The tiny Northern Saw-whet owl is migrating south right now and naturalists are tracking them as they pass through Vermont. On Outdoor Radio this week, we’ll visit a banding station in Montpelier to hear how these elusive birds are captured and banded.
Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies join a group of students at the North Branch Nature Center to witness the process, and a local bird watcher experiences the thrill of seeing a Saw-whet for the first time. Below are several resources to learn more about the owl and banding programs.
- You can see where the Saw-whet owl has been tracked across the country on the Dynamic Live range map on Vermont eBird, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life.
- The Annual phenology of Northern Saw-whet Owl sightings in Vermont is also on Vermont eBird.
- Project Owlnet lets naturalists across the country coordinate their efforts in studying the Saw-whet.
- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers this summary of the Saw-whet owl's behavior and habitat.
- You can learn how the Northbranch Nature Center in
Montpelier bands other birds as well.
Outdoor Radio is a monthly feature produced in collaboration with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies in Norwich Vermont. The program is made possible by the VPR Journalism Fund and by a grant to VCE from the Vermont Community Foundation.
The program is produced and edited by VPR's Chief Production Engineer, Chris Albertine.
Broadcast Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 7:50 a.m.
