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Writer's pictureWilliam Rapai

Caught in the act -- of migration

We were thrilled yesterday when we got a text from our friends at the Powdermill Avian Research Center in western Pennsylvania that contained only a photo and two words. The photo was of a hatch year Kirtland's Warbler being held by a bird bander, and the words were simple and direct: "So exciting!"


Exciting, indeed!


It seems like Kirtland's Warblers are traveling incognito these days. They are rarely seen in migration and even with the proliferation of Motus tags and towers they are rarely detected. So when one ends up in a bird bander's mist net someplace between the breeding grounds and the wintering grounds, it gives us a chance to marvel at the luck.


It doesn't surprise us, though, that a Kirtland's Warbler was found in the hills of western Pennsylvania. Fall migration for the Kirtland's Warbler tends to track more eastwardly than the spring migration. And a Kirtland's Warbler has been recorded here before. According to records, a Kirtland's Warbler was banded at Powdermill in September of 1971.


It also does not surprise us that this was a hatch-year bird. Younger birds tend to depart the breeding grounds before the older adults. They'll start heading south in the next couple of weeks and are usually gone by the second week of October.


Hopefully we'll be getting some more data on this particular bird from our friends at Powdermill. We hope to share that with you soon. In the meantime, safe travels little bird!

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