Fairbanks, Alaska

Songbird banding at Creamer’s Field Migratory Bird Sanctuary

The Creamer’s Field Migratory Bird Sanctuary was the highlight of my visit to Fairbanks.  Of course, I began by taking a ranger-led hike.  By chance, near the end of the hike we came above a net used to capture songbirds for banding and were led to the banding station to observe.  Such an amazing story!

As our ranger led us through the refuge we came across a series of mist nets.  The nets are setup only in good weather so birds caught will not be at risk of hypothermia.  Very difficult to see, the birds fly into the net and fall into pockets at the bottom.

The nets are checked approximately every 20 minutes.

Captured birds are placed into cloth bags and carried by volunteers to the banding station.

Here the banding station has been setup in the middle of the woods.

Inside Cayla receives each bird from the volunteer on the left while a volunteer on the right enters data onto an iPad application.

Banding the bird is a very delicate operation.  The bird must be carefully held – usually with the head between the index and middle fingers.  A properly sized band is selected from a serial-numbered spool and placed around the bird’s leg and very carefully crimped using special pliers.  The band must not be too tight so it doesn’t harm the birds.

After banding, the band is carefully checked.

Then a dateset for each bird is collected.  Here a metal ruler is used to measure the length of the wing.

 

A close visual inspection reveals a number of details about the bird.  The bird is checked for various mites and general health.

Blowing gently on the feathers allows Cayla to look beneath for breeding condition and body fat.

The feathers are examined closely. The sex of the bird is also determined and recorded.

The bird’s skin is transparent and examining the skull allows Cayla to determine the bird’s probable age.

Throughout, Cayla reports her findings and the volunteer records each data point on the iPad.

Here the process is repeated on a new bird …

Cayla describes the process to four of us on the tour, patiently answering our questions and allowing us to take photographs as she worked.

Here you can see the spool of numbered bands and the specialized pliers used in the process.

And again you can see the care used at each step of the process.

The banding and inspection might take about 10 minutes.

About 50 to 100 birds are banded on normal day.

Then, while Cayla can release each bird out a window directly behind her,

A volunteer can also release birds from the front of the banding station.  Holding the bird gently.  Open the hand …

Whoosh – the bird flies off!

Quickly!

I was so fascinated by the process, and so worried my photographs wouldn’t show the care and details that I took a third sequence!

Here with a young robin.

Here a larger band is selected from a different sequence and an appropriately sized pair of pliers is used.

The banding took longer as getting the exact fit seemed to be more difficult.

Throughout, Cayla kept her pleasant care and chatter going so we had a very pleasant and information tour.

 

Blowing the feathers aside to inspect the skin beneath.

Examining the feathers.

But determining the sex of the bird is difficult.

After close inspection …

Cayla checks her reference book and finds that determining the sex of a robin less than a year old is difficult and unreliable.  So that step is skipped.

But since we asked, Cayla shows us how the bird is placed upside-down (!) in a tube and then weighed on a scale.

Outside, Cayla talks to the bird,

Then opens her hand and poof!

The bird is free and our tour is over!