Bird Banding in the High Desert of California
My students and I have been maintaining a bird banding station at the Burn=s Piņon Ridge Reserve, part of the University of California=s Natural Reserve System . The Burn=s Reserve is located in San Bernardino County in the high desert region north of Joshua Tree National Park and just north of the town of Yucca Valley (34d08m20s N, 116d27m10s W). The elevation is about 1300 m (4000'), and the terrain is similar to Joshua Tree National Park with piles of boulders.
The Reserve is located in the Morongo Basin on the western edge of the Mohave Desert. To the west are the slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains. The vegetation is an unique mixture of several plant communities. There is a small patch of Joshua Tree woodland where most of the banding occurs. There is Pinon-Juniper woodland, a chaparral component with manzanita, mountain mahogany, and California buckwheat, and desert scrub consisting of black brush, mormon tea, desert almond, and bitter brush.
We began banding in 1989 under my Master bander, Norm Hogg, but a consistent protocol did not develop until 1992. At this time we situated 10 semi-permanent mist net lanes and built a small artificial pond to attract birds, which is bordered by two of the net. We began visiting this site each spring on the last weekend of April and again in the fall, usually in the latter part of October. In 1994, we additionally began to bring our field classes during spring break. Spring break varies on our campus (Santa Monica College), but generally falls around Easter. All of the above banding is conducted with the help of our students under the supervision of licensed banders (initially Norm Hogg, now myself as the Master Bander, and subpermittees, Giar-Ann Kung and Jim Serikawa).
Some additional banding is done with a small number of nets on occasion. Some additional nets are sometimes used. Students conduct individual or group research projects during our week long spring break trip, so some additional mist-nets are used. During one spring, students tested the effectiveness of different color nets, and during another spring, a mist net was placed near an artificial pond and feeder (bird seeds) near the caretaker=s house. Potter traps and Dho Ghaza traps are occasionally set up, mostly for demonstration. We have set up nets to catch owls with audiolures. Recently, a student experiment testing the efficacy of mist nets of different heights was conducted.
Typically, we band from dawn/sunrise for 4-5 hours, close nets during the late morning and early afternoon, reopen nets later in the afternoon for 4-5 hours until sunset/dusk. Of course, timing is a function of the weather conditions.
Results: Thus far, we have had 2504 encounters (1989-2006) which includes birds banded, recoveries, escapes, and birds released unbanded (hummingbirds and quails). The raw data in tabular form is presented below (click) This includes a total of 78 species. The numerically dominant bird is the Gambel=s White-crowned Sparrow, which accounts for 25.83% of our encounters. House Finches are also abundant. Annual Banding totals are on the link below.
The spring break 2007 banding results are now posted. It was an extreme poor year for birds, as this part of the desert received essentially no rain this past winter. As an example, we only caught five Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows, when 50 would have been considered an average year. The Reserve was devoid of spring annual wildflowers, with only a few perennials flowering. Yet we added two new birds to the Reserve, a Verdin and a Willow Flycatcher. This was because we decided to band down by the spring, where there is still some surface water. The Verdin is expected there, as the area around the spring is warmer and has more typical "low desert" vegetation. The Willow Flycatcher is a migrant.
Both 2001 and 2002 have been extremely low years for banding birds. Although we have maintained the same effort, we have encountered about 33% of prior years. We have had an extensive drought over the last few years. For example, almost no wildflowers were out in the spring of 2002. HOWEVER, one interesting recovery for 2002 was a banded Bushtit. It was originally banded on 14 April 1994 as an adult (AHY) male. It was recaptured several times in subsequent years but was recaptured in 2002 on 12 April 2002. This makes this bird at least eight years old. AHY birds are arbitrarily (and conservatively) listed as hatching in June of the previous year. Thus, this Bushtit was at least eight years, 10 months old. Based on the longevity records for each bird posted on the Bird Banding Laboratory website, this beats the current record by five months.
While banding birds, we try to maintain a list of birds heard or observed. I will add to this list going through my field notes. Probably because of the diversity of habitat or at least because of the diversity of habitats in the vicinity, there are three species of quails. California, Gambel's and Mountain quails seem to be present, at least in the spring. Similarly, three species of towhees, California, Spotted, and Green-tailed, have been banded here. Other birds observed in no particular order include Great-horned Owl, Western Screech-owl, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Golden Eagle, Greater Roadrunner, Western Kingbird, White-throated Swift, and Prairie Falcon. White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, and unidentified Gulls (probably Western) migrating to and from the Salton Sea to the south have been seen flying over.
Amphibians and Reptiles of
Burns Pinon Ridge Reserve
Mammals of Burns Pinon Ridge
Reserve
Annual Bird Banding totals at Burns Pinon Ridge
Reserve
Plants of the Burns Pinon Ridge Reserve
Last updated: 06 May 2007