By Stephanie Beilke

For the second year in a row, Chicago Ornithological Society successfully ran the Big Marsh Bird Banding Station as part of the Institute for Bird Population’s Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Program. The banding project is part of COS’s Calumet Initiative which seeks to further develop bird-related outreach and science in the Illinois part of the Calumet Region. The team is led by COS Board Member, Stephanie Beilke, joined by fellow co-lead banders, Anastasia Rahlin and Libby Keyes. Supporting team members included Lila Fried, Adriana Garcia, Dan Lory, and Edward Warden.

The purpose of being a part of the MAPS Program is to contribute to science that helps us better understand longevity and breeding success of birds through data that can only be collected via capture. Birds are caught using passive mist-netting. Nets are placed only during the banding period and are checked every half hour. Birds are processed quickly, a numbered band is applied to their leg, and then they are released usually in about five minutes or so. While the bird is in the hand, the banders work to determine the age and sex of the bird to the best of their ability and with designated reference materials. It is our hope that the banding station will help us to better understand the health of songbird populations at Big Marsh, and also provide other opportunities for scientific research with partners.

In 2021, we banded on six dates between early June to early August. Our original plan was to band for seven dates (as according to the MAPS protocol), however our plans were foiled in late June when the weather forecast predicted rain for eight days straight! Luckily, the protocol allows us to miss a maximum of two dates per season.

Mourning Warbler. Photo by Stephanie Beilke

As it was only the second year of running our station, we had a lot of “firsts” for bird species that were banded, including breeding birds such as Brown Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing, Marsh Wren, Mourning Dove, and Warbling Vireo. During the first week in June we also caught some extra exciting late migrants that were still making their way north: a Swainson’s Thrush, Mourning Warbler, and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

The team is currently working on the less fun side of bird banding work: lots and lots of entering data into the MAPS Bird Banding software! But we hope to be back soon to report on more details of what we found. We are especially excited to see the total number of birds we recaptured that were originally banded in 2020.

If you have any questions for the banding team, or would like to inquire about volunteer opportunities, you can contact the team at Calumet@chicagobirder.org.

Libby Keyes, Anastasia Rahlin, and Lila Fried with a trio of Gray Catbirds. Photo by Stephanie Beilke

Big Marsh Bird Banding Program Completes a Second Season