Last night was the official start to Washington Crossing Audubon’s Northern
Saw-whet Owl survey. WCAS launched this survey
to gain insight into the magnitude of Saw-whet Owl migration in our region. Given their nocturnal habits, secretive nature,
and the fact that they sing only on their northern breeding grounds, gathering
data on Saw-whet Owls can be very difficult using passive observation alone.
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| Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus). © Tyler Christensen |
The survey involves capturing owls
using mist nets, taking a series of measurements, and fitting them with uniquely-numbered aluminum bands, which they will carry with them for the rest of
their lives, allowing individual identification upon future encounters.
We were hoping for at least one
owl during our first survey night – we caught eleven! Our last net run yielded five different
individuals. Particularly exciting was that one of the owls
captured had been previously banded by another Saw-whet Owl bander. A major goal
of owl banding projects is to gather data on migration behavior, and recapture
data is essential to this end. We look forward to finding out where this owl was first banded!
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| © Tyler Christensen |
Presumably all the owls encountered last night were in
active migration, and had stopped at this site to regain fat reserves before
continuing south. This survey will take
place through peak Saw-whet migration, from now until early December, while
their abundance is at its highest.
Hopefully future nights will be as successful as last night!
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| Saw-whet Owl after release © Tyler Christensen |
