Variable Measured: Species, age, sex, capture date, location of capture, head-bill, tarsus, wind chord, molt score, fat score, and mass.
Species Code:
Species Code Common Name Scientific Name
BHCO Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
GRSP Grasshopper Sparrow Ammodramus savannarum
HESP Henslow Sparrow Ammodramus henslowii
Color Band Color Abbreviations:
A Gray
B Light Blue
D Dark Blue
G Green
K Black
O Orange
P Pink
R Red
S Silver
W White
Y Yellow
Age:
NG Nestling
HY Hatch Year
AHY After Hatch Year
SY Second Year
ASY After Second Year
TY Third Year
ATY After Third Year
U Unknown
How aged or sexed:
Plumage Young (hatch-year) birds have distinct plumage. Following their first year, GRSP cannot be sexed or aged by plumage
CP Cloacal Protuberance present—indicates male in breeding condition
BP Brood Patch present—if >0.5, indicates female in breeding condition (males only lose a few belly feathers)
OnNest Nestlings found in nest = known age. Birds flushed from nest sexed as females
Song Males observed singing prior to capture (females don’t sing)
Display Males observed displaying prior to capture (females don’t display)
Molecular Molecularly sexed post-hoc
Ossification Young (< 4 mo) birds have incomplete ossification
Recap If a bird was captured in a previous season, we can age precisely (if HY or NG at time for first capture), or know minimum age (if captured as AHY)
Sex:
M Male
F Female
U Unknown
CP:
0 No evidence of swelling
1 Very slight thickening
2 Still longer than wide, but noticeably bulging
3 Resembling the drawing in the front of Pyle guide
4 Size of an unripe blueberry
5 Size and color of an ripe blueberry
BP:
1 Smooth feathers are dropped and some vascularization is evident, but most of the area is still rather smooth and dark red
2 Vascularization is evident, some wrinkles are present, and some fluid is present under the skin, giving the area a pale, opaque, pinkish color
3 Vascularization is at the maximum extent of the brood patch; the brood patch is thickly wrinkled, and much fluid is present under the skin
4 Wrinkled, vascularization and fluid is mostly gone, skin retains many thin, dry, contracted wrinkles
5 Molting with no vascularization or fluid, most wrinkles gone, and pinfeathers present only on breast with no other flight feather or body molt occurring
Molt:
0 No molt
1 Some pin feathers, adventitious flight feather molt, or very beginning stages of complete molt (i.e., dropped feathers but no new feathers grown in)
2 Moderate molt. Multiple feather tracts and/or flight feathers or retricies
3 Most tracts in molt including flight feathers and body
Fat:
0 No fat visible in furculum
1 A light covering or partial covering of fat on the inside of the furculum
2 >10% full and <~35% full
3 Roughly half full of fat
4 Furculum ~75% full, fat typically extending out of furcular area at the top and some visible fat in wing pits and lower belly
5 Furculum ~full-slightly bulging. Obvious fat reserves elsewhere on the body
6 Furculum very bulging. Extensive fat reserves elsewhere
Observer Initials Full name
AB Alice Boyle
AJH Alex J Henry
AJM Andrew Mayer
ANB Allison Nicole Bays
BNP Blair Pfeifer
BV Bram Verheijen
CES Chelsea E Sink
CKP Chyna Kaling Pei
DCA Dakota C Allen
DDH Destiney D Hett
DJS Dylan J Smith
EJW Emily J Williams
GW Virginia Winder
HCM Henry Castro-Miller
HN Hunter Nedland
HRL Heather Lerner
JLG Joanna Gresham
JMG Jackie M Gehrt
JMS Joseph Schmit
KB Katharina Bremser
KEG Keil E Garey
KET Katelyn E Thompson
KLK Kristin Kersten
KMS Katy M. Silber
MDR Miriam Reynaldo
MKW Mary Kate Wilcox
MLG Michaela L Gustafson
MW Mariel Winnerman
NAB Natasha A Bergevine
RCD Ryan Donnelly
SKW Sarah K Winnicki
SLD Sarah Lindsay Demadura
SVR Suzy V Replogle Curnutt
For additional metadata information see: http://lter.konza.ksu.edu/sites/default/files/DC.pdf
For additional methods information see: http://lter.konza.ksu.edu/sites/default/files/MM.pdf
