Bird Banding at Ruffner Mountain
by Jamie Nobles, Conservation Director

The first year of the bird banding program on the mountain with partner, Alabama Audubon, has been quite successful so far! We banded many common birds and a few uncommon birds we were excited to find using the mountain as a breeding ground.

Led by Alabama Audubon Science and Conservation Director and bird banding permit holder, Lianne Koczur, we have been operating a MAPS banding station at the Wetlands. MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) is a program under The Institute for Bird Populations. The station at Ruffner Mountain is linked with the extensive network of other MAPS Program stations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The overall goal of the program is to provide long-term data on bird populations.

We chose the Wetlands for the banding site because the area has a good variety of habitat types including mature and young hardwood/pine mixed forests and the aquatic, marsh-like habitat of the ponds and artesian well. The combination is a key habitat for a variety of birds, especially many warbler species.

Starting in May and continuing through the breeding season, for each banding session, nets are set up 30 minutes before sunrise and are taken down following a 6-hour period. Captured birds are banded, sexed, aged, weighed, measured, and released. We also record all bird species seen or heard in the area. This first year will provide valuable baseline data that will be the foundation for every sequential year of operation of the MAPS station. 

At Ruffner Mountain, we can use this data to improve habitat quality for birds and other wildlife. As we reduce the number of invasive species and improve/restore habitats, we may see an even greater diversity of birds using the space in the future. For example, I think one of our challenges will be finding alternative plant species to the invasive privet (Ligustrum sinense), in which a couple of bird species like the Swainson’s Warbler seem to be specializing in the forest.

We have 2 more sessions left in the season and have banded 87 birds of 21 species so far. However, 2 of these species are likely not breeding in our area as they typically breed much further north; Magnolia Warbler and White-throated Sparrow.

We have also recaptured (a key data point for the program) 24 birds of 9 species. Some of these, 9 birds, have been recaptured multiple times allowing us to record more data of each individual at different times during the breeding season. One female White-eyed Vireo has been recaptured 4 times already in 3 different net locations.

Here’s the count and species of our 87 banded birds so far. 

(2 ) Downy Woodpecker

(3) Acadian Flycatcher 

(3) Eastern Phoebe

(4) Wood Thrush

(10 ) Carolina Wren

(2) Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

(1) Red-eyed Vireo

(15) White-eyed Vireo

(1) American Redstart

(2 ) Common Yellowthroat

(7) Hooded Warbler

(8) Kentucky Warbler

(2) Louisiana Waterthrush

(1) Magnolia Warbler

(6) Swainson's Warbler

(1) Worm-eating Warbler

(4) Eastern Towhee

(1) White-throated Sparrow

(1) Summer Tanager

(2) Indigo Bunting

(17) Northern Cardinal

Key notes of our station: 

• Some of our most common species at the site are Northern Cardinal (17 banded), White-eyed Vireo (15 banded) and Carolina Wren (10 banded) - each of these have been banded more than any other species.

• The habitat type should predict what species are most likely to be captured/banded. We have banded 8 warbler species so far, and the more common species like Kentucky Warbler and Hooded Warbler are well represented. 

• Uncommon species or species that may or may not have been confirmed as breeding on Ruffner mountain can be confirmed under this study. We banded 6 Swainson’s Warblers, 5 of which were male. Subsequent weeks and years may also provide more information on females and offspring. Other uncommon species, like the Louisiana Waterthrush and Worm-eating Warbler, are exciting to have as banded individuals representing breeding birds of Ruffner.

• Some species present in the area are less likely to be captured/banded due to niche-type or other reasons. We have heard or observed several species that have not been captured or banded, maybe due to some limitations of our mist nets. Our nets are too low for the typical nesting or foraging locations of some species. Species like Northern Parula, Pine Warbler and Brown-headed Nuthatch have been heard nearly every session, but they typically forage high in trees, well out of reach for our nets. Interestingly, we have heard/observed both the common species Tufted Titmouse and Carolina Chickadee each week, but neither have been captured/banded so far. We also do not hold a permit to band hummingbirds - we have consistently observed Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the area each week and have netted 2 individuals that were released and not banded.