Early May owl update
Although the owls have slowed down a bit, it was still a productive week. We banded 98 owls and recaptured five previously banded birds. The Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) have gone into the lull that we experience at this time in the spring. Their numbers typically peak in the middle of the season, then drop off for a period before picking up a bit again towards the end of the season. The late season NSWO push can vary significantly from year-to-year, but hopefully they will pick up again before the spring banding comes to an end. Sixty of this week’s new individuals were Long-eared Owls (LEOW). In spring, the main push of adult LEOW occurs before the main push of young birds. The adult LEOW numbers really dropped off this past week, but last year’s young are still coming through in low, but steady numbers. This spring’s Boreal Owl migration has not been anywhere near as productive as we hoped, but we banded five more this week, bringing the season total to nine. We also banded two more Barred Owls this week.
Several of this week’s recaptures were of particular interest. Last night we recaptured a long-eared that Nova banded last spring. Long-eared recaptures are annoyingly rare, so we are always excited when we get one. Last night we also recaptured a male saw-whet that I banded here last summer as a juvenile. Although we have had over one hundred of our juvenile females recaptured, there have only ever been a handful of the juvenile males recaptured. Earlier in the week we recaptured a saw-whet that was fitted with a nanotag here last summer as part of our collaboration with the NSWO migratory connectivity project run by graduate student Aaron Coolman out of the University of Delaware. This particular owl gave us four data points last fall from a few different states during its fall migration. We will provide more details on this bird later as we look forward to continuing this collaboration with Aaron during the summer banding. Lastly, our friend Tim Baerwald is conducting his own banding project in Keweenaw County. Late one night this week he texted us a photo of a long-eared that he had just caught on Manitou Island off the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the UP. It turned out that this was a bird that Nova had banded here in spring 2020! This LEOW will be turning at least seven years old this summer. Although things are slowing down, we’re very happy with the results of the season so far and looking forward to the final few weeks of the spring owl migration. Thank you all for making it possible and stay tuned for more updates.
Long-eared Owl banded at Whitefish Point in 2020 and recaptured at Manitou Island in 2025. Photo courtesy of Tim Baerwald.
Spring Banding Totals:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 404
Boreal Owl: 9
Long-eared Owl: 198
Barred Owl: 3
Great Horned Owl: 1
We would love to see you at our Birdathon celebration dinner, even if you're not doing the Birdathon itself. This gathering at the Whitefish Township Community Center in Paradise will feature a presentation by Alison Világ about a new raptor research program on the Keweenaw Peninsula's rugged, remote Manitou Island that already is demonstrating the connectivity of migration along Lake Superior. You'll have the chance to hear Birdathon teams share the highlights of their days, and food will be provided by Paradise's own Ebbys. It will be a fun evening where we can revel in how great birding is when it's May in the UP of Michigan with a room full of friends. Doors open at 6:30PM May 17, the event starts at 7PM, and you can get your tickets here: www.friendsofwp.org/birdathon. This is the last week to sign up for the event, so tell your friends and neighbors!