Dan Mooney leads a group of student researchers and enthusiasts in bird research at the Bluebonnet Swamp each Sunday morning. Dan, a licensed Master Bander, spends five hours each Sunday catching birds in the area to document migratory patterns, bird demographics, health values, and recently blood samples to document mercury levels in the birds blood. The team's research on mercury levels has sparked the University of Oregon State to publish a full paper on findings that is expected later this year. This is what a research day looks like for the team.
Dan Mooney emphasized that the biggest priority of the team was to safely research the birds, and to treat them with care and respect.
The tools for the day include binoculars, a protocol booklet, scale, measurement tools, aluminum bands to place on the birds, and a sizing tool for the bands.
A mist net is used to gently capture the birds for research. When the birds fly into the net, which they cannot perceive, they are safely tangled until a researcher comes to pick it up.
Untangling the birds can be a tedious process, but they are never harmed.
The birds are placed in bags so they do not harm themselves while waiting to be documented. The bags are placed off of the ground as an added precaution.
VJ, a graduate student researcher, measures a newly captured brown thrasher for a band. The band number is used to keep tabs on the whereabouts of the birds. A universal database houses all of these numbers for researchers around the world to reference.
Flight feathers and newly grown feathers help age the bird, which is important in understanding migratory patterns and demographics of the area.
VJ spent about fifteen minuets with each bird examining the feathers. He is able to tell a lot about the birds by examining wear to the feathers and new growth of feathers.
This female North American Cardinal was a recapture. Dan Mooney examines the wear of the feathers to compare to what the condition of the bird was before.
Each bird examined has a unique personality. This female North American Cardinal is quite the handful, attempting to bite anyone that handles her.
Cardinals can generate a higher bite force than any other seed eating bird.
Dan Mooney inspects the feather wear of a North American Cardinal.
The team debates about how to document the wear pattern of this brown thrasher's feathers. There are very fine lines between classifications that are ultimately very important in the long run of determining living conditions for the birds.
Daniel, otherwise known as the vampire, draws blood from a male north american cardinal. The blood is then stored to be measured for mercury levels.
Daniel also inspects the general health of the birds, blowing the feathers to reveal the skin of the birds can tell the researches if the bird has any diseases and how well the bird has been eating.
Dan shows Alexis, an undergraduate research student, the difference between old and new feather growth.
Alexis is allowed to document a bird on her own for the first time.
This common grackle was surprisingly docile compared to the energetic cardinals. He was content to soak up attention even after his release.
This white eyed vireo is the catch of the day for Dan and the team. While not an extremely rare bird, he says it is always a treat to study and look at.
All in all the team examined and documented 33 birds from ten different species in their five hour day.
