We are all familiar with the bright and vivid warblers of
spring migration, their calls on the breeding grounds in summer, and their often
confusing fall plumages; but what about winter? Where do these birds go once
they pass through Ohio in the fall, and what are they doing before they return
in May?
As part of BSBO’s goal to connect our migration research on neotropical
migrants (e.g. warblers, vireos, tanagers) to a larger monitoring network and
promote conservation on breeding grounds, stopover habitat, and wintering grounds, a member of BSBO's research team is currently undertaking an exciting
opportunity in the rainforests of Costa Rica. With years of experience and as
one of BSBO’s premier bird banders, Julie Shieldcastle, in
cooperation with Costa Rica Bird Observatories, will be spending a month
between two monitoring stations as part of an ongoing study of land bird
populations in Costa Rica.
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| Julie Shieldcastle |
This is an amazing opportunity for BSBO's research team not only to work
with residential tropical birds, but also to share our own experience and
knowledge of operating a large-scale banding station (such as BSBO’s Navarre
Marsh Banding Station) and work with the neotropical migrants our team is all too
familiar with from our banding work during spring and fall migration in Ohio.
As much as we know about the needs of these birds during migration and the
breeding season in North America, there still remains a gap of knowledge and
communication concerning neo-tropical migrants on their wintering grounds in
Central and South America. As exciting and educational as this experience will
be for Julie and BSBO, it is also a step in bridging the two (very) different worlds of
these long-distance migrants.
Julie is currently at her first monitoring station in Tortuguero. Considered one of the best stopover locations for neo-tropical migrants, Tortuguero is located on the northeast coast of Costa Rica overlooking the Caribbean Sea and
surrounded by lowland rainforest, Julie will have the opportunity to work with
tropical birds such as manakins, seedeaters, hermits and other various
hummingbirds. So far she has handled Variable Seedeaters, White-collard
Manakins, Long-billed Hermits, and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds. But it seems
only fitting that the very first bird Julie caught while in Tortuguero was a species
she handles multiple times during migration and the breeding season in Ohio…
the Prothonotary Warbler. In her first few days she has already banded multiple
Porthonotarys as well as a Chestnut-sided Warbler and Summer Tanager.
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
Internet connection is sporadic, but we will continue
to post updates about Julie’s experience and share the birds that she is
working with. She will remain in Tortuguero
through this week, and then will head off to the cloud forests of Madre Selva in
the area of Cerro de la Muerte of the Talamanca Mountain Range.
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird |
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler |
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| Female White-collared Manakin |
