Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Chatfield Banding Report, 5/31/24

[meredith]

Friday, our final day of spring banding, was slow, with 9 new birds banded and 1 return:

Western Wood-pewee 1
Swainson's Thrush 1
Cedar Waxwing 3
Yellow Warbler 3
Yellow-breasted Chat 2 new, 1 banded 2023

Here is a very preliminary report for our teeny tiny slice of the huge spring migration:

With ~571 individual birds processed, it wasn't the worst season at Chatfield, but below our average of ~650.  Below is a list of our 10 most commonly caught species - because of their numbers, they tend to determine how good or bad a season is. You will see they are a mix of birds that breed at Chatfield and birds passing through.  I've noted where these species fell this season compared with the average number of each caught annually since 2008:

1.      Yellow Warbler – below average

2.      House Wren - below average

3.      Gray Catbird -above average

4.      Yellow-rumped Warbler -below average*

5.      Lincoln’s Sparrow – average

6.      Common Yellowthroat – above average

7.      Dusky Flycatcher – alarmingly below average (and this could be expanded to include all of the flycatchers that we catch

8.      Yellow-breasted Chat – average

9.      Swainson’s Thrush – average

10.  Hermit Thrush alarmingly below average (we caught zero this season)

*The YRWAs are something of a special case, because they come through early and tend to feed high up in the trees unless something like a storm brings them down; this year I think there were a lot of them here, we just didn't have the weather pattern to catch many.

Thanks to the magnificent team of volunteers who make it possible for us to do science and education 6 days a week for 5 weeks every spring.  It would not happen without you!  Also, thanks to our Denver Audubon partners, who make running this banding station a pleasure.  And finally, to all who visited the station, read these posts, sent interesting questions and comments – it is great to be part of a community that cares so deeply about the conservation of birds!

More info will be available in a month or so!  Our annual reports are available here on our website.