very few adult returns. In the summary of the seven largest irruptions noted above, the 25 returns noted this year is far below the range of 64-108 for the other six years. Among the 238 birds banded so far this year, 87% were immatures and 13% adults. For the total sample of all 263 captures, that ratio is 80% immature/20% adult.There was also a Red-br Nuthatch irruption most of which passed by Jenny Lake going south, only to increase in Mar as birds began returning north. Bandings were as follows.Jul-Dec 17Jan-mid-Feb 5Late-Feb 8Mar 24 with a max of 12 on 3/7/21, total so far: 54.A Tufted Titmouse irruption of sorts began in mid-Nov with 5 banded in Nov, 2 in Dec, 5 in Jan, 3 in Feb and 2 in Mar for a total of 17. Bob Yunick Jenny Lake and Schenectady, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [nysbirds-l] White Red-tails
Rich - as a winter raptor bander in eastern Upstate NY for the past 23 years, I have banded three leucistic Red-tails as follows. 1) On 3/18/03 an after-third-year probable female in the Town of Florida, Montgomery Co. 2) On 2/18/17 an after-four-year probable female in the Town of Glen, Montgomery Co. That winter, residents of the area where this bird was banded claimed that two leucistic birds existed. 3) On 1/15/19 a second-year bird in the Town of Ft. Edward, Washington Co. This bird had been reported repeatedly by birders in the area from summer through fall, 2018 into the winter of 2018-2019.Amazingly, this bird was recaptured 1/27/20 in the Town of Halfmoon, Saratoga Co., 23 mi to the S of where banded. An account with photos will appear shortly in No. Am. Bird Bander. Every feather on this bird was white earning it the name "Snow White." The prior two birds were predominantly white with some few normal brown or orange flight feathers and scattered brown in their body plumage. Bob YunickSchenectady, NY -Original Message- From: Richard Guthrie To: NYSBIRDS_L ; midhudsonbirds+subscr...@groups.io; HMBC Posts Sent: Thu, Jan 7, 2021 9:43 pm Subject: [nysbirds-l] White Red-tails I saw yet another report of an all-white Red-tailed Hawk. This one in Ulster County - away from where one that had been previously reported. So. Are all-white Red-tails increasing in number and distribution? Seems so to me. Do you know of the location of one? Without giving specific location, can you provide a general idea where it is/was? I know for example that there were the following:Millbrook, Dutchess County - nesting female which was around for about 15 years, at least; not recentStone Ridge, Ulster County - another nesting female around for maybe 20 years; no recent reports;New Paltz, Ulster County - recentNear Columbia County Airport - Ghent, Recent but no reports in the last few years;Near Hoosick, Rensselaer County; few sightings from about 10 years ago Did I miss any? Current ones? Rich GuthrieNew Baltimore -- Richard Guthrie -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Rufous Hummer banded in Baldwinsville, NY
Yesterday, 12/3/20, an imm./F Rufous was banded at a private residence in Baldwinsville, Onondaga Co, NY (just NW of Syracuse), air temp 37*F., 1" previous day's snow on the ground, warmed to 41*F. Species/age/sex determined by measurements and plumage. The bird was healthy weighing 3.82g, fat class 1 on a 0-3 scale. While being processed, the hand-held bird was allowed to feed from a feeder. Interestingly, after weighing at 3.82g, it was allowed a feeding session during which time it drank eagerly, and was reweighed: 3.98g, a 0.18g or 4.2% weight gain. The bird visits several neighborhood feeders and was back feeding after release. A detailed report on data collected will be filed with NYSARC. Bob Yunick Schenectady, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Fwd: Rufous Hummingbird banded in Putnam Co, NY
-Original Message- From: anneboby To: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Fri, Nov 20, 2020 1:59 pm Subject: Rufous Hummingbird banded in Putnam Co, NY An imm./F was banded this morning in Putnam Co, NY, location not revealed out of respect for hosts' privacy. Bird present at site since 10/10/20; survived 12*F. morning low yesterday. Bird in good health, fat class 2 on 0-3 scale, mass 3.90 g. Reports to feeder every 20-30 min per host. Molt condition: 1st 5 primaries renewed; outer 5 slightly faded and slightly worn retained juvenile primaries. Front 8 mm of forehead plumage renewed, contrasting with wear and color of retained juvenile head/body; occasional sheaths on body. Age confirmed by striations on maxilla, sex by measurements and shape of R2. Various measurements ruled out other Selasphorous species possibilities. Bob YunickSchenectady, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Rufous Hummingbird banded in Putnam Co, NY
