Nuttall's weighing

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

D3 200f2 + TC17EII (340mm) 1/60 at f/5.6 ISO3200 -2/3EV slight crop, mixed light wb adjustments, light pp: tone, sharpness, nr

Nuttall's Woodpecker just about to be weighed and banded. They are put upside down inside a small cup (plugged pvc pipe sized for bird size) and quickly weighed.

From a great demonstration by the Ventana Wildlife Society of bird capture and banding at Big Sur, California (Andrew Molera State Park).

Thanks for looking/commenting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[denise ippolito]

Michael, I never saw this being done before.Does putting them upside down into the tube cause them any stress? or rather diid you notice if it caused them any stress?Just curious.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Michael, I never saw this being done before.Does putting them upside down into the tube cause them any stress? or rather diid you notice if it caused them any stress?Just curious.

Denise,

Greetings. The great thing about the whole process is it seemed to me that the birds experienced minimal stress. This one struggled a bit going into the tube (most did not) but once inside they don't move at all (not that it would have any effect). They are in the tube for maybe 10 seconds at most. The only instances during the whole process from being netted to being bagged for being carried back to the "lab" to being examined, banded and weighed then released, that I saw any outward agitation was in the removal from the nets to a bag (once in the bag they gave no sign of being agitated). Disentanglement from the net was a challenge in one case. What I saw didn't exceed 15 minutes of total captivity (though I would put the outside total captivity at perhaps 30 minutes, the net checking frequency). Pretty cool.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[denise ippolito]

Sounds like they take great care to make the process easier on them. Thanks for sharing.:)

[Arthur Morris]

Not exactly. Every bird that hits into a mist net shows bruises on the breast from impact. And any time that any living thing is stuffed into a tube it is stressed. There is a famous story from Cape May where a young researcher took two juvie Cooper's Hawks in a row out of their tennis ball cans in front of a big crowd. The first one was dead. And so was the second. The kid ran away crying.... Best for the image would have been to choose a better BKGR and to try and get the subject in the shade of a few bodies. Sharpest focus seems to be a bit past the bird's face on one of the more distant fingers.

[denise ippolito]

Artie, That sounds terrible. I can't believe that they would risk hurting these little creatures. Isn't there a more humane way to do this?

[Arthur Morris]

It's all in the name of science. You know what I love: if a bird looks at a photographer the photographer is a criminal.....

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Not exactly. Every bird that hits into a mist net shows bruises on the breast from impact. And any time that any living thing is stuffed into a tube it is stressed. There is a famous story from Cape May where a young researcher took two juvie Cooper's Hawks in a row out of their tennis ball cans in front of a big crowd. The first one was dead. And so was the second. The kid ran away crying.... Best for the image would have been to choose a better BKGR and to try and get the subject in the shade of a few bodies. Sharpest focus seems to be a bit past the bird's face on one of the more distant fingers.

Artie,

Greetings. My comments were more along the line of "no visible stress" or damage, of the dozen or so birds I saw. Of course, all of these birds were quite small (the nuttall's above was the largest)... perhaps, they were less impacted...

Shooting conditions were what they were (through a door, over a shoulder, 340mm at 1/60 handheld), but I agree with your assessment...

Thanks for commenting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Arthur Morris]

Cheers to you. And yes to no visible stress or damage. Else they wouldn't be having the demos :)