Hey folks, this is Evan Buck, and I am excited to be back for a second spring with MSRW after a hiatus (I was the spring owl bander in 2022). This year we are running two raptor banding sites. It is a pilot year for the site where I am banding, on Little Traverse Conservancy land about 0.25 mi from the other blind.
Our first day of banding at this site was April 5th, and we caught 20 birds in the first week: 15 red-tailed hawks and five sharp-shinned hawks.
One of 15 red-tailed hawks captured at blind two during the first week of banding. This is a third year bird.
Most notably, we recaptured an adult female sharp-shinned hawk originally banded near Whitefish Point, Michigan on April 26th, 2020 as a second year (SY) bird, making it nearly five years old when recaptured.
Adult female sharp-shinned hawk recaptured this week, originally banded near Whitefish Point, Michigan in April 2020.
-Evan Buck
