Species: Western Tanager
Most recent capture date: 9/1/2021
Age: less than six months old

Notes: A species we usually only get at CCFS every 5-10 years suddenly showed up in force this year, with three first-year birds caught in two days! Big birds with big, notched bills, even the young ones are startlingly bright yellow. I hope they return in a few years so we can admire them in their glorious adult plumage.

Species: House Finch
Most recent capture date: 8/29/2021
Sex: Male
Age: less than five months old

Notes: This mostly-brown bird was just starting to molt in new, red-orange plumage, indicating that he is a young male.

Species: White-breasted Nuthatch
Most recent capture date: 8/29/2021
​Earliest capture date: 11/04/2018
Sex: Female
Age: at least 3 years old

Species: Black-headed Grosbeak
Most recent capture date: 8/29/2021
Age: less than five months old

Notes: Pink stains on the bill show that this young fellow has been enjoying berries.

Species: California Towhee
Most recent capture date: 8/29/2021
Age: less than five months old

​Notes: If you look closely you can see the cinnamon wing bars that mark this bird as a juvenile.

Species: Cooper’s Hawk
Most recent capture date: 8/11/2021
Sex: Female
Age: less than six months old

Notes: Did I say that we rarely catch raptors? We were astonished to catch the Red-shouldered Hawk and this Cooper’s Hawk in the same week! We have Cooper’s Hawks breeding at CCFS, so this young bird may well have hatched at CCFS. We could tell that she was female based on her size: female raptors are larger than males.

ingSpecies: California Scrub Jay
Most recent capture date: 8/11/2021
Age: less than five months old

Notes: Some birds bite. Scrub Jays hold on, hard, with their very sharp claws digging into your hand, impressing upon you that your scientific inquiries are very much not appreciated.

Species: Red-shouldered Hawk
Most recent capture date: 8/8/2021
Age: At least one year old

Notes: It is very unusual for us to capture raptors, especially large ones. We last caught a Red-shouldered Hawk at CCFS in 2009. We are prepared for raptors, but their rarity means we need to refresh our memories on the details whenever we catch them. In this photo you can see one of our staff, Dan, looking up information on the species to make sure he doesn’t forget to take any useful measurements.

Species: Orange-crowned Warbler
Most recent capture date: 8/1/2021
Age: less than four months old

Species: House Finch
Most recent capture date: 7/25/2021
Age: Less than four months old

Notes: House Finches were once marketed as pets called “Hollywood Finches”. The release of some of these captive birds on the east coast led to their introduction there. (They are native to the west coast, but not the east coast.) They are not legal as pets now, but they will be happy to frequent your birdfeeder. Because they are highly social, House Finches are prone to disease, so if you do feed birds be sure to clean and disinfect your feeder regularly to protect them from illness. This young bird (note the yellow gape at the corner of the mouth) will be grateful.