Reviewed by: Pat Byington
RECAP: Alabama Audubon banded 360+ birds at Fort Morgan
Reading time: 4 minutes
If you were at Fort Morgan last week, chances are you saw a group of folks walking around with little cotton bags. What you might not have known is that inside those bags were birds. The Alabama Audubon was doing a yearly bird banding study, catching and tagging birds to study their spring migration patterns.
I had the opportunity to hang out with them on Friday while they banded birds. We’ll dive into how many birds scientists caught, some interesting takeaways and look at the process of bird banding.
The numbers + takeaways
Scientists were all over the historic coastal fort, setting up nets to catch and band birds. Their bird banding event is also open to the public every year—anyone can drop by the event to watch the scientists at work and learn something new. The study is done in April when birds are making their yearly journeys across the Gulf of Mexico from their winter vacation spots in Central and South America.
The Alabama Gulf Coast is often one of the first stretches of land birds see when making their migrations. This makes it a key spot for scientists to study those patterns.
In total, 362 birds were captured and banded last week. Here’s a breakdown:
- Birds banded: 362
- Recaptures of already banded birds: 37
- Total number of species observed: 52
- Most common species: Grey Catbird
One interesting re-capture was a Brown Thrasher that this team first banded in 2018 as an adult. Since they saw him again this year, that makes him at least 8 years old!
How it works
Bird banding crews set up nets daily, often before dawn. Every 30 minutes or so, the team will check each net with cotton bags in hand. Any bird who fluttered its way into the net gets taken back to the Audubon’s tents. There, the team lovingly removes the bird from the bag and checks it for a previous band.
Then, the research can begin. One person holds the bird, taking measurements + examining the bird’s body fat content. Another scientist looks through books and paper databases to learn as much about the bird as possible. Specifically, scientists are looking for:
- Does the bird have any body fat? This is used to determine if they just got to Fort Morgan. The flight there from Central/South America is a long one and birds will often use all of their extra fat stores to make the journey.
- How old is the bird? Can be used to determine population size and age.
- Has the bird been spotted at Fort Morgan before? The team wants to know if birds are making repeat journeys to the fort.
- How much does the bird weigh? For some birds, this can help determine the sex of the bird. For others, it just gives scientists an idea of the health of the bird.
From there, the birds are shown off to any groups that come by to learn more about birds. Then, they’re released back on their way.
The team at Alabama Audubon would like to thank these groups for making last week a success: Fort Morgan State Historic Site, Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Mississippi State University, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alabama Tourism Department, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, Saunders Yachtworks, and Bill & Paula Barnhill.
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