Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Spotted towhee in bander's grip
watched him, he had four dif erent mates and sired at least ten l edglings from
i ve successful nesting attempts. I banded one of his sons in 2007, but like
most young towhees, he was never seen again. Long life, it seemed, was one
pathway leading to sustainability of suburban bird populations.
To estimate the lifespan of a bird, we must catch, mark, and resight indi-
viduals. We do this by deploying i ne “mist” nets throughout an area, waiting
for l ying birds to bumble into them, as the old towhee had done. To increase
our capture rates we also lure territory owners into the net by playing an in-
truder's song. Intent on expelling the interloper, the defending adults l y toward
the speaker and sometimes into the net. Some birds become quite entangled,
so our i rst duty is to carefully remove each bird from the net and place it in a
 
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