A special owl on a special day

Remember a few posts back when I showed you a cute, tiny owl? I said I could have taken it home in my pocket, and estimated that it was smaller in size than my head.

A captive Northern Saw-whet Owl who is part of the educational display for the Back to the Wild wildlife rehabilitation center.
This past Friday, I finally got a chance to meet one of these little cuties up close. But let's back up a little bit.

I had never even heard of Saw-whet Owls until last spring. It was at the ODNR's annual Wildlife Diversity conference that I heard a presentation about Saw-whet Owls given by Kelly Williams-Sieg, an Ohio University grad student and licensed bird bander. The presentation detailed her work with Project Owlnet and how she's been banding and researching Saw-whets (and other birds) since 2004 at Earl H. Barnhart Buzzards Roost Nature Preserve in Chillicothe, Ohio. As her presentation wrapped up, I jotted down some notes and thought, "Wow, wouldn't it be cool to attend one of these banding sessions?" I left it at that, thinking it a purely whimsical notion at the time. Fast forward 6 months or so to an event at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area, where Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalists met for a weekend of pure nature bliss, full of learning about and looking at birds, butterflies, flowers and beetles. It was here that I met Bob Scott Placer, a licensed bird bander, who also happens to live practically down the street from me. Bob has been helping Kelly band owls at Buzzards Roost from day one. After some discussions with Bob, I went out to Buzzards Roost once last year to check out the banding operation, but we struck out. It was early December, and they hadn't seen any Saw-whets for a week or so. Bob advised that we come in early November the next year for better luck.

And so we did just that. There was no pressure to see an owl or anything. It just so happened to be my birthday on the day that I chose for our owling adventure.

A group of folks from the Scioto Valley Bird and Nature Club was already there by the time we arrived around 8:15 pm. Kelly, Bob and Lisa, our banders for the evening, made several checks of the mist nets between 8:30 and 10:15, each time coming up empty-handed. By 10:30 all the bird club folks had headed home, so Dave and I were the only onlookers left. Around 10:45 the nets were checked, and still there was nothing. Bob said that during previous banding sessions so far this season the owls had been showing up pretty late, so we all hung in there for one more net check at 11:15. Lo and behold, Kelly checked a net and said she had an owl. I let out a small squeal of delight and rushed down to see for myself. Kelly deftly but gently untangled the owl from the net. It clacked its beak several times, a sound of warning. We heard plenty more of that as our time with the owl went on.


Kelly Williams-Sieg and Bob Scott Placier prepare to collect data from a Northern Saw-whet Owl.
Once the owl was freed from the mist netting, we brought it inside to band it and collect various data, such as wing and tail length, weight, and amount of fat observed.

Kelly blows the owl's feathers out of the way so she can look for fat deposits under its skin. This bird showed no fat deposits, which is typical of a bird that is in the middle of migration. Kelly also showed me how she feels along either side of the breast bone for fat, and let me feel for myself.


Kelly demonstrates how a Saw-whet bite doesn't hurt. That hooked beak looks intimidating, but that's mainly a tool for ripping the flesh of its prey. The real danger on this little predator is its talons, which Kelly experienced first-hand several times over the course of several minutes.

Normally docile and seemingly tame in the hand, this Saw-whet was an exception to the rule. She was feisty right from the start, complete with lots of bill snapping and much kicking and grabbing with those talons. Here Lisa gives the owl a momentary distraction of a pencil to hang on to while Kelly tries to reposition her for more data collection.

Taking the tail measurement. I think the owl has a most displeased expression here.

For those of you wondering how you weigh an owl (or any other small bird), this is how it's done. They go head-first into some kind of tube, which keeps them from wiggling around too much. This Saw-whet weighed in at 98.2 grams, which Kelly said was on the high side for this species. The weight, combined with tail and wing measurements suggests that this owl is a female (typically, female owls are larger than the males).

A black light is used to help age the bird. There is a certain pigment in the owls flight feathers that show up in varying degrees of pink, depending on its age. This photo doesn't do the test justice because the whole bird shows up as pink, which is not what we really saw. Based on the amount of pink we saw, and how bright the pink was, Kelly determined that this owl was born this year. That's called a hatch-year bird. So we had ourselves a fiesty, hatch-year female.

Now that we've got her vitals, let enjoy her cuteness, shall we?

