The second year of monitoring at the Columbia River-Revelstoke (CRR) Bird Monitoring Station was completed in the months of August and September of 1999. The station's goals are to educate and involve the local community in the process of tracking populations of landbirds through migration and provide the information on their migration and habitat needs. The station was ran cooperatively by Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), Parks Canada, Friends of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier with additional funding provide by Living Landscapes: Columbia Basin Past, Present and Future. The station is located on Columbia Shuswap Regional District's Revelstoke Airport lands, just north of the runway.

The monitoring began on August 3 and continued until September 30 for 45 days of banding. The start date was later than the originally anticipated start date of July 15. The start date of July 15 was chosen so that we may catch the earlier migration of some species of warblers and adult birds after reviewing the results from 1998. The 1998 migration monitoring did not begin until roughly the same time last year (Aug. 8), but it was believed that we missed the majority of early adult warbler migration.
Heavy snowfall the previous winter along with a wet and cold spring/summer caused water levels to be higher than usual for this time of year. The station was not assessable until August 9 and then only by canoe for another 2 weeks. An alternate location was chosen for the August 3-8 banding as close to the station as possible (within 1.5km radius). The wet spring may have delayed access to the site but may have also caused a later migration of landbirds. This year we saw various moult patterns on species (adult migration), saw the end of breeding conditions on some of the birds (brood patches) and caught young still growing their flight feathers.

The station was run using the standard effort method; using the same netlanes and protocols (methods) as in 1998. This method was chosen so that data could be scientifically compared from year to year and shared with other stations throughout North American. The station logged a total of 1686.5 net hours (weather and personnel constraints reduced the number of net hours below the potential maximum)

The Friends of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier coordinated this project with 15-20 local volunteers who donated a total of 621.5 hours in the field. The volunteers also spent an estimated 150 hours the previous winter in mini bird courses to help skill development and sewing bird bags for the field season.

The total number of birds handled was: Birds banded 884, Recaptures 228, and Unbanded-27. (Fig 2) The three most common species this year were the Common Yellowthroat (27%), Wilson Warbler (8%) and Yellow Warbler (8%).
(Fig. 4) A total of 44 species were banded with 12 new species for this year; Hammond's Flycatcher, American Goldfinch, Ovenbird, Chesnutsided Warbler, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Lazuli Bunting, Nashville Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Slate coloured Junco, Tennessee Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler. This year's highlight was the Ovenbird and the Chestnut-sided Warbler because they are noted as rare birds for this area 

This year the Common Yellowthroats were still the most frequently caught species but the numbers were close to 1/3 less of last years total. A major difference that was noted by participates was the difference in species and the number of them overall. 1998 records show that the species caught and banded were only 2 less than this year (fig. 3), but the overall number of species caught and handled was 7 more than last year bring the total of species for the station to 51.

The monitoring of recaptures along with the newly banded birds not only allow us to estimate the length of time individuals are spending in the Revelstoke Area, feeding and putting on weight, but if individuals are returning to an area over the years. This year we recaught 26 individuals from last year. (Appendix 2) Monitoring these recaptures allows us to look at the time that each species use the area, this information can be important in determining what effects high water in the area plays on the migration of landbirds.


The future of the station looks promising as local involvement increases. New stratergies for fundraising are being looked. The involvement of the local schools to involve students of all ages. Development of using the station to help the city's tourist market is being explored. Presentations have been and will continue to be made to various groups and organizations through the area. The Columbia River-Revelstoke Bird Monitoring Station shall continue to grow and improve over the years with the support of its 3 founding partners, Canadian Wildlife Service, Friends of Mount Revelstoke & Glacier, and Parks Canada.

Figure 1: Banding Status of Bird Species at the Columbia River-Revelstoke Migration Monitoring Station, 1998 & 1999.

Banding Status Number of Species
1998 1999 Total
Captured and banded 42 44 57
Captured and not banded* 2 76
Total Captured 44 51 63
*Includes PIWO and SSHA (for 1998) & DOWO, HAWO, COSN, RUFU, BRCR, SOSA and RNSP (for 1999)


Figure 2: Status and Number of All Bird Captures at the Columbia River-Revelstoke
Migration Monitoring Station, 1998 &1999.

Banding Status Number of Birds 1998 Number of Birds 1999

Newly Banded 1850 884
Recaptures 855 228
Unbanded 43 27
Total 2748 1139


Figure 3: Number of All Handled* Birds Grouped by Species, at the Columbia
River-Revelstoke Migration Monitoring Station, 1998. &1999



All Handled Species* Subspecies Abundance
Common Yellowthroat 1468 371
Yellow-rumped Warblers Audubon's Warbler Myrtle Warbler
Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler 500 66
Yellow Warbler 236 94
Traill's Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher
67 75
Red-eyed Vireo ** 24
Orange-crowned Warbler 63 59
Lincoln's Sparrow 60 38
Song Sparrow 49 30
MacGillivray's Warbler 48 31
American Redstart 47 54
Black-capped Chickadee 38 10
American Goldfinch *** 19
Wilson's Warbler 35 81
Other Species with <15 total individual captures
137 187
Total 2748 1139
* = Newly banded, unbanded, recaptured
** = 1998 total is less than 15 and is included in the last
total of Other Species with <15
***=Was not captured in 1998

For more information regarding the Columbia River-Revelstoke Migration Station, please contact:

Dr. John Woods
Parks Canada
Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks
P.O. Box 350
Revelstoke, B.C.
V0E 2S0
john_woods@pch.gc.ca

Janis Jarvis
Friends of Mount Revelstoke & Glacier
P.O. Box 2992
Revelstoke, B.C.
V0E 2S0
mtllamas@junction.net