Tools for the Field

It takes a bit of organization and a couple sturdy bags to go out in the field for bird banding.

Here's a photo rundown of all the tools and equipment I use:

We keep the mist nets in these very high tech and fancy plastic bags. (hah)

Not pictured are the net poles, which come in two pieces. One thicker pole serves as the base and is cinched at the end that gets hammered (or rather malletted) into the ground. A thinner pole rests on top allowing the net to be raised about 3 meters high.

The stakes and parachute cord stabilize the poles and ensure the net is taught.

The Nuttall's white-crowned sparrow playlist gets set to repeat and placed with the speaker under the middle of the net. The males are usually pretty responsive and are caught within 5 minutes or less.

My phone multitasks as a camera and GPS unit as well. A very useful device. 

I found moody dinosaur sheets at a thrift store to make these great bird bags. After a bird is removed from the mist net he gets placed into these bags before processing to keep him calm.

Once I catch a bird these two kits come into play. I've co-opted a couple luggage travel kits to keep everything organized.

Before taking the bird out of the bag, I get out my datasheet. I look up the list of color combos and pick one for the bird. Each code will always include a USGS silver band.

The first thing I do during processing is band the bird. The USGS silver band gets applied first. Each one of these has a unique number on it. The pin on the banding pliers is used to open the band and the nose of the pliers is used to close the band around the bird's leg. The small silver applicator is used to stretch out and apply the plastic color bands.

These tools are pretty self-explanatory. The calipers are the most precise and are used for leg and beak measurements. 

Once the morphological measurements are complete, I move on to bleeding.

Before bleeding I make sure each of these items are easily accessible. The less you have to deal with while handling a bird the better. I unwrap the needle, take out an individual capillary tube, and lay out two clean slides. 

I extend the bird's wing out and wet the feathers with an alcohol prep pad to get clear access to the vein. After a quick prick with the needle, I fill about 2/3 of the capillary tube with blood. Then I immediately place a cotton ball on the cut and tuck the bird's wing back in to apply pressure. Before the blood coagulates, I quickly drop one small drop on each of the two slides and use a third slide to make a smear. 

I then blow the remaining blood from the capillary tube into lysis buffer. This stabilizes the blood and preps it for DNA processing. Each slide and buffer tube is labeled with a unique ID that ties back to my datasheet. 

While the bird is in "recovery" with the cotton ball tucked under his wing, I take pictures of the side and top of his head for later reference. Nuttall's white-crowned sparrows can be aged based on their crown plumage, which is brown as a juvenile and turns black as they mature.

This is "S/KOY". You can see that he's growing in his black crown but that he's still got a bit of brown lingering. I write down the image numbers in the notes section so they can be connected back with the correct individual.

These last two items are essential when working with birds. The hot box is for "just-in-case" situations when a bird is too stressed or cold to fly away. The bird is placed back into the cloth bag and the whole bag is put into the hot box with an activated hand warmer. The combination of heat and darkness helps the bird regain his strength and after a few minutes he's able to fly strongly away.

Hand sanitizer is useful (birds really like to poop on you) and essential when a bird is infected with a contagious agent. 

For example this bird, "KMM/S", had a little growth on his beak. I suspect he is infected with avian pox, which is indicated by growths like this on the beak and feet. I sanitized my hands and all the banding tools that touched this guy before moving on to the next bird. 

Some of these supplies belong to my lab but many of them I have been able to buy thanks to generous donations from blog readers. I want to send out a special thank you to anyone who has donated! Thank you for helping me carry out this important research and being a part of my master's journey. 

Thank you also to everyone who reads this little blog. I love working with these birds and hope you are enjoying reading about them!

Until next time.