The Purple Martins at Gazebo Phil's are growing larger by the minute. They fill up much of the gourd and the camera space at this point. They are going to get to enjoy having our company tomorrow as Connecticut Audubon Society will join the Connecticut
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Gazebo Phil at his
gourd trees to band all of the Purple Martin chicks. They will place a
silver federal band with a unique number on each bird as well as color
bands to identify individual birds from a distance. These bands are so
exceptionally light that the birds will not even feel them on their
legs. No part of this process will hurt the chicks. Banding will give us
valuable information about the young birds and hopefully allow them to
be spotted and identified, due to their unique color combinations,
during migration or back here next spring.
Banding was completed last year to perfection, with no birds harmed
or even disturbed in any significant way. CT DEEP staff will set up something
similar to an assembly line. There will be someone retrieving the birds
from the gourds, someone aging chicks, another person weighing the
birds, a couple of banders placing the different band types on, someone
bringing the birds back home, and more. We will be able to update you
all with how many adults and chicks are present at the conclusion of
banding. Do not worry about the adults, either. They may be a little
upset that we are hanging out at their homes for a while, but they will
instantly go back to feeding the chicks once we finish, and the work
will be done in a flash. This is a regular process completely annually
across the state. We cannot wait to see how many chicks we band - given
that last year's total was 185, how many do you think we will end up
with?
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician
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