Owl Banding

After the record July for juvenile Norther Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), August has continued to be slow. There was some poor weather conditions this past week, but it is clear that the owls are winding down. We banded 11 juvenile NSWO on August 14, which is the only night in August that we have hit [...]

We simply don’t have a lot of news to share this week. The biggest news was that we had our second and third nights off this season. The juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls have continued most nights, but only in single-digit numbers. This past week, we banded 17 more juvenile saw-whets. Not to jinx [...]

After experiencing a record month for juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) in July, August unfortunately began with a whimper. As those in the region know, August started hot and humid. The first three nights of the month produced just 11 juvenile NSWO. We figured the slowdown was a product of the unfavorable weather and [...]

We believed the juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) had peaked last week after experiencing the third biggest night for them when we banded 46 on July 18. We were wrong. We banded 53 on July 25, a new record for the number of juvenile NSWO banded in a night. With one night left in [...]

This past week we experienced what will likely be this summer’s peak night. On July 18, we banded 49 Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) and one Long-eared Owl. Of the saw-whets banded that night, 46 were juveniles and three were adults. This represents one of the most productive summer nights we have ever experienced. The [...]

It was another productive week of owl banding. We banded 119 owls this week and recaptured three previously banded owls. It is becoming apparent that this will be a low season for adult Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), but juvenile saw-whets continued in good numbers. Of the 119 owls banded since our last update, 89 [...]

The summer owl banding season began on July 1 and has gotten off to a productive start. Although adult Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) numbers are below average, juvenile NSWO numbers are above average. We have banded 86 owls over the first nine nights — 84 NSWO and two Long-eared Owls. The 84 NSWO comprised 17 [...]

With just two nights of banding left, the spring season has all but concluded. This week, we banded 45 more owls: 44 Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) and one Long-eared Owl, bringing our spring total to 902 owls banded, plus 55 previously banded owls being recaptured. We thank all of you who supported and encouraged [...]