This week’s blog was written by Octavius, an Ursids alum. Octavius is an avid birder and photographer and is often found in the woods with his binoculars and camera documenting his findings. He regularly volunteers with an ornithologist who works for the National Aviary. Octavius plans to attend college with a focus on field biology.
One year ago, during the fall of 2023, I visited an owl banding operation in Sewickley Heights Borough Park in Western Pennsylvania. My dad and I read about Project Owlnet on the National Aviary website. We drove up on a Saturday night to visit and see what it was all about. I knew little about owl banding and Saw-whet Owls, so I had many questions. For over 12 years Bob Mulvihill has set out three times a week during Saw-whet Owls migration season to band them. He gives each owl an unique number to identify (ID) the individual, which is key for important research. Now, one year later, I am a volunteer with Project Owlnet.
Founded in 1994, Project Owlnet is a network of now over 120 independently run migratory banding stations following a standardized protocol to track the migratory movements of The Northern Saw-whet Owl! Bob Mulvihill works as the ornithologist for The National Aviary running one of these stations. Twelve years ago Bob started with only himself and one of his close friends as a volunteer. Before Bob, no one had done any research on the Northern Saw-whet Owl in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. In fact no one even knew if they migrated through the area. Bob wanted to find out if there were any Saw-whet Owls migrating through the greater Pittsburgh area. He and his friend stayed out at night in the cold waiting to see if they could catch an owl. After 11 days, they still had caught nothing.
Hope was low but Bob knew that because they had started the season they had to finish it. He and his friend both had accepted this and continued as planned. Little did they know that this would be the best decision they could have made. On the 12th night they did it! They caught the first of soon-to-be over 300 owls! They were more than ecstatic and continued ever since.
Fast forward to now. I joined Bob’s handful of volunteers and arrived on the first day of fall banding to be introduced to everyone I hadn’t met when I visited last year. Then he laid out the schedule. The three banding days each week this year were Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday as long as there wasn’t heavy rain, the winds were not too strong in the wrong direction, or if there wasn’t too much snow.
The process of banding owls is mostly the same across all of the Project Owlnet stations. Right before sunset, we set up mist nets. Mist nets are too thin for the owls to notice while flying around. Next, we set up a speaker that plays the Saw-whet Owl call to bait them in. We are not quite sure why the call attracts them. It seems especially remarkable that the calls make Saw-whet Owls interrupt their migration. After setting up the call, we then leave the nets and sit down at a picnic bench that is about a quarter of a mile from the nets to wait. We wait for 40-45 minutes before hiking up to go check the nets to check to see if we caught any owls.
When we catch an owl, we first have to extract the owl by gently removing it from the net. We then take the owl and lay it in a comfortable bag to then carry down to the picnic bench. At the bench we snugly fit a little band around their leg that has a set of numbers specific to the owl wearing it. This is what we use to ID them. At the bench we next take measurements including the tail and wing length. We then take its weight by putting it on a scale. We estimate the owl’s age by looking at the feather molt patterns on the wings. We can estimate if the owl was hatched this past spring, a year ago, or 2 years ago. After that can only tell that the owl is 3 years old or older from its feather molt patterns. Then we gather a few more data points like the fat, keel, flat wing length, capture time, and date.
We then release the owl. We turn off all the white lights. The only lights allowed are red lights because red light doesn’t affect the owl’s eyesight. Then we place that owl on someone’s arm and let go, allowing the owl to leave on its own terms. After the night is over, we take all the nets down and we all head home.
The fall 2024 season was the first time I had ever bird banded so everything was new for me to learn. One of the most important things I learned is how to handle the owl. The owl must be handled safely but also it’s important to make sure the owl is comfortable and not getting stressed. The fall Saw-whet Owl banding season lasted about eight weeks. It was a great experience that I would highly recommend for anyone interested in owls or even bird banding in general.
Although sad that the season ended, It makes me just that much more excited to continue volunteering this coming spring. You don’t need to be a volunteer to visit to see these cute creatures for yourself. Bring some friends and family along with you. If you want more information on how you can visit, or even volunteer, go to the website by clicking here.
