Owl Banding

Since our last blog post, we have been quite busy in the owl banding world. I had stated in the previous blog that we were hoping the change in weather at the start of this week would bring us some birds, and it definitely did that. For starters, let's talk about the Northern Saw-whet [...]

Since our last post, things have been a little slower. Unfortunately, on the night of Sept. 21, we were closed all night due to strong winds. The night of Sept. 22 only saw us with one Northern Saw-whet Owl. This bird came right before closing early in the morning of Sept. 23. We were [...]

Dana with her first Northern Saw-whet Owl. Hello all. We're just finishing up our first week of the 2022 fall owl banding season. Let us take a minute and introduce you to the fall 2022 owl banders. Tori Steely is returning for a third fall season of owl banding here at the [...]

As expected, things remained relatively slow this past week. That said, it was a little more productive than the previous week. Our nightly totals ranged from two to seven owls. Of the 31 owls banded this week, 29 were juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), one was an adult NSWO, and one was a Long-eared [...]

We experienced a wide variety of weather conditions this past week. Although periods of rain and high winds shut us down frequently, we also had periods of good weather that had us hoping that the owls would pick up again. Unfortunately, things have remained slow, with nightly totals ranging from one to seven owls [...]

Since the last posting, the transition from the movement of adult Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) to juvenile NSWO took full effect. Over the past week, we banded 50 juveniles and six adults. It's become apparent that we most likely are not going to see a continuation of the 5-year cycle of peak NSWO reproductive [...]

The expected transition from banding adult to juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) has recently begun. Adult NSWO numbers are highest during the first two weeks of July. Their numbers then typically remain steadily in low single-digit numbers into the beginning of August. Juvenile NSWO numbers vary significantly from year to year, but relative to [...]

We were able to band all seven nights since our last post, but things have been relatively slow. Adult Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) have remained steady, but they are never numerous during the summer season. Their numbers have also always dropped off after the second week of the season, so we are prepared to [...]

The summer owl banding season started on the night of June 30. As is the case every year, we have primarily banded adult Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) during the first six nights of the season. So far, we have banded 36 adult NSWO, three juvenile NSWO, and one Long-eared Owl. If you have followed [...]