An imm./F was banded this morning in Putnam Co, NY, location not revealed out of respect for hosts' privacy. Bird present at site since 10/10/20; survived 12*F. morning low yesterday. Bird in good health, fat class 2 on 0-3 scale, mass 3.90 g. Reports to feeder every 20-30 min per host. Molt condition: 1st 5 primaries renewed; outer 5 slightly faded and slightly worn retained juvenile primaries. Front 8 mm of forehead plumage renewed, contrasting with wear and color of retained juvenile head/body; occasional sheaths on body. Age confirmed by striations on maxilla, sex by measurements and shape of R2. Various measurements ruled out other Selasphorous species possibilities. Bob YunickSchenectady, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Fwd: [nysbirds-l] question Purple Finches
anneboby (anneb...@aol.com)To:you (Bcc) + 1 more Details Slideshow | anneboby anneboby@aol.comHide | | To | trachtenb...@amsllp.com trachtenb...@amsllp.com | | Cc | | | Bcc | | | Slideshow | .AOLWebSuite .AOLAttachedImage {max-width:275px; max-height:275px;} .AOLWebSuite .AOLPicturesFullSizeLink { height: 1px; width: 1px; overflow: hidden; } .AOLWebSuite a {color:blue; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer} .AOLWebSuite a.hsSig {cursor: default} .AOLWebSuiteM1 {margin: 10px 20px 4px;} .AOLWebSuiteM2 {margin: 5px;} .AOLWebSuiteM3 {margin: 10px;} .dmItemSelected {padding: 2px !important;text-decoration: none !important;color:#fff !important;background-color: #656565 !important;border-radius: 2px;}Larry - as you correctly point out, brown-plumaged Purple Finches can be females or imm. males. A brown bird is not automatically a female even though field guides give that impression. The imm. males don't acquire rosy adult male plumage until their molt in Jul-Sep of the year after they hatched. Certain species of passerines show sexual variation in the extent of their migration; males remaining farther north than females to be closer to their breeding area come spring to claim their territories. I'm not certain if Purple Finches do this, but from year-round banding work that I've done at at my Adirondack camp at Jenny Lake near Corinth in Saratoga Co, adult male finches outnumber and outlive females. In a 47-yr study conducted 1970-2016 at JL I banded 13,256 Purple Finches primarily during the breeding season and recaptured 3,240 of them in subsequent years. Imm. brown birds were 6,017 of the total 13,256. Among birds banded as adults, males outnumbered females 51.9% to 48.1%; and among the 3,240 return recaptures of those adult birds, males outnumbered females 61.5% to 38.5%. Among the 6,017 banded brown imm., which were later recaptured as adults when their sex could be determined, males outnumbered females 58.9% to 41.1%. The oldest recaptures by sex were two males at 11yr-01mo and a female at 10yr-0mo. Repeatedly, year after year, return captures 5 yrs old or more were predominantly male, 65.7% male to 34.3% female. The No. Am. age record is a male at 12yr-08mo in NC. I banded another 3007 Purple Finches in my yard in Schenectady, 1964-2008, primarily as winter visitors. The three largest invasions were 303 banded in 1965, 808 in 1975 and 1323 in 1977. Apr was the month of greatest abundance as migrants poured north: 1260 banded out of the 3007 total banded. Sadly, Purple Finches no longer appear in my yard, and they have declined 52% as breeders at Jenny Lake (elev. 1236 ft.) as a result of climate change, the local Adirondack forest no longer cool enough to their liking. Enjoy your visitors, Bob YunickSchenectady and Jenny Lake -Original Message- From: Larry Trachtenberg To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Tue, Oct 20, 2020 10:24 pm Subject: [nysbirds-l] question Purple F -#yiv4550926321 #yiv4550926321 -- filtered {}#yiv4550926321 filtered {}#yiv4550926321 p.yiv4550926321MsoNormal, #yiv4550926321 li.yiv4550926321MsoNormal, #yiv4550926321 div.yiv4550926321MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:sans-serif;}#yiv4550926321 span.yiv4550926321EmailStyle17 {font-family:New serif;color:windowtext;}#yiv4550926321 .yiv4550926321MsoChpDefault {font-family:sans-serif;}#yiv4550926321 filtered {}#yiv4550926321 div.yiv4550926321WordSection1 {}#yiv4550926321 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --