The year 2020 marked the fourth nesting season I have operated a MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) bird banding station in the Methow Valley. MAPS is administered by the Institute for Bird Populations and is a continent-wide collaborative banding program that contributes to the conservation of birds and their habitats by monitoring key demographic parameters such as productivity, recruitment, and survival. During a MAPS banding session, birds are captured in mist nets, extracted and placed in cloth holding bags (1 bird per bag), and brought to a central processing location where they are identified to species and banded on the right leg with a uniquely numbered band issued by the Federal Bird Banding Laboratory. Data on age, sex, breeding condition, weight, fat, molt, and feather wear are recorded for each bird before it is released. You can learn more about the MAPS program by visiting the Institute for Bird Populations’ web site.

Like everything else in 2020, the ability to operate the MAPS station in the midst of a global pandemic was questionable. Would the landowners allow me to band on their property? Would any volunteers be willing to help? And would it be possible to capture, band, and process birds while wearing a mask? Fortunately, the landowners and volunteers said yes, and with some trial and error we adapted to wearing masks and safely completed all 7 of the required MAPS banding sessions.

I have been banding birds for 14 years, and despite the questionable start 2020 turned out to be my most productive MAPS season ever with a total of 195 captured birds and 32 different species! The most commonly captured species were MacGillivray’s Warbler (25 captures), Yellow Warbler (22 captures), and Purple Finch (16 captures). Other notable species included American Redstart, Nashville Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, and Red-naped Sapsucker.

MacGillivray’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Purple Finch. Photos by Julie Hovis.

An important aspect of banding is age determination. In general, birds can be aged as being in their hatch year (HY), second year (SY), or after second year (ASY) by examining the color and condition of their flight feathers. The Lazuli Bunting provides an excellent example of how feathers are used to age a bird. Pictured below on the left is the wing of a SY male; the retained brown juvenile feathers indicate this bird hatched in the previous year. The wing on the right is an ASY male; the lack of brown feathers indicates this bird hatched prior to the previous year. It’s not always that easy, and for some species it’s downright impossible, but with practice many species can be aged accurately.

SY (left) and ASY (right) male Lazuli Buntings. Photos by Julie Hovis.

For species where the males and females look alike, banding also provides an opportunity to determine a bird’s sex, such as the brood patch on this female Song Sparrow.

One of the perks of bird banding is being able to see things up close and personal. This year we caught several Cedar Waxwings and the detail of the waxy tips on the secondary feathers was amazing.

Cedar Waxwing. Photos by Julie Hovis.

My banding activities are over for this year, but I am planning to operate the MAPS station again in 2021 (hopefully in a world free of COVID-19). I’ll post updates starting in June, so if you’re interested be sure to check back then.