Point LaBarbe, St. Ignace, MI
Night of October 21st, 2016
33 new Saw-whet owls and our very first Barred owl of the season were banded last night. It was the first Barred owl I have handled and definitely the largest bird I’ve held, how exciting! Barred owls and notoriously hard to age and sex so the one banded was aged as an after hatch year and its sex was indeterminable. Of the Saw-whets banded, 27 were female (16 hatch years, 1 second year, and 10 after second year birds), 3 were male (all hatch years), and the last 3 were unknowns (2 hatch years and 1 after second year). Our seasons total is now up to 432 Saw-whet owls, 4 Long-eared owls, and 1 Barred owl!
