Young Grosbeak
So, I'm in Rhode Island at the moment hanging at the Swarovski Headquarters. I'm eating lunch (real mashed potatoes, thank you very much, Swarovski Cafe) under a large crystal chandalier. Ah life. I'm giggling too because Non Birding Bill has just sent me a link to a limited edition Beverly Hills 90210 iPod Nano. But, if I download all the episodes, will I still have room for birdJam?
Check out this funky bird in hand that we got in at Carpenter Nature Center last Friday (boy am I behind on some blog entries or what. To those who are not as familiar with birds this might be a tad confusing but banding wise this was a fairly easy bird to figure out. We didn't have to debate too much with the Pyle over it. It's a hatch year male rose breasted grosbeak. Normally you have to look at feathers and see if they're truncate and fresh or relatively abraded, blah blah blah. But, because this dude looks like a female grosbeak with pink on the undersides of the wings, that tells us he's fresh from the nest and male.
It this upclose head shot you can see the gape at the corners of his beak indicating a young bird. Don't get me wrong, even though he's young, that beak is still quite capable of breaking the skin. Here's hoping he survives his first migration and visits us again next spring.
Okay, now back to looking at naked binoculars.
Check out this funky bird in hand that we got in at Carpenter Nature Center last Friday (boy am I behind on some blog entries or what. To those who are not as familiar with birds this might be a tad confusing but banding wise this was a fairly easy bird to figure out. We didn't have to debate too much with the Pyle over it. It's a hatch year male rose breasted grosbeak. Normally you have to look at feathers and see if they're truncate and fresh or relatively abraded, blah blah blah. But, because this dude looks like a female grosbeak with pink on the undersides of the wings, that tells us he's fresh from the nest and male.
It this upclose head shot you can see the gape at the corners of his beak indicating a young bird. Don't get me wrong, even though he's young, that beak is still quite capable of breaking the skin. Here's hoping he survives his first migration and visits us again next spring.Okay, now back to looking at naked binoculars.
Labels: banding, Carpenter Nature Center, digivideo
posted by birdchick at 11:31 AM
8 Comments:
Just yesterday I was watching some baby Osprey thru my binoculars and wished I could just click and keep what I was seeing....you know the feeling? Is there a pair of picture-takin' binoculars out there? I really want a good camera to take these beautiful upclose photos and my digital experience is so limited, that's why I want the binocluars to take the photo....I'm not sure what would happen next.....
Jacci in S.P.ME
Speaking of banding, what is the protocol for banders in different areas catching birds already wearing bands? I ask because a message on a Massachussetts birding list mentioned a red knot with so many bands on both legs, it was almost limping. Is every bander who catches a bird supposed to add their own band or merely record the info already on the bird? If the banders get crazy, it seems this would defeat the purpose of gathering data meant to care for the bird's species. Particularly a critically endangered bird like a red knot. Please know that I think you guys do a great thing with this research, I'm just curious. Thanks!
Beth in NYC aka Pilotgrl
Beth,
I'm fairly new to banding, having only done one season (last spring) so far, but I've never seen birds with more than one band. When we get recaps at the McGill Bird Observatory (Montreal), we just take down data (species, age, sex, weight, etc) as usual, record the band number and release.
I sure hope it's not common practice to keep adding bands every time a bird is caught somewhere different!
Hi beth,
THAT is a great question and I'm glad you asked it. Banders are NOT supposed to add bands to an already banded bird. If you do retrap a bird then you take down the number and make some measurements and turn that information into the Bird Banding Lab. You do not add more bands.
The red knots with multiple bands are most likely part of a specific study. Birds will sometimes be given a numeric band and then color bands indicating where the bird was banded, the sex, and the year it was banded. Bands are not supposed to interfere with a bird's natural movement, but I could see overzealous marking causing a problem. Here is a link about red knot banding:
http://www.fw.delaware.gov/Shorebirds/Pages/Research.aspx
This may not have anything to do with the knot in question, but it gives an idea to the types of studies going on out there.
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Sharon and Nicki, thanks very much for the info! The link to the Delaware website was pretty informative. I wonder if what the Mass person saw was actually the flag placed above the leg joint. They do look weird but if they prevent the need to catch the bird once they've been placed, that's not a bad thing. I'd love to try banding myself but I haven't found any places near NYC to try it.
Beth
Jacci, I've seen binoculars with a camera built in; try Cabela's or a similar hunting-type place. I can't speak to the quality of the bins or the photography they yield, but they're out there (and tempting to me as well!).
Cool bird, Shaz! I just love RB Grosbeaks. And yes, that beak seems quite capable of taking a chunk out of a finger, youngling or not! I wish there were banding activities nearer to me; I would LOVE to hold a live bird!
Jacci,
Sorry I missed your question, hard to keep up when traveling.
Honestly, there are no binocular/camera combos that are worth their price. All the models that I have seen include a subpar digital camera attached to a poor pair of binoculars and charging twice the price.
You're much better off trying to hand holding a point and shoot and digital camera to a good pair of binoculars than the combos currently available.
I use a technique called digiscoping which involves a spotting scope on a tripod and a digital camera.
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