Images

This year the lab has recorded its second highest number of banded Cape-May Warblers, like the hatch-year male pictured here, since operations began at the Fall Migration Station in 1979. 

Brown Thrashers are one the larger species of passerine banded at the Fall Migration Station, and the team captures roughly a dozen individuals each year.

What a treat! The banding team catches a Warbling Vireo once every couple of years. This individual was banded on September 15^th. They get their name from the varied, burbling, fast-paced song that the males produce.

Despite being a hard bird to find in the field for many birders, the Fall Migration Station team successfully sees multiple Connecticut Warblers each year, as they utilize the shrubby habitat under the powerlines.

Scientists at the Fall Migration Station look for clues to identify whether an individual is a male or female to determine the demographics of a population. In Magnolia Warblers looking at the white spots in the tail is a good clue. The large square tail spots, like the one pictured, indicate this is a male Magnolia Warbler.

Bird Banding Laboratory staff band birds at their newly renovated migration station in the fall of 2023.

The new pavilion and tables at the BBL Bird banding station at the Patuxent Research Refuge.

A large shed is part of the new bird banding station. It will serve as a more private place for banding and storage.

A comparison of two hatch year (born this year) Northern Parulas. The individual on the left is a male, while a female is on the right, note the color differences including the band of chestnut on the males chest. 

Bird Bander reviewing the "Identification Guide to North American Birds" by Peter Pyle, to see if this Wilson's Warbler's black crown gives any indication of its age. 

The BBL's Fall Migration Station's second banded Yellow Warbler in the last 10 years! 

The Yellow-throated Vireo is an uncommon visitor to the BBL's Fall Migration Station - this is the first one since 2016!

A banded Golden-winged warbler, that died as a result of a window collision.                    

A band of a Golden-winged warbler, that died as a result of a window collision.                  

See that one white feather? This white-throated sparrow is displaying leucism, in which there is partial loss of pigmentation. 

BBL Biologist, Stephanie Egger reads the federal band numbers on a recaptured Northern Saw-whet Owl at the Willistown Conservation Trust, Banding station at Rushton Woods Preserve, Pennsylvania. This owl was originally banded in Thunder Bay Ontario.

A Recaptured Northern Saw-whet Owl at the Willistown Conservation Trust, Banding station at Rushton Woods Preserve, Pennsylvania. This owl is being held safely in the "banders grip" by BBL Biologist, Stephanie Egger. This owl was originally banded in Thunder Bay Ontario.

The federal band numbers on a recaptured Northern Saw-whet Owl at the Willistown Conservation Trust, Banding station at Rushton Woods Preserve, Pennsylvania. This owl was originally banded in Thunder Bay Ontario.

A Recaptured Northern Saw-whet Owl at the Willistown Conservation Trust, Banding station at Rushton Woods Preserve, Pennsylvania. This owl was originally banded in Thunder Bay Ontario.

The feathers of a Northern Saw-whet Owl are being examined for ageing purposes.

Scientists examine the tail of a Fox Sparrow for growth bars. Growth bars are faint lines in the tail which illustrate the normal growth of feathers, typically forming every 24 hours as the feather grows.