WILD GEORGIA: Jekyll Island is a haven for songbirds
By Charles Seabrook
For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Standing at the bird-banding station on Jekyll Island’s southern tip, Jan Pitman of Buford delicately held a young, newly banded ovenbird (a warbler species).
Then she loosened her gentle grip. In the wink of an eye, the little olive-colored songbird darted out across the scrub and dunes —- free to continue its fall journey south to Mexico, the West Indies or wherever it’s going for the winter.
“I’ve done this thousands of times, and I’m still in awe of these little creatures,” Jan said.
For the past eight years, she, her husband, Chris, and Charles Ratliff of Athens have devoted three weeks of each fall —- and taken time off from work —- to band songbirds on Jekyll. Most of the birds are migratory species coming down the Atlantic flyway, headed south to winter homes in the Caribbean or Central and South America.
I spent a recent morning with the Pitmans and Ratliff while they banded more than three dozen songbirds near Jekyll’s South Beach. Many of the birds were “hatch birds,” fledged during the spring and now migrating south for the first time. A few others —- such as cardinals and gray catbirds —- were birds that live in Georgia year-round.
Some other species banded while I was there included painted bunting, common yellowthroat, northern water thrush, red-eyed vireo, veery, yellow breasted chat and yellow, western palm, prairie, black-throated blue and black-and-white warblers.
Jekyll’s bird-banding station was first set up in 1978 by Don and Doris Cohrs. The Pitmans began helping them in 1991. When the Cohrses retired in 2000, the Pitmans and Ratliff volunteered to continue the banding.
To run the program, Chris Pitman first had to obtain a master bird-banding permit from the federal government.
“It was very important to continue the program because of the need for long-term data,” Chris said. The Cohrses, he noted, amassed more than 20 years worth of information. (Don Cohrs died in April 2007).
Now, the Jekyll Island Banding Station is Georgia’s oldest continuous operating banding station. Nearly all of its funding is from donations. The birds are captured in 14 “mist nets” made of a fine mesh. After being removed from the nets (a delicate procedure done only by trained volunteers), they’re taken to the station where their age, weight, fat content, gender, wingspan and other measurements are made.
Then, a tiny aluminum band is attached to one of the bird’s legs. Each band contains a unique number to identify the bird. Then the bird is released.
“It’s hard work, but we do it for the birds,” Jan said. “We love it.”
Bird banding, she noted, is one of the most effective methods of studying the biology, ecology, behavior, movement, breeding, productivity and population demographics of birds. The more than 30 years of data collected at Jekyll, for instance, show that the island is an important refueling and resting area for migrating birds —- a significant revelation in light of pressures to develop the island.
There’s also an important education component: School groups and others often visit the station to learn about bird migration, banding and conservation. Jan often lets visitors listen to the heartbeats of the tiny birds. “When you hear their tiny hearts, you gain a connection with the little creatures,” she said.