The Cutest Predators
Posted: January 25, 2025 by Katie Mace
This week’s blog was written by Octavius, an Ursids alum. Octavius is an avid birder and photographer and is often found in the woods with his binoculars and camera documenting his findings. He regularly volunteers with an ornithologist who works for the National Aviary. Octavius plans to attend college with a focus on field biology.
One year ago, during the fall of 2023, I visited an owl banding operation in Sewickley Heights Borough Park in Western Pennsylvania. My dad and I read about Project Owlnet on the National Aviary website. We drove up on a Saturday night to visit and see what it was all about. I knew little about owl banding and Saw-whet Owls, so I had many questions. For over 12 years Bob Mulvihill has set out three times a week during Saw-whet Owls migration season to band them. He gives each owl an unique number to identify (ID) the individual, which is key for important research. Now, one year later, I am a volunteer with Project Owlnet.
Founded in 1994, Project Owlnet is a network of now over 120 independently run migratory banding stations following a standardized protocol to track the migratory movements of The Northern Saw-whet Owl! Bob Mulvihill works as the ornithologist for The National Aviary running one of these stations. Twelve years ago Bob started with only himself and one of his close friends as a volunteer. Before Bob, no one had done any research on the Northern Saw-whet Owl in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. In fact no one even knew if they migrated through the area. Bob wanted to find out if there were any Saw-whet Owls migrating through the greater Pittsburgh area. He and his friend stayed out at night in the cold waiting to see if they could catch an owl. After 11 days, they still had caught nothing.
Hope was low but Bob knew that because they had started the season they had to finish it. He and his friend both had accepted this and continued as planned. Little did they know that this would be the best decision they could have made. On the 12th night they did it! They caught the first of soon-to-be over 300 owls! They were more than ecstatic and continued ever since.
Fast forward to now. I joined Bob’s handful of volunteers and arrived on the first day of fall banding to be introduced to everyone I hadn’t met when I visited last year. Then he laid out the schedule. The three banding days each week this year were Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday as long as there wasn’t heavy rain, the winds were not too strong in the wrong direction, or if there wasn’t too much snow.
The process of banding owls is mostly the same across all of the Project Owlnet stations. Right before sunset, we set up mist nets. Mist nets are too thin for the owls to notice while flying around. Next, we set up a speaker that plays the Saw-whet Owl call to bait them in. We are not quite sure why the call attracts them. It seems especially remarkable that the calls make Saw-whet Owls interrupt their migration. After setting up the call, we then leave the nets and sit down at a picnic bench that is about a quarter of a mile from the nets to wait. We wait for 40-45 minutes before hiking up to go check the nets to check to see if we caught any owls.
When we catch an owl, we first have to extract the owl by gently removing it from the net. We then take the owl and lay it in a comfortable bag to then carry down to the picnic bench. At the bench we snugly fit a little band around their leg that has a set of numbers specific to the owl wearing it. This is what we use to ID them. At the bench we next take measurements including the tail and wing length. We then take its weight by putting it on a scale. We estimate the owl’s age by looking at the feather molt patterns on the wings. We can estimate if the owl was hatched this past spring, a year ago, or 2 years ago. After that can only tell that the owl is 3 years old or older from its feather molt patterns. Then we gather a few more data points like the fat, keel, flat wing length, capture time, and date.
We then release the owl. We turn off all the white lights. The only lights allowed are red lights because red light doesn’t affect the owl’s eyesight. Then we place that owl on someone’s arm and let go, allowing the owl to leave on its own terms. After the night is over, we take all the nets down and we all head home.
The fall 2024 season was the first time I had ever bird banded so everything was new for me to learn. One of the most important things I learned is how to handle the owl. The owl must be handled safely but also it’s important to make sure the owl is comfortable and not getting stressed. The fall Saw-whet Owl banding season lasted about eight weeks. It was a great experience that I would highly recommend for anyone interested in owls or even bird banding in general.
Although sad that the season ended, It makes me just that much more excited to continue volunteering this coming spring. You don’t need to be a volunteer to visit to see these cute creatures for yourself. Bring some friends and family along with you. If you want more information on how you can visit, or even volunteer, go to the website by clicking here.
Category: Youth Blog Tags: bird banding, featured, owl, volunteer