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Important Bird Areas

Bent of the River Bird Banding

2010
Each summer between 2005 and 2008, Christy Melhart-Slay, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, studied the shrubland bird community at the Bent of the River for her doctoral research. In particular, she was studying the breeding biology (including, nest-site selection, survivorship, nest-site fidelity, and the effects of predation) of four focal species: Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow, and Indigo Bunting.

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) being banded at the Bent of the River.	Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor) being banded at the Bent of the River.

Since 2009, the fieldwork has been overseen by Audubon Connecticut’s Important Bird Areas Program. The goals of the project since 2009 have been to learn more about survivorship and to start looking at how management of the early successional fields is impacting nest success. To investigate these questions, field researchers captured as many birds as possible and marked each with a unique combination of colored leg bands, which gave each bird an identity. With a large population of marked birds, we can easily recapture or resight individuals in future years to determine what proportion of the population are new (unbanded) birds, returning adults, or birds that were born at the Bent. We also found and monitored nests, and took detailed vegetation measurements around each. These vegetation measures will be used to identify which habitat features are good for the birds, and which aren’t.

Since 2009, the fieldwork has been overseen by Audubon Connecticut’s Important Bird Areas Program. The goals of the project since 2009 have been to learn more about survivorship and to start looking at how management of the early successional fields is impacting nest success. To investigate these questions, field researchers captured as many birds as possible and marked each with a unique combination of colored leg bands, which gave each bird an identity. With a large population of marked birds, we can easily recapture or resight individuals in future years to determine what proportion of the population are new (unbanded) birds, returning adults, or birds that were born at the Bent. We also found and monitored nests, and took detailed vegetation measurements around each. These vegetation measures will be used to identify which habitat features are good for the birds, and which aren’t.

Over the last two summers we have captured 172 birds, 31 of which were banded in past years of the project. We are currently entering this summer’s data in a database and preparing it for analysis. When the analysis is complete, we should have clear, evidence-based recommendations for smart management actions that can be implemented in the future.