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My recaptures have really picked up in the last couple of days.

Yesterday, out of 19 doves banded, I recaptured 4 that I had banded previously.

The first two recaptures were in the same trap together. The female I banded on July 16, 2013. I caught her again last week.
The male I banded on July 7, 2011. Both were banded as after hatch year birds (AHY) which means they were at least a year old when banded. This means the 2011 bird was at least 4 years old.

I was pretty excited about the 2011 bird, but I've recaptured several birds in the past that I banded 3 years prior.

I checked my traps again a couple hours later and I had two more recaptures. Both were males banded as AHY birds. The first one I banded on August 21, 2010, and recaptured him on 7-25-13 before catching him the third time yesterday! A 5-year old bird! Then I looked up the second bird's number and I flipped so far back in my paperwork that I started over back at the front, thinking I had obviously overlooked it. Surely enough, I flipped back to 2009 and found where I banded him as an AHY on August 8, 2009! A 6-year old dove! I couldn't believe it. The research says 3 0f 10 juvies make it to adulthood, and 50% of adults die each year. Do the math.

I caught this one this morning. Banded as AHY on August 26, 2010. Out of 10 doves this morning, 3 were recaptures.


Y'all check your doves this fall. Your band info returns mean a lot to the biologists.

Awesome!

That is pretty specific. That seems like a fairly high percentage of birds returning to the same area.

Good stuff!

Blackduck wrote:That is pretty specific. That seems like a fairly high percentage of birds returning to the same area.

Rock salt!

Blackduck wrote:That is pretty specific. That seems like a fairly high percentage of birds returning to the same area.

They can't shoot worth a crap!!!!!!!!!!!
Good stuff

Rob, what does a dove trap look like? And how can you tell difference in the gender of a dove?
This is very interesting, thanks for sharing.

Dead

Why you lift his leg Dead!!

Deadeye wrote:Rob, what does a dove trap look like? And how can you tell difference in the gender of a dove?
This is very interesting, thanks for sharing.

Dead

1.


2. The male has a pinkish breast and face, the top of his head is gray/blue, and he has a little iridescent patch on the side of his neck.



The female is basically just dull brown.

Huh. Interesting stuff.


You hunt anywhere near your banding sites? You think they have left by seasons opener ? Why would so many birds be left over if there is hunting near?

I killed one last year on the last day of third season. It was a dove I'd banded 3 years ago. As of late 2012, I'd had 55 birds killed of the 900 or so I'd banded at that point. Most all returns were from Humphreys County. I might band 200-250 birds a year on a great year. 100-150 is more normal. Before I found my best spot, I was struggling to band 20 a year. I'm recapturing only 10-12 a year; maybe only 3 or 4 from any one year. So of all of the tens of thousands of doves in the area, only a fraction of the ones I've banded have been killed. I imagine most of the rest are dead from natural causes and the band will never be found.

I had one dove banded on 7-31-07, killed in Chiefland, Florida on 9-10-2009. (My only bird killed out of state that I know of.)
One I banded in August of 07 was killed in Madison County that September.
One I banded in August of 09 was killed in Washington County the following September.
One I banded in August of 10 was killed in Hinds County the following September.
Another I banded in August 10 was killed in Washington County in September 12.

Other Mississippi banded doves have been killed in AR, TN, MO, IL, AL, LA, KY, and MI.

Do they have any program that allows individuals to band them or would you have to have your own bands made and keep your own records?
Barq's

Barq's wrote:Do they have any program that allows individuals to band them or would you have to have your own bands made and keep your own records?
Barq's

No. All banding is regulated through the Bird Banding Lab and they are very strict about it.

Thx rob I enjoyed reading that

How long some of those birds live blows
me away

?? You think those birds u recapture migrate
Or hang around the greater humpyreys county area??

Not sure about the migrate part, Biggie.

I know we get migratory birds in the fall, but I assume most of these stay put. I just looked at a sheet of several hundred returns from birds banded all over the state, and only a few dozen were killed out of state.

I'll have to dig a little deeper and see what else I can find.