Fall Migration Station 2024 Wrap-up

The Bird Banding Lab at USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center recently wrapped up the 41st banding season at the fall migration monitoring station on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Patuxent Research Refuge. Operating since 1979, this station monitors migrating land birds that use the refuge to rest and refuel. The team, consisting of USGS staff and volunteers, operated the station for a total of 42 days, mid-August through mid-November 2024. This season 1,366 new birds were banded and 320 previously banded birds were recaptured, representing 70 species.  

Following the 2023 season’s record number of bandings (2,393), the 2024 season produced a surprisingly low total count of new bandings. The count in 2024 represented the second lowest count of new bandings since the station’s inception, with fewer bandings occurring only in 2016. Factors such as breeding success and weather may play a role in the total number of captures each season, and warm weather conditions during the early half of the 2024 season may have produced favorable migration conditions, resulting in fewer individuals stopping in the area to refuel.    

Species highlights from 2024  

Despite the low numbers, the station still documented a good amount of species diversity in 2024. See the complete species list of newly banded birds below! 

Some highlights include:  

• The first Blue Grosbeaks since 2014. A group of three Hatch Year individuals were caught together in the net.  
• The first Prairie Warbler since 2019.  
• Several Nashville Warblers, Hooded Warblers, and Wilson’s Warblers.   
• An Eastern White-crowned Sparrow and two Brown Creepers.  

Additionally, this year was the first year since 2015 that a hummingbird bander was consistently present at the station. Hummingbird banding requires a special permit, training, and knowledge to work with such small birds and bands. A total of 21 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were captured in the mist nets this year! In the past, there was also some effort to passively monitor and, when a hummingbird bander was available, band hummingbirds that utilized the habitat during fall migration. Between 2013 and 2016, 51 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were banded at the migration station. BBL staff plan to officially incorporate hummingbird banding into the station’s long-term dataset to better understand how these pollinators utilize the landscape and provide a comparison to the passerine/near-passerine data collected. 

Community outreach 

Utilizing the new banding station setup installed in 2023, the Fall Migration Station team hosted a handful of groups, highlighting the value of migration bird banding at Patuxent Research Refuge. Each group got an up-close look at local bird species and the bird banding process and came away with a better understanding of bird banding’s benefits to science, conservation, and management. These visits also help cement the North American Bird Banding Program’s status as a premier integrated scientific program. 

The following groups visited the banding station this fall: 

• The Friends of Patuxent, saw how their donated funds for the construction of the new pavilion and shed were utilized to expand the Migration Station’s efforts.
• Several members from the Maryland Department of Education. 
• The U.S. Geological Survey Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program fellows. 
• Over 40 students and wildlife professionals, who visited Patuxent Research Refuge as a field trip which was part of The Wildlife Society’s annual conference in Baltimore, MD. The event included a presentation at the Fall Migration Station. 

The station also saw an increase in the number of volunteers able to assist with the project, thanks to the new station’s expanded space.