Daily Archives: September 4, 2021

Bird Banding at Barr Lake

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We were fortunate to see the banding of birds at Barr Lake with our bird watching group. Barr Lake does this every Fall with the birds that migrate through the area. Today we saw several Wilson’s Warblers that will be in the area for about two weeks. These birds fly down from the North, rest and fuel up at Barr Lake for their next journey to Mexico.

The process is pretty neat. They place a band on their leg, measure the wings and tail, weigh them and also check for fat on the body. This is all recorded in hopes they see the same bird in the future.

Placing on the band
measuring the wing

They weigh the birds by placing them head down into a PBC pipe. This little guy only weighed 7 grams which is the same amount as a dime and a nickel.

Female because there is no black on her head
They check the feathers on the head to determine if it’s male or female. This is a juvenile male
juvenile males
They place the birds on their backs and for a moment they are mesmerized. But just a slight movement they realize what’s going on and fly away. I got to hold this one.
A Wren
blowing on their bellies to check for fat.
They have nets set up in the area that the birds fly into. Then they place the birds in a tiny bag until it’s time to examine.
More recordings of the birds
The nets
Here is the chart that shows the band sizes. This group only does small birds