Waterfowl bands allow movements to be tracked
HORICON - Horicon Marsh teems with life on late summer evenings.
Last Monday, green and bull frogs called from the shallows, a myriad of dragonfly and damselfly species hovered above the cattails and northern rough-winged swallows swooped over the calm water.
And on a grassy shore on the marsh’s eastern side, two dozen humans hunched and scurried with a special task.
“Adult male woodie,” called out Paul Samerdyke, wildlife biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Wendy Meier, a DNR naturalist, recorded the information and as well as a serial number on an aluminum band.
Samerdyke crimped the metal around the wood duck’s lower left leg and checked for proper, loose fit.
Then it came time to exchange the precious cargo.
“Who’s ready to release a bird?” Samerdyke said to a group of 20 volunteers.
Amelia McKillip, 10, of New Berlin stepped forward.
Samerdyke guided McKillip in the correct way to gently but securely hold the duck’s wings against its body, then made the handoff.
McKillip and her godfather, Brandon Sowinski, 27, of Muskego, walked the bird a few yards toward the edge of the water. Then with a quick, subtle lift, McKillip let the bird go.
The woodie jumped from her hands and swiftly flapped into the distance.
There may well be no more instinctive human action than the release of a bird.
It was McKillip’s first time; she handled it like an experienced waterfowl researcher.
She and other volunteers, including about a dozen other youth, would release 25 ducks over the next 20 minutes.
The gathering was part of the 2018 duck banding effort conducted by the DNR at Horicon.
The DNR staff, which on Monday also included wildlife technicians Jeff Bahls, Chris Cole and Kyle Lazotte, receives a welcome assist from volunteers.
The work at Horicon takes place from June through August, and targets Canada geese, mourning doves and ducks.
It’s the latest chapter in an 80-year history of banding research at the sprawling wetland, and part of a world-wide effort to study and manage migratory birds.
The work in America is overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at its Bird Banding Laboratory in Maryland.
Managing a complex and mobile resource requires information on breeding and wintering distribution, behavior, migratory routes, survival and reproduction, according to the federal agency.
Until unique markings were placed on birds, wildlife researchers and others didn’t know how far, when and where various species traveled.
The first record of bird banding occurred in 1595, when a peregrine falcon owned by Henry IV of France flew off after a hawk and turned up 1,350 miles away.
John James Audubon is credited with the first bird banding in North America - he placed silver cord on a brood of phoebes in 1803.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has more than 70 million banding records on file, with most since the 1960s but some dating to 1914.
Any state that offers a hunting season for a migratory species must participate in banding.
About 200,000 ducks are banded annually in North America, and 90,000 bands are reported. The band returns are important for wildlife managers as they study harvest and survival rates and develop waterfowl hunting regulations.
As the saying goes, “many hands make light work.”
Last Monday evening at Horicon, the banding was focused on wood ducks and mallards. The Horicon goal for this year is to band 200 woodies and 400 mallards.
A tennis-court sized grassy area was baited with corn to attract the birds. Working from a nearby blind, Samerdyke and Lazotte triggered a charge that tossed a net over the ducks.
At the “boom,” a caravan of DNR crew and volunteers descended on the site to process the birds. The goal, Samerdyke said, was to handle the ducks quickly and carefully to minimize stress and prevent injury.
The DNR staff never knows if they will capture four or 400 ducks in an attempt.
Having a large group of volunteers is helpful to process the birds.
Josh Herring of Theresa brought his 7-year-old daughter, Isabelle.
It was her first time handling a wild duck, too.
Sporting a Green Bay Packers shirt, Isabelle Herring released several birds as effortlessly and successfully as Aaron Rodgers gives flight to a spiral.
Not all of the volunteers are firsttimers, however.
Dick Kovatch, 79, of Hartford has been assisting the DNR at Horicon for 10 years.
He’s trusted with any task at the bandings, Samerdyke said.
Last Monday, Kovatch sat in a line with DNR staff and called out I.D.’s of the birds.
“I try to make all of them,” Kovatch said of the banding outings. “I enjoy it and I feel it’s important to pitch in, too.”
After the last of the ducks was banded and released, Samerdyke climbed on the tailgate of a pickup and addressed the group.
"On behalf of the department, I want to thank you all for helping us tonight," Samerdyke said. "You are now part of the long history of banding at Horicon, and data from the birds you released tonight will help ensure sound management for the future."
The final step of the process requires input from hunters, birders or others to report the bands.
The federal program maintains an online site of www.reportband.gov and a toll-free number of (800) 327BAND to report a banded bird.
Those who call in a band can receive a report of the bird's history, including where and when it was banded and observed previously.
"These little bands tell a pretty big story," Kovatch said.
Migratory bird hunting reminders: With the 2018 migratory bird hunting seasons on the near horizon, hunters are reminded to purchase their Federal Duck Stamp and to register with the federal Harvest Information Program (HIP).
HIP registration is free and can be done at the time hunters purchase their licenses.
Wisconsin hunters can register through their Go Wild account at at GoWild.WI.gov.