Band Recoveries

Guatemala and the Beaverhill Bird Observatory:
another Least Flycatcher band recovery (1997)
- Jason Duxbury

For the second time, the Beaverhill Bird Observatory (BBO) has established a link between Central America and Alberta. A dead Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) was turned over to a government employee north-west of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, near the border of Chiapas, Mexico . The location is situated in the Sierra Madres Mountains, south-west of the Sierra Los Cuchumatanes range. The flycatcher's known journey started at the BBO banding station which is situated in the Beaverhill Lake Natural Area, 60km east of Edmonton. The bird was banded on July 19, 1993 by Josh Bilyk and myself and was subsequently reported on October 9, 1996. The discovery of a bird that only weighed 10.8g and the recovery of a band that is only 5mm wide is a rare occurrence, as only one bird banded out of a thousand are ever recovered (Jungkind 1990). Fortunately, the band was given to someone who knew that the band and the location of the recovery must be reported.

The first recovery of a Least Flycatcher banded at the Beaverhill Lake and found in Guatemala occurred in 1991. This bird was banded by Jim Lange and Petra (Stubbs) Rowell on August 13, 1989. This time, the bird had been shot by a boy with his slingshot near Chiquimula, close to the Honduras border. An American Peace Corps volunteer, who reported the band, helped start relationships with local conservation groups that allowed BBO personnel to travel to Guatemala and survey birds from 1993 to 1995. The results of those surveys will rewrite outdated range maps and document new records for both migrant and resident birds (Dowell et al. unpublished data 1994). All this due to a tiny bird that flew over 4500km after being banded at the BBO.

In Canada, the Least Flycatcher is the smallest representative of the genus Empidonax. They are known to breed from coast to coast and from the Yukon Territory south to Georgia (Briskie 1994). They are known to winter in central Mexico and can reach as far south to Panama (American Ornithological Union 1975, Briskie 1994). What makes the BBO least flycatcher band recoveries more significant is that the latest falls outside of the winter range given by Briskie (1994). The range should now be expanded to include north western Guatemala.

The recovery of the second least flycatcher adds to the growing list of birds banded at the BBO which are subsequently found elsewhere (see table below). The most notable recoveries are of a Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) found in California, a Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) found in Minnesota, a Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata) found in Georgia, and a Mourning Warbler (Orporonis philadelphia) recovered in Manitoba only 11 days after it was banded.

Such recoveries provide information about the migration routes and life spans of birds found in central Alberta. For instance, Marbled Godwits winter on both the western and eastern coasts of the United States. Our recovery demonstrates that at least one (and probably more) Marbled Godwits breeding in central Alberta must cross the Rocky Mountains to reach their wintering grounds. With the recovery of the last band, we may now have found another piece of the puzzle, a migration route which is used by Least Flycatcher and possibly other birds. Although the bird was recovered in a location where the Sierra Los Cuchumatanes mountains block the way to the Gulf of Mexico, the location is near the Selegua River which eventually drains into the Gulf of Mexico. Birds following the gulf coast of Mexico or travelling across the gulf would have the option of following this river system, entering Central America without crossing any mountain ranges. The efforts of the BBO may have found a what could be a significant route for migrating neotopical birds. Such additions to our general knowledge of certain bird species make banding 3000-4000 birds a year seem worth while. They also intensify the desire to get back to Guatemala and find more of our Beaverhill Bird Observatory birds!

Beaverhill Bird Observatory Band Recoveries:

Literature Cited:
America Ornithological Union. 1975. Check-list of North American Birds, 5th Edition. Port City Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.

Briskie, J.V. 1994. Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus). In The Birds of North America, No. 99 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Science; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.

Dowell, B.A., G.L. Holroyd, C.S. Robbins. Bird habitat survey of Cerro San Gil and Polochic Delta, Guatemala. Technical Report, United States Biological Survey, Maryland.

Jungkind, S. 1990. Beaverhill Bird Observatory Ten Year Summary Report (1980-89). Beaverhill Bird Observatory.