Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
at him and cut of his escape route, gently folding the soft net around him
and securing him in the “bander's grip.” I cradled his head between my in-
dex and middle i ngers while controlling his wings and feet by encircling
his body with my palm and other i ngers. His deep red eye peered at me from
his ebony head while his seed-cracking, conical bill tried in vain to split my
knuckles. My full attention was on his two legs. I hoped he was the bird I'd
seen here throughout the year and suspected to be the long-standing territo-
rial male. The left leg sported two plastic rings: one olive, one powder blue. On
the right was a dull aluminum one. Gone was a plastic band that should have
been seated above the metal one. Its loss had prevented me from a dei nitive
identii cation, but etched in the aluminum was a unique number that could
solve my mystery. The etching was faint: 842-29538. Yes! This was the old
male I had suspected. Apparently, his black-and-white-striped band had bro-
ken of during the past winter. I replaced it, upgraded his other bracelets,
weighed and measured him, and let him go back to the business of being a
towhee. He'd have a big year ahead; as the summer wore on I noted he had a
new mate and successfully l edged two broods.
Though weighing less that a few spare coins and i nding food by scratch-
ing among the fallen leaves for bugs and grains throughout the year in drizzly
Seattle, the towhee I just released was at least seven years old. When I i rst
captured and banded him i ve years before, he was in adult plumage, so at
least two years old. At that time he lived on the edge of the forest. Now that
forest was a series of wooded alleys and walking trails interspersed among
busy streets, barking dogs, and the general hub-bub that goes along with a
new i fty-home subdivision. Although his world changed, the towhee stayed
and reigned as avian king of this patch of Earth. I would enjoy seeing him
continue to do so for another two years, i nally disappearing at the age of nine
or more years. When he vanished, probably dying, as do all old animals, he
would be as old as any other bird in our study. During the seven seasons I
 
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