Sunday, June 01, 2008

Hawk and Owl Banding at ARC

A full slate of birds to band and an equally large group of volunteers and viewers! There are more pictures than usual in this post as we had so many birds and banders.

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.

Red-shouldered Hawk

After Richard and I got the first few hawks banded, Richard's granddaughter, Sydney, had a first try at banding.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Once the hawks are banded they are weighed for the records. To do this, they are placed inside of a cardboard box...

Red-shouldered Hawk

...and placed onto a digital scale. The weight of the box (weighed previously) is subtracted to get the actual weight of the bird.


Red-shouldered Hawk

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.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Next up, Cameron takes a turn at banding.

Red-shouldered Hawk

For the last Red-shouldered Hawk, Sydney's boyfriend Maxx gets the honor of banding a raptor.

Red-shouldered Hawk

The hawks were returned to their mews (a large structure where the birds can rest and recuperate) and the Barred Owls were brought out.

Barred Owl

Scott McCorkle holds an Owl as Richard applies the band.

Barred Owl

A close-up of the band being applied. You don't want your fingers in the middle of those talons!

Barred Owl

FInally, the Kestrel was brought in. What a pretty bird. I am so used to seeing them so far overhead.

American Kestrel

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!

Red-shouldered Hawk

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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