We are in the tail end of fall migration, and most of the birds we banded this week were probably snowbirds settling in for a winter in South Florida. We added several returning birds to the roster; most of these were banded in Fall 2021 or Spring 2022 but two Ovenbirds were from 2019. A weak dissipating ‘cold’ front passed mid-week and brought with it some late Neotropical migrants such as another Bay-breasted Warbler. Flocks of Myrtle Warblers and Tree Swallows filled the sky on Friday, but no luck with any new species for the season in the nets. The majority of wintering birds can take until December to get down this far, so we close the station now after the long-distance migrants are mostly through.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets are rare these days in deep South Florida, so we were delighted to band a second of these tiny birds. (photo by Michelle Davis)
Each season has its own distinctive qualities, and Fall 2022 was notable for the second highest overall total of birds with 2365 individuals. However, it took 11,385.25 net hours to get there, which is the highest ever. We also measure how active a season is by looking at how many birds are captured per 100 net hours (B/100NH), and 2022 was the second lowest (23 B/100NH) since 2017. This year followed the pattern seen in 2020 of more individual birds but fewer species, although not quite as extreme.
Painted Buntings are returning to their winter haunts in South Florida. Here is a spectacular adult male. (photo by Rangel Diaz)
We had a huge year for American Redstarts, and banded 464 of them with one returning from spring. This is almost a hundred more than the previous record of 368 banded in 2020. Black-throated Blue warblers and Ovenbirds also had strong years in 2022. Swainson’s Warblers had their best year ever, and made the top ten with 61 new birds and one return! Weather is the biggest driver of variability between years, but with a 20-year dataset we are hoping that with the proper analysis we can detect changes over time. Long-term changes in bird numbers at Cape Florida are likely influenced by a combination of changes in weather patterns, habitat structure and populations.
Rebecca, David, Rachel, Fabio, Eddy, Madison, Nahuel, Rangel, Paola, Pam, Isabella, Nico and the mysterious Andres ;) . If I forgot you, feel free to yell at me the next time you see me around town.
Another huge thanks goes out to our 2022 Adopt-a-Net sponsors who raised $6,575 towards replacing worn nets and other operational costs.
Thank you all, and we will see you in Spring 2023!
-Michelle Davis
