Seeking the Elusive Golden Winged Warbler
And other migrants and residents
Near Jinotega, Nicaragua

I'm working on a team of two Nicaraguans and a Canadian Ornithologist, Kevin Fraser, from Queens University, Ontario. Kevin is studying migratory connectivity in the golden-winged warbler. He is sampling golden-winged warblers across their breeding and wintering ranges using stable hydrogen isotopes to make links between various populations.
This entails wandering around with binoculars, playing recordings of a) male golden-wing territorial song b) male golden-wing "angry" song, and c) common bush tanager distress call. If we see that our recordings have aroused the interest of a golden-wing, we set up fine mesh "mist nets", set up a painted plastic decoy and wait... Sometimes he flies into the net, sometimes he doesn't. When he does, he is carefully placed in a cloth sac, and carried gently and triumphantly back to the processing station where he is given a leg band with a unique number, and we help ourselves to some feathers and toenail clippings for the hydrogen isotope analysis, and release him. Sampling in this manner to determine golden-wing warbler range is an important step in conserving this rapidly declining species.
Our Nicaraguan collaborators include ALAS (Alianza para Las Areas Silvestres) and an organic coffee plantation/Bird Reserve, El Jaguar. The habitats we've been working in include cloud forests, where arboreal ferns grow to 40 feet or more, and the roots of the strangler figs spread out to 10 feet or more for support in this often windy and rainy environment. We captured our 7th individual this morning are now traveling further northward to sample at lower altitudes and drier habitats.