Our streak of consecutive nights continued this past week, and we have now opened nets on all 46 nights of the season so far. This week we welcomed Sarah Montalvo to the field crew, and her first night was the second most productive night of the season with the banding of 18 owls. The weather has been quite variable since then, producing mixed results, including the first time we have been skunked on consecutive nights. That said, we banded another 37 owls this past week, providing a nice welcome from the owls for Sarah.
The juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls are still way behind in their molt into adult plumage compared to what we usually see at this time of the season. Most of the juveniles this past week have only shown adult feathers coming in along their earflaps. By this time, we expect to see most also molting in their facial discs and a couple of tracts of body feathers. The bird pictured below was by far at the most advanced stage of this molt that we have seen this summer.
A juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owl molting in its adult plumage. Photo by Chris Neri
Season Totals of Banded Owls
Northern Saw-whet Owls: 199 (131 juveniles & 68 adults)
Long-eared Owls: 22
Barred Owls: 1
Total owls banded: 222
Season Totals of Recaptured Owls
Northern Saw-whet Owls: 2
~ Chris Neri & Sarah Montalvo
2023 Summer Owl Banders
All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a state and federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.
You can read the owl banders’ weekly blog posts and follow WPBO’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for owl banding highlights this season.
Owl Banding Presentations — Visitors may observe owls that have been banded on Friday and Saturday evenings from dusk until midnight. Please note that banding is weather dependent and it is at the banders’ discretion to cancel banding accordingly. Observation will be limited to outdoors only. For the safety of the owls, flash photography and recording video is prohibited.
