Field Studies Report – June 2012

The month of June was very hot and at times humid, but this didn’t stop the birds! 

The blistering heat meant we were out in the field early

This last month I had the delight of having the WBS interns out with me to help with the study.  The interns got to see most of the developmental stages of the offspring, and even helped with banding some birds.  The second clutches, or second nesting cycle, of the season are wrapping up and the season is more than halfway over!

The weather this month has been the biggest battle thus far in the study, but early start times and plenty of water has given some relief.  In the weeks to come it will be interesting to see the impact that the heat and the lack of rain will cause to the survival rate of the offspring in the study.  With this said we still had a fairly productive June.

Having the interns out helping with the study really made a lasting impact on them, as well as me.  It was great to experience the joy of teaching and watching them band birds.  We accomplished more than just banding birds though; there were many encounters with the local area wildlife, conversations with landowners, and back breaking hikes.  In all I think that all of them walked away with a good idea of what this part of WBS field studies is about.

In the study this month there were 42 active Eastern Blue Bird and House Wren nests.  In total 193 eggs were counted and 123 of the eggs hatched.  For the month of June we ended up banding 95 birds, and 115 fledged.  The fatality numbers have increased this month largely in part to snakes preying upon the nests.  There were 6 nests raided and around 20 eggs/babies were lost.  There are many predators of baby birds and it can only be expected that some will fall victim to predators.

Now that July is here we are in the beginning of the home stretch!  The study for this year will be over on August 15, so yes, we’re almost there!

Submitted by Adam Triska, World Bird Sanctuary Field Studies Coordinator

Ameren/WBS Nest Box Study – May Counts

May was a very busy month for the Ameren/WBS nest box study.  This month I had two new species nesting in the boxes being monitored for the study!

Many birds have started laying eggs for a second time this season, and some latecomers have shown up.  I have been busy with figuring the numbers, but I also have the latest numbers for the 2012 study.

As mentioned earlier, there are some new birds that have been found in the past month.  House wrens have moved in and are producing a good number of babies.  I have found 14 nests in the last five weeks, and they produced 51 eggs.  Of those, 24 hatched in the last three weeks, but only 6 have been banded because many will not be old enough to band until early June.

The other species that was found was the Tufted Titmouse.  Only one nest was found in the study thus far.  This nest produced 6 eggs and three lived to be banded and fledge.

For many birds, this month was the start of their second clutch.  The second clutch refers to birds returning to the same nest box where they already laid one clutch of eggs and had babies.  In the study so far only Eastern Blue Birds have returned to lay a second clutch.  It is hard to give an exact number of birds returning to lay a second clutch because the adults are not positively identified individually, but I think there are at least 15 nests that have second clutches.

So--down to the numbers for May and for the study thus far.  In the month of May I banded 126 babies.  So far, 96 have left the nest and hopefully the rest will have left before the next time I visit the boxes!

The real numbers that count are the overall numbers for the study up to May 31^st.  Over all the study has produced 92 nests out of a possible 240 nest boxes.  These 92 nests produced 552 eggs  and 305 have hatched.  Two hundred seventy-four babies have been banded and 233 of the babies have fledged.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog and have a good one!

Adam Triska. World Bird Sanctuary Field Studies Coordinator 

April - What's In A Nestbox?

April was a very hectic month for the AmerenUE/WBS nest box study. In the month of April I counted eggs, banded babies and some fledglings have even left the nest already, probably because of the very early spring!

 Black-capped Chickadee nest

The study has been a success in all of the three habitats I am monitoring, and the data is pouring in. The numbers can be overwhelming, so I wanted to hit on the key points of my findings thus far.

Each area is prescribed a different treatment for maintaining the vegetation under the power lines within power line right-of-ways, and these prescriptions make different habitats. The three habitats that are being monitored are mow, spray, and a combination of the two; mow/spray. Each habitat has 80 nest boxes for a total of 240 for the whole study.

Before I give you the data, I want to explain two key things to remember. When looking at the fledged numbers one must bear in mind that there are still birds that haven’t decided to leave the nest yet. Also, not every egg is going to be successful, and the trend that I have noticed is that about half will hatch.

Habitat 1 (mow area) has been the most productive line so far with a total of 106 eggs. Of those 106 eggs 67 hatched, 45 have been banded and 31 have fledged so far.

Habitat 2 (spray area) is the second most productive area with a total of 101 eggs. From the 101 eggs 66 hatched, 63 were banded, and 26 have fledged to date. This area has been a surprise so far because all 80 boxes were installed in early March.

Habitat 3 (mow/spray) has been the least productive area with only 98 eggs. Of the 98 eggs 60 hatched, 50 were banded, and 13 have fledged so far. The most shocking finding on this line is that 80 of the 98 eggs were bluebirds! There were a few Black-capped Chickadees, too.

Overall for the month of April I have had 305 eggs, 203 babies, 141 birds banded, and 80 have fledged. This is only the beginning of what can be a very busy/great nesting season!

Submitted by Adam Triska, World Bird Sanctuary Field Studies Coordinator