Rock, paper, scissors, owl! Just kidding. Kelly's showing me how to hold my fingers as I prepare to get the best birthday present a birder could ask for...

... A loving gaze from a teeny, tiny owl. Say it with me everyone: Awwwwwwwwww.

Despite all the attitude and the feistyness, this little ball of fluff could not resist the power of a good head rub. I have read about this phenomenon from others, and she did indeed just keep pushing her head back farther and farther as I ran my finger down her head and back. She did show some signs of resistance though, as she simultaneously pushed into the head rub while snapping her bill half-heartedly. The theory behind what seems to be the owl's enjoyment of this action is that it reminds them of mutual grooming and preening that they do in the wild (especially mother with owlet).

One last pose with "my" owl before we took her outside to be released.
It took a few minutes for us to walk down to the spot where we released her, which gave her eyes time to adjust to the dark enough so that she could see to fly off to a nearby perch. Kelly placed her on my arm, and I had a feeling it wouldn't take her too long to fly off, given all the attitude she had given us while in our care. Sure enough, she took off within 5 seconds, wooshing over my head into a tree just behind me. Luckily I was able to turn around fast enough to see her outstretched wings back-lit against a sky brightened by a waning moon just before she landed.

All in all, I'd say that experience was a pretty cool birthday present. Thank you Kelly, Bob and Lisa. And thank you, little owl. I was very honored to meet you.

But wait, don't go away yet! Please be sure to check out THIS ARTICLE from the October 2008 issue of Ohio Magazine that goes into a little more detail about the Saw-whet banding project. And to see the banding process in action, watch THIS VIDEO by ODNR's Division of Wildlife.

Birds in the hand - what it does for your bird ID skills

Now that you've seen the process of bird banding, lets take a closer look at some of the birds. Keep in mind that since it's fall, these birds are no longer in their breeding plumage, which will make for some tricky ID work, especially when it comes to the warblers. (My Peterson's guide has several pages devoted to "confusing fall warblers" which I didn't really appreciate until now!)

By the way, I would just like to clarify that I did not handle any of these birds personally. All birds were banded and handled by the trained staff and volunteers of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. This was all part of a public banding demonstration.

We'll start off with the thrush triple play that I mentioned a few posts back. Two of these birds were lifers for me.

We start off with the Wood Thrush, a denizen of our woods each spring and summer. The prominent identifying marks here are the bold white eye ring and the rusty coloring.

I have to apologize for the lighting on the next few pictures...

Grey-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes (from left to right), both life birds for me. It's unlikely I would see them in my neck of the woods as they both breed far north into Canada. It would be a rare treat indeed to see them pass through on migration on this patch of land.

Both the Swainson's and the Grey-cheeked are more olive colored (especially compared to the Wood Thrush), but the Swainson's has a more visible eye ring than Grey-cheeked.

Here's the Grey-cheeked, perhaps the most drab of all 3 presented here. (Again, I apologize for the dark photos.)

Swainson's and Wood Thrushes side by side. Here you can really see the drab olive coloring of the Swainson's on the left versus the rust (some might say ochraceous) coloring of the Wood Thrush on the right.

And here, if you will indulge me in one more comparison, you can see the subtle differences in the spotting of the chest on the Swainson's on the left and the Wood Thrush on the right.

Okay, moving on to the warblers!

This is the Common Yellowthroat, which I never would have guessed the identity of in a million years. The BSBO folks said it's a hatchling-year bird (sex unknown), which is a likely explanation for the lack of the diagnostic black mask.

This little gem is the Magnolia Warbler. Again, a far cry from his boldly streaked plumage during breeding season, but still identifiable by the presence of wing bars and, more tellingly...

... the white band across the middle of the tail feathers.

Another thing that stuck out in my mind was the faint necklace of white between it's chin and chest. Oh yeah, this was a lifer for me.

Black-throated Green Warlber. Aside from the wing bars, only the faintest hint of black remains in the throat to give away who this is. Kelly and I tracked one of these down at Cedar Falls in the Hocking Hills back in July.

Nashville Warbler (lifer). Pretty plain as warblers go, this is distinguished from the Connecticut Warbler (which we did not see) by the fact that it's throat is yellow (the Connecticut would have a olive/bluish head AND throat).

Finally, we will conclude with some little sprites:

The Winter Wren and House Wren (left to right). Both life birds for me, and very good for me to see because I had no idea exactly how small they are. Compared to a Carolina Wren, well, these guys are tiny.

