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Posted by Angel & Mariel on 18:27:29 09/26/12
In Reply to: Re: Black-billed Cuckoo Evergreen Cemetery posted by Paul-the-other
Paul:
Migrant Traps and Mist Nets are two totally different things. Migrant trap are locales which provide migrants with a place for food and cover after a long night of migrating. Typically on a night with favorable winds, birds will fly farther and thus usually bypass migrant traps. On nights that birds are migrating into a head wind or encounter rain, migrants may choose the first cover they see at daylight. These spots often turn out to be migrant traps such as Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP.
Mist nets are what banders use to capture birds for processing. A fine net is set up to catch birds, the birds are banded, aged and in most cases sexed. We also look at how much fat reserves these birds are arriving with. Migrants pile on the weight before migrating, filling every available cavity with fat which they will use as fuel while migrating.
When inclement weather halts birds from continuing south in the fall or north in the spring, you may get lucky with a bird like a Black -billed Cuckoo. On Saturday, Mariel and I found a Black-billed Cuckoo at the Cape, the next morning the bird was banded. So it is worth the try, just incase the bird sticks around :)
How this helps!
Nature is Awesome
Angel & Mariel
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