A Band of Birders (goes bird banding)

Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: 

they pollinate plants, 

disperse seeds, 

scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. 

But they also feed our spirits, 

marking for us the passage of the seasons, 

moving us to create art and poetry, 

inspiring us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, 

but of, this earth.  

~ Melanie Driscoll,   

Director of bird conservation for the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Flyway

Painted Bunting observed before transport to the work tables.

I talked our way onto this adventure having heard about it through some birder friends on Facebook and they made room for two more. Twice a year employees of the Natural and Cultural Resources Management Branch,* Directorate of Public Works (hereafter NCRMB) welcomed a group of "civilians" to the training area at Fort Hood to participate in a bird banding event. **

On Tuesday, July 2, we met the other volunteers/participants at the intersection of two range roads before we traveled across tank trails to the spot where employees of the NCRMB had set up work tables. The mist nets were in selected locations within about 300 yards of the tables.

NCRMB wildlife biologist Dr. David Cimprich*** welcomed the group and briefed us on the operation. Later, as birds were brought in from the nets, he demonstrated the process step-by-step as he determined gender (checking for an incubation or brood patch by blowing gently with a standard plastic straw on the bird's abdomen), checked the plumage, and performed the other technical functions before handing the bird off to be released.

Dr. David Cimprich

The team of biologists shared information on the history and functioning of the nets as well as the examination, weighing, measurement, and banding of the birds. We lucky few, about 30 individuals from area birding and wildlife groups,**** divided into groups to check the nets, watch the scientists at work, ask questions, and release the newly-banded birds.

Our group headed out to a a well-placed mist net.

Black-capped Vireo at the mist net. While I do not normally post "faces," I had to share this one of a birder upon observing a "lifer."

Nick Glover with NCRMB changes the "call" at the net.

Birds are transferred from the net to the table in a bag.

Banding and measuring equipment

The band goes on while another biologist notes the band number and other observations and measurements for each specimen.

Time for weighing. Each bird (except the Summer Tanager) was weighed by placing in a "tube" on a small scale. They did not have a tube large enough to hold the Tanager with them.

With a gentle puff of air feathers part to disclose a bare or feathered "brood patch."

Examination of plumage of Black-capped Vireo

I took photos - mostly of the gentle hands of the scientists and volunteers. It's a science and an art - holding a trembling feathered creature gently enough not to stress or injure, but firmly enough to avoid letting it go before the measuring and observation is complete.*****

We caught White-eyed Vireos, a Titmouse, a Northern Cardinal, a Painted Bunting, a Carolina Wren, a Bewick's Wren, a Summer Tanager, a couple of Blue-grey Gnatcatchers (lifer****** for DH and me) and more Black-capped Vireos than any other bird (I stopped taking photos after the 4th or 5th individual vireo). For me, even one was magic.  I first heard about the vireo in the early 1980s - around the time Fort Hood began its response to two endangered songbirds, the Black-capped Vireo and the Golden-cheeked Warbler. I observed a Golden-cheeked Warbler in Hayes County last year. These were my first Black-capped Vireos.

New feathers coming in for this Painted Bunting (enlarged for a good view of the plumage).

Black-capped Vireo just before release.

Bewick's Wren

Summer Tanager

Titmouse

White-eyed Vireo

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Some may not be aware that the Black-capped Vireo was delisted (removed from the list of endangered species) only last year. It is one of the success stories******* of private-public conservation partnerships and Fort Hood was a major player in those efforts. In fact, Fort Hood has a history of commitment to balancing the needs of wildlife (and the protection of threatened and endangered species) with the military missions of the post.

Of course, the devil is in the details and we were privy to many seemingly small details - additional measures to avoid stressing the birds. Nets are checked on a regular (and short) schedule so none stay in the net long. The recorded calls used to attract the birds are changed frequently, specific "holds" are used. And the entire process from capture to release is efficient and professional.

It was indeed a magical morning. We hope to be asked back.


NOTES:

* The NCRMB is part of U.S. Army Installation Management Command (I didn't even know there was such a thing), but there is!  http://aec.army.mil/index.php?cID=376 See also: https://www.fedcenter.gov/admin/itemattachment.cfm?attachmentid=1143

**This article details a previous citizen show-and-tell banding event:

http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/living/hood-wildlife-biologist-engages-community-army-volunteer-corps/article_58742ace-3cff-11e8-bcad-1fb0bebb5bc6.html

***Dr. Cimprich is one of only two people in Texas certified as a banding trainer by the North American Banding Council and is the "go to" expert on the Black-capped Vireo. He is a soft-spoken man and we watched him work with each bird careful to insure that we "observers" understood each step. If you "Google" him and the NCRMB you can find a number of articles on Dr. Cimprich's work. His name peppers Fort Hood's Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, 2013-17.

https://dnnh3qht4.blob.core.windows.net/portals/0/Military%20Services/Fort%20Hood/20130123-INRMP-Final%20-%20Bird%20on%202013.05.31.pdf?sr=b&si=DNNFileManagerPolicy&sig=dYFdFK6yd59j582FsIuNVSufUX0K2Ot10vNY9VYt4zI%3D

****Members of local Audubon chapters, Highland Lakes Birding and Wildflower Society, a couple of chapters of Texas Master Naturalists and other folks interested in birds and the environmental work at Fort Hood.

The group gathered at the work tables - citizen science show and tell.

*****A comment on the "hold" shown in many of the photos: It is a banders' grip and it is the best and safest grip for working with small to medium sized birds. Additional information can be found in the Mist Netters Safety Handbook  https://www.birdpop.org/docs/pubs/Smith_et_al_1997_Mist_Netters_Bird_Safety_Handbook.pdf  and The North American Banders' Study Guide http://anilhagemdeaves.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/7/6/2776574/namstudyguide.pdf

******A bird is a "lifer" when a species is first seen and positively identified by a birder. DH and I consider ourselves "bad birders." We are learning, but we have a long way to go.

*******https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20180413b

http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/editorial/fort-hood-protecting-endangered-bird-species-while-training-to-protect/article_ce73149a-7aa7-11e6-bd81-37d09689081e.html