Fat Bird Week highlights long flight ahead

A slate-colored junco awaits release back into the forest after biologists at Creamer's Field Migration Station noted it was their 2,000th songbird capture of the season.

“Sometimes they just feel a little heavier in your hand,” said Snowden, program director for the Creamer’s Field Migration Station. Snowden works for the Alaska Songbird Institute, a Fairbanks nonprofit organization supported by local members and donors. Among those banding birds at the Creamer’s Field Migration Station this fall were, from left, intern Alex Pearce, volunteer bander Laurel Devaney, educator and outreach coordinator Georgia Houde, program director Robert Snowden, intern Sarah Kennedy, and seasonal bander Larissa Babicz.

in which people vote on their favorite rotund Katmai grizzly bear — inspired Snowden to initiate a Fat Bird Week on the migration station’s social media accounts.During the last few weeks, Snowden and his bird-capturing partners have featured slate-colored juncos who were among the heaviest they have ever captured at the station. Also featured were a few orange-crowned warblers “bulging with fat” and a fox sparrow so bulked up it was one of the heaviest ever recorded at the station. .

The bird banders rank each bird they capture for fat condition, with zero being almost none to seven being akin to the bear stuffed with the most Katmai salmon. How do they know that? Up to 90% of the juncos, warblers and thrushes captured at the mist-netting station are birds that hatched from eggs in the summer of 2023. That they know they are flying to Mexico or North Carolina despite never having landed there is one of nature’s great mysteries. But a new junco seems to know that late August and September is the time to gorge on all the insects and seeds it can find.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

A European-Inspired Spec Home in L.A.’s Coveted Bird Streets Neighborhood Lists for $78 MillionAmenities. VIDEO: ANTHONY BARCELO
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »

Fat Bear Week winner crowned in landslide victory: An ‘annual celebration’ of successThe winner of Fat Bear Week 2023 has been crowned. Grazer is a first-time champion who has successfully raised two litters of cubs; she is known for her aggressive behavior.
Source: FoxNews - 🏆 9. / 87 Read more »

Single mother 'thicker than a bowl of oatmeal' wins Alaska's Fat Bear WeekNatalie Kainz is a news associate for NBC News.
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »

Single mother ‘thicker than a bowl of oatmeal' wins Alaska's Fat Bear Week A dominant mother bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve has been crowned Fat Bear Week's queen of corpulence.
Source: NBCPhiladelphia - 🏆 569. / 51 Read more »

Jaguars vs. Colts: Two Takeaways from Week 1 Win and Titans’ Week 5 Loss to ColtsWhat can the Jaguars learn from the Colts' past wins and losses?
Source: startelegram - 🏆 248. / 63 Read more »

Friday Night Fever Week 8: Small School WeekThe Friday Night Fever crew provides coverage of high school football games in the Phoenix-metro area, including highlight-worthy moments, the scores and more.
Source: 12News - 🏆 586. / 51 Read more »