This Fall, the City of Mentor Banding Station continued migratory bird research and banding at the Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve.
The Lagoons serves as a crucial stopover area for migratory birds in Northeast Ohio as they migrate north each spring and south each fall. Every bird is captured and banded under a migratory banding permit from the United States Geological Survey. After receiving an aluminum band with a unique number sequence, biological measurements are taken, and the bird is safely released.
On September 30th, the Natural Resources Division banded one of the rarest species in North America, a Kirtland’s warbler. This record is only the eleventh migratory banding record of this species in the United States and first Fall banding record in the state of Ohio!
This species was just removed from the endangered species list several years ago and has made an incredible recovery. Overwintering in the Bahamas, the Kirtland’s Warbler migrates up to central Michigan and Wisconsin to breed in young jack pine stands. Their specific habitat requirements and nest-parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird resulted in sharp declines in the population in the 1960s and 70s. At one point, only 201 singing males were detected on the breeding grounds.
Significant research efforts and habitat management have allowed for the species to recover and in October of 2019, the Kirtland’s warbler was removed from the endangered species list.
Being able to band this individual is a not only once in a lifetime opportunity, but also reinforces the importance of conserving wildlife habitat for migratory species of birds, bats, and insects. Our city may seem small on an environmental scale but protecting critical habitats along the Lake Erie coastline is so important in preventing the decline of even the rarest species.
Learn more about birding in Mentor, Ohio.