Bird banding

A student in the Sitka Conservation Society’s 4H program holds a junco. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich, Sitka Conservation Society)

This month, Forest Service technician Gwen Baluss visited Sitka to band and measure juncos and other songbirds — with some help from students at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School, Blatchley Middle School, Sitka High School, and the Sitka Conservation Society’s 4-H program.

Bethany Goodrich of the Sitka Conservation Society shared these photos. She writes:

“Baluss carefully loosens the tie of a little sac and slowly reaches in. Delicately grasping the fragile creature within, she reveals the dark-eyed junco to a resounding ‘AWW,’ as students pile on top of one another to get a closer look.”

Gwen Baluss of the U.S. Forest Service blows on a junco to reveal fat deposits, in Patty Dick’s 6th grade class at Blatchley Middle School. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich, Sitka Conservation Society)

Birds like juncos are “overlooked natural wonders,” Goodrich writes.

“Gwen explains to wide-eyed students how the sheen of a junco’s eyes changes with age from gray to red, how males boast darker plumage atop their heads and how a surprising diversity between individual juncos exists if you just take the time to look carefully. Captivated students edge closer as she starts blowing tenderly on the bird’s belly to reveal yellow fat deposits visible beneath their paper-thin skin.”

Photo by Bethany Goodrich, Sitka Conservation Society.

Researchers still don’t know as much as they’d like about the birds’ range and distribution, Goodrich writes. But there’s another reason for the banding expeditions:

“Very few of us have been lucky enough to encounter our skittish feathered friends up close. As one of the participants ruefully commented, ‘The closest I’ve ever been to one of these birds has been sweeping away the unfortunate remains the cat dragged in.’

‘Don’t worry,’ she reassured the bird banding team, ‘This will be my last cat.’”