Date: 5/2/26 3:21 pm From: Olivia DeMarchi via groups.io <oliviademarchi7...> Subject: [NEBirds] Ash Hollow Banding Station Week 2 Summary
Ash Hollow Banding Station Week 2 (April 28-May 2) Summary
Greetings! The second week of banding at Ash Hollow proved to be more productive than the first with 84 newly banded birds and 8 recaptures. Spring has sprung in Western Nebraska and the birds have started coming through. One highlight from this week was several Spotted Towhee x Eastern Towhee hybrids. On first glance these birds appear very similar to Spotted Towhees, but on closer inspection they have the white at the base of their primary feathers of their close relative, the Eastern Towhee. So far, about half our captures seem to be pure Spotted and half hybrids. This part of the country is quite interesting because it's a hybridization and intergrade zone for many species. I expect we will at least observe many more hybrids and intergrades this spring, including Baltimore Oriole x Bullock's Oriole, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle x Audubon's) intergrades, and Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted x Red-shafted) intergrades.
Another highlight was 35 Swainson's Thrush captured on Saturday! This is a long-distance migrant, some of them wintering as far south as Argentina and breeding as far north as Alaska and the Yukon territory in Canada. It's safe to assume we will see many more Swainson's Thrush passing through Ash Hollow on their way north to their breeding grounds.
Lastly, we also captured two Northern-rough Winged Swallows on Thursday. This was very unexpected as they are usually flying high above our mist-nets, so I was very shocked to find them in one of our more open nets next to the field.
We are open to the public and encourage visitors to come check out bird banding Tuesday-Saturday sunrise to 6 hours after sunrise, weather permitting, until May 23rd. We are located at Ash Hollow State Historical Park off of highway 26 near Lewellen, NE. If coming north on highway 26, take a right onto Rd 42 following signs for the visitor center, then take the first left after crossing the stream. Ahead there is a picnic area with a small parking lot and a bathroom. The banding station is located in the grove of trees on the west edge of the parking lot. We hope to see you there!
Olivia DeMarchi
Bander, Ash Hollow
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
