Northern Saw-whet Owl
It was a beautiful night in the woods last night. The moon was so bright that we didn't even need to turn our headlamps on when going down for our hourly net-checks. The trees cast tall shadows across the leaf-covered forest floor, and the stars twinkled overhead in the chilly night sky. The moon was too bright for the Saw-whets, however, who were most-likely hiding from their predators, the larger owls that we could hear calling somewhere deep in the the forest. We did have one little owl come to us last night, and it was at the eleventh hour... literally. We were so happy to have one last owl for the season, to add to a grand total of 487 owls. It is always a thrill to be so close to such a delicate and beautiful bird. Here are some photos from this banding season that illustrate the owl-banding process. Enjoy!
.ryn photo credits: ryn
The owls are attracted to the mp3's of Saw-whet calls we play over loud-speakers in the woods. Four nets are set up around the speakers that will catch birds that fly into them. When we find owls in the nets, we carefully remove them from the pockets in the nets and place them in drawstring sacks that we then bring up to the banding cabin.
Carefully taking the owl out of the bag
Banding and measurement tools
Identifying bird's age based on feather patterns
Recording date, time, wind speed, temperature, net position, weight
Bands for tracking bird if they are recaptured
Banding tool
Putting the band on the owl's right leg
Feeling under feathers for fat
The Girl Scout Camp banding station in the woods
Identifying wing patterns
Measuring wing span
Measuring beak length
Charting owl eye color with paint chips
Beautiful, well-behaved Saw-whet ready for his close-up
Documenting owl with a photo and ID number
Me and a new friend
Another full night of owls... more to process
A local recap: This bird was already banded at another banding station
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