I actually discovered it on my 8/20 survey, but this poor little bird on the 20th was already seething with maggots so I’m comfortable calling it an 8/19 casualty. This was a second year male. Check out the feather wear on his primaries. He was headed south to molt and then continue on further south.
Well that didn’t take long. Here’s a HY male Ruby-throated Hummingbird I found this morning at the main north entrance.
On an even more sombre note, this was unofficially the 300th casualty on this project.
As I’m about to head out for a conference this week, spring and summer monitoring comes to a close. I’ll begin August 2017 the 9th consecutive year of (mostly) daily monitoring for window casualties at the Noble Research Center on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA.
It’s been a busy spring.
Beginning Mar 1st, here’s what has turned up at the Noble Research Center.
Dead Birds
That’s 28 individuals of 14 species, and damn, that is disheartening.
On the plus side, my commitment to checking almost every day has put me in position to save a few birds by getting them safely away from the building and taking them someplace secure to rest and recuperate for a bit. I can’t guarantee that all 6 of these survived the ordeal, but they seemed to be in good shape when I last saw them:
I was out of town from 21–30 June and no surveys were run during that time. On June 30th, however, I heard from Dawn Brown and Corey Riding that there were three casualties at the southwestern alcove of the Noble Research Center: a badly decayed Northern Parula (adult male), a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and a female (with brood patch!) Indigo Bunting. It’s possible that the bunting came in on the 30th, but the others were clearly killed prior to that date. (Photos by Dawn Brown.) This is officially the first Northern Parula found on the project.
Chalk up another second-year male Indigo Bunting as a window-kill victim at the Noble Research Center. This bird had fat = 1 and CP = 2.
May 15th was another odd one, and I’ll be glad when this pulse of window-killed migrants is passed.
On my morning survey, I found a SY male Painted Bunting at the southwestern alcove, and right in front of a treated pane. (The bird off to the left is May 12th’s Indigo Bunting.)
That’s bad enough. The building cost a Painted Bunting and the ABC bird tape apparently did not steer it away from danger.
Then I heard from Dawn Brown later in the day (~3:45 in the afternoon) that she had found and collected a Painted Bunting at the same location. When I got there moments later, the Indigo Bunting was gone (so it was removed sometime during the day on the 15th), and Dawn handed me a bag with this bird inside:
Ugh – a second dead Painted Bunting. This one was more difficult to sex but also clearly an SY bird. Note the beak damage on both individuals.
Will Jessie alerted me to this SY male Indigo Bunting at the southwestern alcove. I left the bird in place for several days (and the ants had gotten to it before I did).
