After 7 years of banding Saw-whet Owls at Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm, Covid forced the banding crew there to take a year off. I shifted the season to the Belle Isle station and another DCR reservation north of Boston. While Belle Isle was not very productive for migrating Saw-whet Owls, we manged to catch and band 54 owls at the other site from October to the end of November. Saw-whet Owls move through Massachusetts during this period, with some birds even over wintering in the state. This research piggy backed off the guidance and long term efforts of the Drumlin Saw-whet Owl Team. We plan to continue banding efforts at our sites, adding data to the Saw-whet Owl banding network helping to better understand the ecology of this amazing little owl species.
