Banded albatrosses

Some of the 135 Black-footed Albatrosses, off Newport, Oregon on 11 September 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Thirty miles off the Oregon coast Black-footed Albatrosses gather every summer to feed in the rich California Current. They come from far away across the sea. Far, far, away.

Many of the Black-footed Albatrosses off the coast of the Pacific NW come from remote islands such as Laysan, Midway, and the French Frigate Shoals.

It is approximately 2500 miles SW from the Pacific NW coast to Honolulu, Hawaii. From there it is another 560 miles NW to Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals. This coral atoll is the worn down top of an ancient volcano. The waves wear down the volcano until the top is under the water. Coral grows up to the surface, detritus and flotsam get caught in the shallows and an island is formed,... barely. Because the waves tear it down again.

But there, 3000 miles from the cold and rainy Pacific NW, on warm sandy beaches, Black-footed Albatrosses come ashore to breed in December and January. There they raise their single chick until May, then they strike out eastward to the continental shelf of western North America to feed in the cold, productive waters.

Map of Tern Island

More on Tern Island

Even out in the middle of nowhere, there are biologists working on these remote islands to catalog the endangered wildlife. Thus, many of the albatrosses we see off the Pacific NW in summer and fall had been banded as chicks many years before. These carry a metal US Fish & Wildlife band and a larger plastic band with easier to read larger numbers.

On an offshore birding boat trip this fall we found one such banded bird. It wore a numbered plastic leg band. One of our passengers was able to get a photograph of it and sent it to me. I reported the number to the Bird Banding Laboratory and received the thank you acknowledgement below.




Then, going through my own photos, I found I unknowingly took a picture of another albatross with a different band number on it. This, also, I turned in, but have not yet heard back. If I had turned in the number on the stamped aluminum band I would have gotten an answer directly from the US Fish & Wildlife Service. But the colored leg bands are only tracked by the research scientist. The researchers put both bands on, but the aluminum one is the official band, but harder to read. So, I haven't heard anything about the bird in the photo below, but expect it has the same story as that detailed in the acknowledgement above.

Black-footed Albatross with band A386, off Newport, Oregon on 11 September 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

To report a color-marked or birds banded with aluminum band (except domestic pigeons), record the number and report the number on : this web site.

Neck-collared swans

Tundra Swan T532, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on 24 February 2008 by Greg Gillson.

 

Two winters ago I captured this swan with my camera, marked with neck collar T532. As with the Canada Geese with neck collars from last week, I submitted the collar number, date, and location to the Bird Banding Laboratory at the USGS.

This week I received an email from Craig R. Ely at the Alaska Science Center, stating that the neck collar tracking program was still in progress. Four-hundred additional swans were fitted with neck collars this summer. These allow birds to be individually identified from a distance on land or in flight.

As with other marked or banded wild birds (except pigeons), all band or neck collar numbers should be submitted to the Bird Banding Laboratory. Observers who do so will receive a brief history of the bird they saw. If you see and report one of these birds you will be contributing to knowledge that helps understand and preserve these birds.

Additionally, 80 swans were fitted with radios in 2008 and their transmitters are still functioning. Their migration path can be tracked on the Alaska Science Center web site.

Dusky Canada Geese follow-up

It only has been two days since I saw and reported the red neck collar numbers of four Dusky Canada Geese I recorded at Jackson Bottom Wetlands in Hillsboro, Oregon. I received certificates of appreciation for reporting two of the geese. The certificate for 7JP is reproduced here.

Bird 7JP is a female, banded 5 August 2003 by Dr. Dirk Derksen and was at least one year old when banded. The banding location was 5 miles west of Alaganic, Alaska (see map).

The other goose, 84C is a male, banded 18 July 2005 and was at least one year old when banded. It was banded not too far from the other bird, 11 miles south of Cordova, Alaska, by Thomas Rothe.

Reporting neck collar numbers helps scientists figure out where these birds go and their survival rates. Notice that goose 7JP was banded 6 years ago and is at least 7 years old.


View Larger Map

Neck-collared Geese

Wednesday is Lunch with the birds time for me again at Jackson Bottom Wetlands. Today, highlights included a Bald Eagle chasing a Cackling Goose, a quick fly-by Merlin, and a flock of Dusky Canada Geese.

Dusky Canada Geese are not as big as the Western Canada Geese that are resident at the local ponds and raise their goslings here locally in the Pacific Northwest. But the Duskies are still about 2/3 larger than the Cackling Geese that are here by the thousands now.

Dusky Canada Geese are a dark-breasted population that nest on the Copper River delta in Alaska. The 1964 Alaska earth quake raised their swampy river delta 6 feet. Now Arctic Foxes and other predators could reach any nesting area that remained. Thus, the US Fish and Wildlife service set up 3 refuges for these birds in the 1970's in the Willamette Valley: Ankeny NWR, Finley NWR, and Baskett Slough NWR. Numbers of these geese have rebounded, but they are still not legal to hunt.

Several of the Dusky Canada Geese had red plastic neck collars with white numbers and letters written on them. [Cackling Geese have yellow neck collars; Western Canada Geese have blue or white neck collars.] I was able to make out the numbers on four birds, though they were quite distant, hidden behind the willows, it was a bit hazy today, and the eagle was stirring things up. Have I made enough excuses for the bad digiscoped photo to accompany this post?

You need a good spotting scope, and practice reading the stylized lettering, but finding flocks of geese or swans with neck collars and then submitting them can be quite fun. I filled out the web form for reporting the 4 neck collars (6NV, 7 JP, 7VF, 84C) at the bird banding laboratory on the USGS page.

In a few days I expect to hear back from the researcher working on these birds. I'll receive a thank you acknowledgement and learn something about where these birds were banded and how old they are. I'll write another post when I find out.