Comparing the tails of the House Wren (on the left) and the Winter Wren (on the right). Everything about the Winter Wren is compact, including it's stumpy little tail!

Here you can also compare the somewhat curved beak of the House Wren (left) to the straighter beak of the Winter Wren (right). Also, notice the eyebrow stripe on the Winter Wren.

I just want to put him in my pocket and carry him around with me all day - he's that cute!

Seeing all of these birds so close, having these pictures to study at my leisure, and comparing the photos to books and online field guides has greatly increased my likelihood of being able to identify these tricky birds in the future. I am grateful to the knowledgeable staff and volunteers at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory for pointing out so many of the field marks that I mentioned here.

This concludes my official "report" about my experiences at this year's Midwest Birding Symposium. I still have some random images I'd like to share, but I do have some other things I'd like to get posting about. If you found any of this info about the symposium even remotely interesting, keep September 2011 in the back of your mind for the next one (hopefully at Lakeside!).

Happy birding!

Bird banding at Black Swamp Bird Observatory

One of the coolest events of the Midwest Birding Symposium for me was the bird banding demos that took place at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. The observatory, about a 40-minute drive from our Lakeside location, offered these public banding demos on Friday and Saturday morning, before the 10:00 AM keynote speaker presentations. Located only a few miles from Magee Marsh (dubbed by many as the warbler capital of North America come spring migration), the observatory is no doubt situated along the migratory path of many birds.

During the banding demo that we attended on Saturday morning we saw at least 15 different individual birds, most of whom were migratory species, and quite a few of which were life birds for me! In this post, I'm going to concentrate on the banding process itself and give you an idea of what it entails. This was my first ever banding experience, so it was interesting to observe that it's not just a matter of snapping a little band on the bird's leg.

By the way, I would just like to clarify that I did not handle any of these birds personally. All birds were banded and handled by the trained staff and volunteers of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. This was all part of a public banding demonstration.


First you have to catch the bird. Mist nets that are 40 feet long and 8 feet high are stretched between 2 poles to catch the birds. The nets are virtually invisible to the birds, and when they fly into the net, they fall into a pocket (the several horizontal rows visible in the photo on the left give you an idea where the pockets are), where they will then be pulled out and transferred to a draw-string bag for safe-keeping until it is time to be banded.

In addition to being banded, the bird will be weighed, aged, sexed if possible, have a wing measurement taken, and fat scored (looking at the amount of fat stored in their abdomen). Here we see this hatchling year female Northern Cardinal being banded, weighed and having her wing measurement taken.

After all the measurements have been recorded, the bird will be released back into the wild. You may have heard or read that a Cardinal in the hand can be a memorable experience because they are vicious biters. The gentleman holding this bird (Mark Shieldcastle, Research Director of BSBO) noted that since this young bird didn't fully have a grasp yet on what her beak was capable of, she was fairly harmless. She certainly had some spunk, though, and was not terribly happy at being handled.



Here we have an adult female Brown Thrasher going through the paces: being fitted for a band, having her abdomen fat examined (how many of us would subject ourselves to that?), and being weighed.

I couldn't resist zooming in on this photo. Just look at this amazing bird. Isn't she beautiful? She was pretty docile in the hand, quite the opposite of what I've observed in the field. A breeding female is pretty territorial and will let you know when you've gotten too close to her nest. It was incredible to be able to see one this close.

A male adult American Robin. Based on the looks of his head feathers, I'd say he's in the process of molting. This Robin was special because he was a recapture (meaning he had already been banded by someone else). They didn't recognize it as one of the BSBO bands, so they had no way of knowing at that moment where it had been banded. All relevant measurements were recorded, and I'm sure they will submit the band number and info to U.S. Geological Survey. According to a pamphlet about banding available at the observatory, they only catch about 5 "foreign" birds (birds banded by another bander) per year. Pretty cool that we got to see one, huh?

This is one of my favorite photos of the entire morning. To me it encompasses the whole of the banding operation itself: seeing that data being entered by hand for each of the thousands of birds that pass through there, all the while having the bird in your hand while you capture its details. (For those wondering, that's a Swainson's Thrush in Mark's hand.)

Tomorrow we will look in detail at some of the other birds that were banded at the demo, and examine their field marks (in non-breeding plumage at that!). Stay tuned.

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