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Massachusetts Banding Schemes:
2004-2006:
Yellow band on upper leg with 2 Black engraved letters/numbers
2003:
Colors used: Red, Yellow, Light Blue, Black
Adult Birds:
Upper Left: Large Yellow band engraved with a Black letter (A or B)
Lower Left: One color band
Upper Right: Black band
Lower Right: One color band over USFWS band
Juvenile Birds:
Upper Left: Black band
Lower Left: One color band over USFWS band
Upper Right: Large Yellow band engraved with a Black letter (A or B)
Lower Right: One color band
Note: In 2003 some birds were outfitted with black radio transmitters attached to the large yellow color bands. These radios should fall off by summer 2004.
Participants:
Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge
Manomet Center for Conservation Science
North Carolina State University, USGS co-op unit
College of Staten Island
Contacts:
Monica Williams - Refuge Biologist, Monomoy NWR
Stephen Brown - Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
Shiloh Schulte - Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University
Sean Murphy - Biology Department, College of Staten Island
Current Research:
Breeding distribution, productivity, and movement of the American Oystercatcher on Tuckernuck and Muskeget Islands
Sean Murphy and Richard Veit
College of Staten Island/CUNY
Dispersal is a crucial ecological process that drives such processes as range expansion and colonization. Since the early 1900’s the breeding range of the American Oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus, has expanded north along the Atlantic coast. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, oystercatchers observed north of Virginia were uncommon, but since the 1970’s the species has assumed a prominent role as a nesting shorebird along the Atlantic coast including Nantucket Island and the surrounding islands.
We examined the productivity and movement of a population of oystercatchers during the 2005 breeding season on Tuckernuck Island and Muskeget Island in Massachusetts, USA. Of the 14 pairs of adult oystercatchers, nine pairs nested, and two pairs fledged young. The productivity was 0.22 young fledged per nesting pair. Adult oystercatchers of the local population were individually marked using a coded color band and observed to delineate feeding and territory ranges during the breeding season. Movements during the breeding season and persistence of oystercatchers at nesting grounds were recorded for marked individuals. Most of the banded oystercatchers without fledged young left the island between 12 July and 10 August to join a staging population on Monomoy Island, MA. Auxiliary markings provided new information about the persistence at nesting grounds and have the potential to provide information about the degree of breeding site faithfulness and the dynamics of a migrating population.
Productivity and Color-Banding of American Oystercatchers
on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge
Shiloh Schulte, Stephen Brown, and Monica Williams
North Carolina State University,
The Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences,
Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge
The summer of 2003 was the first season of intensive monitoring of American Oystercatchers in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. We monitored nesting success for all breeding oystercatchers on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Objectives for this work included documenting the productivity and sources of nest and chick loss for a northeast breeding population of American oystercatchers.
The project was a cooperative effort between Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the Manomet Center for Conservation Science, and was initially funded through the USGS Quick Response Program and the QLF Sounds Conservancy Program.
A color-banding and radio telemetry effort was initiated inititated in 2003 with sixteen birds color-banded and twelve radio tagged. to date, 46 oystercatchers have been banded on this project. Objectives for the banding study included documenting dispersal, migration, survival, and recruitment for a population of oystercatchers in the Northeast US.
Presentation given at the 2003 AMOY working group meeting (5mb)
Banding database:
The linked Excel file contains a current list of color band combinations and re-sightings for birds banded in Massachusetts. If you see a banded oystercatcher please report it here. Banding data were provided by Monomoy NWR, the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, and the College of Staten Island. This dataset should not be published or distributed without permission. For more information contact Shiloh Schulte, Sean Murphy, or Monica Williams
Massachusetts banding records (xls)
The map below shows the locations of re-sightings of color-banded American oystercatchers in Massachusetts. Click on a location to enlarge.
