The birds to band today included 8 Red-shouldered Hawks a a few Barn Owls and an American Kestrel (Southeastern sub-species). Many got to take turns banding different birds. For several volunteers, this would be a first opportunity to do so.
Carol brought in the first hawk for banding and we all enjoyed viewing these beautiful birds about to be released back into the wild.
After Richard and I got the first few hawks banded, Richard's granddaughter, Sydney, had a first try at banding.
Once the hawks are banded they are weighed for the records. To do this, they are placed inside of a cardboard box...
...and placed onto a digital scale. The weight of the box (weighed previously) is subtracted to get the actual weight of the bird.
Christine looks on as Carol shows the stress bars on the young hawk's tail. Stress bars indicate growth rates on a bird much like tree rings suggest feeding rates of trees. You can see the points were the bird was growing fastest by the growth patterns in the tail feathers.
Next up, Cameron takes a turn at banding.
For the last Red-shouldered Hawk, Sydney's boyfriend Maxx gets the honor of banding a raptor.
The hawks were returned to their mews (a large structure where the birds can rest and recuperate) and the Barred Owls were brought out.
Scott McCorkle holds an Owl as Richard applies the band.
A close-up of the band being applied. You don't want your fingers in the middle of those talons!
FInally, the Kestrel was brought in. What a pretty bird. I am so used to seeing them so far overhead.
On the way back to the car I wanted to check on the progress of the Red-shouldered Hawks that I included in an earlier post. Just a couple of weeks and they are so much bigger!
As the season moves into Summer there is usually an increase in birds to be banded as storms displace young birds and are brought into the rehab center. Hopefully, there will not be too many but we will be ready to band them once they are fit enough for release.
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