PRESQUE ISLE BIRD BANDING
Migration Monitoring on the Peninsula
““Each spring and fall, we use the “magic” of birds, up close and in the hand, to connect hundreds of visitors of all ages with nature, with others, and with themselves. Seeing people make those connections, seeing their eyes light up, drives our mission statement and fuels our work.”
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Public education and outreach is an integral part of our mission statement and perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in our landbird monitoring efforts at Presque Isle State Park. Ever since banding first began at Presque Isle in 1960, the general public has always been welcomed and even encouraged to stop by the station and learn more about birds. The experience of seeing these small birds up close and in the hand has often been described as magical and life-changing. Birds have an inherent ability to connect people of all ages and backgrounds with nature, with others, and with themselves. Seeing visitors make those connections, seeing their eyes light up, brings everyone involved great joy.
in Spring 2022, We Welcomed over 700 visitors to our Fry’s Landing Bird Banding station!
Erie Bird Observatory conducts migration monitoring for roughly 6 weeks in the spring and for another 8 weeks in the fall.
Public visitation hours are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from roughly 10am-2pm. As banding is completely weather dependent, ALL date and times are subject to last minute changes and cancellations. We highly suggest checking our Facebook page HERE on the morning of BEFORE heading up to Erie/ out onto the peninsula.
Our banding station is located at what is known as "Fry's Landing" inside Presque Isle State Park and is marked as such on all park maps. For more information on our PISP banding station, what species we're catching, and how to visit us, please check out our Facebook page dedicated to our bird banding program: Presque Isle Bird Banding.
PISP Banding History:
Bird banding has long been used as a tool to monitor landbird migration at Presque Isle State Park. Our data set begins with a Wood Thrush banded on May 20th, 1960, by the Leberman family. Bob Leberman infamously went on to establish Powdermill Avian Research Center the following year whilst his brother, Ron, and mother, Mary, continued to operate under his permit for the next four decades. During this same time period, the Stull family (Jean and Jim) were also using bird banding as a means to monitor migration on Presque Isle, and did so for nearly three decades.
Long-term data sets such as ours from Presque Isle help researchers develop a better understanding of overall trends such as: species arrival and departure dates, changes in annual species abundance (increase vs. decline), differences between spring and fall numbers, etc. It can also help with determining the significance of the local habitat as a stopover site for migratory birds. Birds make excellent indicator species; they have so much to tell us about the ever-changing world that we live in, we just need to know how to “listen.”