CAPE MAY RAPTOR BANDING PROJECT, INC.
Compiled and edited by Mitch Harris and Gene Biglin
Contributors; Olin Allen, Paul Engman, Steve Felch, Paul Napier, Bob Studholme
SUMMARY
The 2024 banding season was Cape May Raptor Banding Project’s (CMRBP) 57th year of operation. A total of 1,436 birds were banded. CMRBP has now banded 160,378 raptors over the history of the Project. We operated three banding stations between 8 September and 17 November for a total of 1,461 hours over a period of 159 days in which the stations were assigned. The average trapping day was approximately 9 hours in duration. The State Park station was the most productive with 663 birds followed by Meadows with 530 and Hidden Valley with 243.
Editor’s Note: The calculation of hours is a departure from calculating days and partial days in an attempt to accommodate differences in individual bander hours in the blind. The basis for past measurements of days and partial days has changed over time and as a result it has become difficult to maintain a consistent degree of accuracy in determining partial days. This is a move to base productivity/effectiveness
on actual hours of operation forming the basis of birds per hour.
While our total number of birds banded increased by 209 birds compared to the previous year, we continue to experience lower numbers in some species, most notably American Kestrel (AMKE) with 6 birds banded compared to 11 last season and now the lowest ever. 14 Peregrine Falcons (PEFA) were banded which matched last season and remains the lowest since 1983. Sharp-shinned Hawk (SSHA), Northern Harrier (NOHA) and Merlin Falcon (MERL) numbers were also lower than last season. We did however band more Cooper’s Hawks (COHA) and Red-tailed Hawks (RTHA) compared to last season.
TECHNICIAN ASSISTANT
Charlotte Catalano returned as our Research Technician for the 2024 banding season. Charlotte rotated her weekly work schedule in order to be able to spend some time in each of our three different banding stations and gain experience from as many of our banders as possible. Charlotte previously served as our technician in the fall of 2022 and thus came back to the project with prior raptor banding, handling, and trapping experience, which proved to be very valuable.
Charlotte was a great addition to the 2024 banding project, and we received numerous good reports from other banders of how well she was doing and what an asset she was to the project. She did a great job with public demos and private demos. Several attendees spoke highly of her after her public demos. She also maintained our social media accounts, posting consistently and engaging with our followers.
We wish Charlotte the best in her future endeavors and hope to see her return as a bander for future seasons.
RESULTS OF DIURNAL RAPTOR BANDING
Note that 5-year, 10-year, and overall project averages do not include the year 2020 when the project did not operate.
Northern Harrier
The number of NOHA banded, 27, was less than the 40 banded last season and lower than the 10-year average of 53.
Accipiters
1146 accipiters were banded during the 2024 season. COHA remained the dominant species with 866 captures. SSHA remains the second-most banded accipiter, with a total of 280 banded. This is a trend that CMRBP has observed since 2003. The SSHA numbers are lower than the 5- and 10-year averages of 382 and 485 respectively. COHA numbers are below the 10-year average of 962. There were no American Goshawks (AGOS) banded during
the 2024 season. Accipiters made up approximately 80 percent of the season’s banding total, with COHAs making up 60 percent of the total.
Buteos
154 buteos were banded. Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) numbers were up from last year with 136 banded versus 105 in 2023. Red-shouldered Hawk (RSHA) numbers also increased with 16 versus 7 in 2023, which is also above the 5- year average of 12 and overall Project average of 10. Only one Broad-winged Hawk was banded, compared to 4 last season. One Swainson’s Hawk was banded. No Rough-legged Hawks were captured.
Falcons
109 falcons were banded – 6 AMKE, 89 MERL, and 14 PEFA. AMKE numbers remain far lower than the 10-year average of 44 or the Project average of 324. As mentioned in the summary, these numbers are now the lowest in the project’s history. MERL numbers were below their 5- and 10-year averages of 140 and 155 respectively. PEFA numbers remain far below the 10-year average of 53.
Eagles
No eagles were captured in 2024.
RECAPTURES AND ENCOUNTERS OF CAPE MAY BANDED RAPTORS
A Recapture is a raptor caught by the CMRBP that is already banded. These birds are further defined by one of three categories: Foreign Recovery, Return, and Retrap. A Foreign Recovery is a raptor not originally banded by CMRBP, regardless of the year or location it was banded; a Return is a raptor that was originally banded by CMRBP and was caught again by CMRBP during a subsequent banding season; and a Retrap is a raptor that was originally banded by
CMRBP and is caught again by CMRBP during the same banding season.
Recaptures
There were 44 Recaptures, 27 more than 2023. There were 1 Foreign Recovery, 1 Return, and 42 Retraps. The ten-
year averages are 76.2 Recaptures (high of 117 in 2016), 5.6 Foreign Recoveries (high of 15 in 2018), 1.9 Returns (high of 3 in 2013, 2014, and 2016), and 68.7 Retraps (high of 110 in 2016).
As usual, most of the Retraps were within a couple of days if not the day of original capture but there was a HY-M COHA separated by 35 days and a HY-M COHA separated by 25 days.
The Return was a M-COHA banded as a HY on September 27, 2023 and recaptured on October 7, 2024.
The Foreign Recovery was a HY-F COHA banded on September 26, 2024 near Middleton, NY by the Port Authority of
New York, and recaptured on October 25, 2024.
Encounters
In 2024, 34 birds that were originally banded by CMRBP were reported as encountered by others. Four species were represented in these encounters, with Cooper’s Hawk, as usual, being by far the most common, accounting for about 60% of the total. Red-tailed Hawk was second at about 28%, with one each Sharp-shinned Hawk and Peregrine Falcon comprising the remainder. See the Species Encounters by Year table for additional details on species numbers. Note that the Peregrine was encountered in 2022 but not reported until last year and therefore has been added to the 2022 encounters. More details about the Peregrine encounter are below.
The 33 encounters from 2024 are representative of most recent years, substantially below the project’s long-term average of about 70 birds per year from 1980 to 2020. This recent decrease is due partly to the smaller number of birds banded over the last few years because of the closure of Mag Station. However, the drop in birds banded in recent years has been less steep than the drop in encounters. Clearly, other factors must be at work, although it is
not obvious what they might be.
About half of 2024 encounters were banded in the same year or the previous year, fewer than is typical. About 20% were banded in 2022.
Less than 40% of 2024 encounters were from New Jersey, a smaller percentage than usual. Last year’s encounters also occurred in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
As is often the case, the oldest birds encountered in 2024 were two Red-tailed Hawks that were 17 and at least 23 years old. A Cooper’s Hawk was the only bird caught at another banding station, on the eastern shore of Maryland. About 85% of the birds encountered were found dead, most often from vehicle strikes when cause of death could be determined; these figures are in line with prior years.
Perhaps the most noteworthy encounter reported last year actually occurred in 2022. A Peregrine Falcon banded in 2005 was found injured in central Cuba, more than 1250 miles from Cape May, but subsequently died. Aged as HY when banded, it was more than 17 years old at the time it was encountered.
Finally, two Red-tailed Hawks vied for the most curious encounters from 2024. One found in Maryland “flew into chicken coop, eating a young chicken. It couldn’t get out until we released it. Laid on it [sic] back until we got far away. It flew onto tree branch, looking to recover its meal until it got chased off by small male and female birds.” The other, found in North Carolina, was “caught due to rodent.” It was taken to a rehab center and eventually
released.
PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS
Regularly scheduled public demonstrations were given at the Cape May Point State Park on Saturdays and Sundays and at The Nature Conservancy’s South Meadows on Saturdays from mid-September through October. Demonstrations were also provided for private groups.