Manomet’s 2021 spring banding season is here!

Jeanne O'Rourke | April 29, 2021 | Newsletters

The spring 2021 banders. From left: Megan Gray, Tahira Mohyuddin, Amy Rose, and Sarah Duff.

Emily Renaud

Manomet’s bird banding lab opened for spring migration on April 15. Migratory and resident birds have been banded at Manomet since 1966 – a Black-capped Chickadee banded by Manomet’s by Manomet’s Founding Director Kathleen (Betty) Anderson.

Migratory bird banding operations like ours represent an important source of data about bird migration. Long-term ecology data sets can lead to discoveries often missed in shorter-term studies, and are critical for establishing baselines and tracking changes in the natural world. Because birds are widely surveyed by professional and amateur observers alike, and their natural histories are often well-understood, wild bird populations can be useful sentinels of environmental change and ecosystem health.

Joining the banding lab this year are four talented banders from across the U.S. with diverse backgrounds and interests. All of the banders tested negative for COVID-19 before arriving at Manomet’s Plymouth campus and will be following our safety guidelines. Having a full banding staff is crucial for a complete, consistent look at long-term trends. “As one of the first bird observatories in North America, we have a dataset that captures more than 50 years of standardized data about bird migration,” says Trevor Lloyd-Evans, Vice President, Environmental Education and Outreach. “Having a full team keeps the lab running at capacity, capturing as many birds as possible and recording full data.”

Amy and Tahira read off information to Megan, who records their data.

Please help us welcome this season’s crew and learn more about them below!

Amy HOGAN

A native of East Lansing, Michigan and a 2020 Michigan State University grad, Amy is joining the Manomet banding crew for her first season. Prior to graduating, she worked three fall seasons at the Michigan State Bird Observatory and one summer season with the Institute for Bird Populations in Yosemite National Park.

“I’m super excited to get to band more birds,” she says. “I’m just starting off in the bird banding world and am looking forward to handling new species, seeing cool molt limits, and learning from the Manomet banding crew. I’m also looking forward to just enjoying Massachusetts while I’m here!”

Megan Gray

Megan returns for her sixth season at Manomet from Rhode Island, where she most recently worked for Rhode Island Fish and Wildlife as a waterfowl technician, mainly rocket netting and banding American Black Ducks, Mallards, and Atlantic Brant. Megan is looking forward to the arrival of migratory warblers and the emergence of spring’s ephemeral flowers on the property.

“My favorite wildlife experience of all time was watching an intense high-speed chase last fall at Manomet as a young Peregrine Falcon attempted to catch a Belted Kingfisher,” she says. “I can’t wait to be back and hopefully have more amazing experiences like that one.”

Sarah Duff

Sarah is returning to Manomet from New Jersey for her fourth season as part of the banding crew. In between seasons at Manomet, she spent two years working with endangered Mariana crows in the Northern Mariana Islands. Sarah is looking forward to seeing all the beautiful spring warblers and getting to know the rest of her crew in the coming weeks. A longtime bird nerd and nature enthusiast, Sarah attributes her passion for ornithology to some birdy encounters as a child.

“One of my favorite and earliest memories of birds was seeing Sandhill Cranes in New Mexico when I was a kid,” she says. “I didn’t really know what birding was back then, just that I loved watching them soar overhead in huge circles and hearing their beautiful calls. Years later, when I first started bird banding in Alaska, I got to see them in their northern breeding range with tiny chicks alongside them. Migration is incredible!”

Tahira Mohyuddin

Tahira comes to Manomet for her first banding season from Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2019 and worked with Metro Nashville Parks, where she led birding hikes, created nature-based children’s programming, and assisted the local banding station with data entry. She has accumulated over 1,000 hours of wildlife rehabilitation experience, working primarily with songbirds. This is Tahira’s first banding internship, and she is excited to learn more about determining age and sex, overall identification, and sharpening her net extraction (retrieving birds from mist nets after they’ve been caught) skills. Though a banding newbie, Tahira has had her share of working with birds in the hand.

“My favorite birds are Chimney Swifts,” she says. “Out of all the species I have rehabbed over the years, baby chimney swifts were by far the most stressful. Since they are insectivores that feed while flying, providing nutrition to CHSW in captivity can be very hard, but I enjoyed the challenge of feeding and caring for them. Chimney swifts are also very beautiful and unique birds.”

Remember to follow the banding lab on Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date on all the latest captures and goings-on at Manomet’s Plymouth campus. You can also find weekly summaries written by the banding crew here, with new content posted at the beginning of every week through mid-June.

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