Mckellar Island Bird Observatory

01/29/2026

The 2025 fall bird banding season at McKellar Island Bird Observatory (MIBO) was its busiest yet, with 3,129 birds from 73 species banded. A significant increase in early August migration coincided with the season's smokiest days, leading to record totals for multiple species and the observatory’s first Evening Grosbeak—its 120th lifetime species. MIBO has now cumulatively banded 32,902 birds. Photos curtesy of Brady Mills.

This year, MIBO joined the Motus network (https://www.motus.org) and we will begin tracking Tree Swallows with transmitters this spring to study their migration. Motus receiver data for MIBO and Thunder Bay will be available online, with updates expected from May. You can also view Thunder Cape's Motus data.

Monarch Butterflies were rarely seen last summer despite extensive pollinator gardens but hopes remain for a recovery this coming season.

The observatory mourned its longtime supporter Al Baxter, commemorating him by planting 98 Red Maples along the river.

MIBO continues its partnership with Superior Shores Gaming Association to fund student hires, like Brady, who led banding operations with volunteer help.

Cenovus Energy is thanked for continued land access.

Below is the complete list of birds banded from August to October 2025:

3 Northern Saw-whet Owl
5 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
14 Downy Woodpecker
5 Hairy Woodpecker
2 Yellow-shafted Flicker
3 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
8 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
23 Alder Flycatcher
10 Traill's Flycatcher
19 Least Flycatcher
2 Blue-headed Vireo
4 Philadelphia Vireo
120 Red-eyed Vireo
10 Blue Jay
43 Black-capped Chickadee
19 Red-breasted Nuthatch
4 Brown Creeper
5 House Wren
7 Winter Wren
10 Golden-crowned Kinglet
17 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
9 Veery
23 Gray-cheeked Thrush
118 Swainson's Thrush
8 Hermit Thrush
5 American Robin
1 Gray Catbird
8 Cedar Waxwing
1 Evening Grosbeak
29 Purple Finch
19 Pine Siskin
48 American Goldfinch
36 American Tree Sparrow
5 Chipping Sparrow
1 Clay-colored Sparrow
7 Savannah Sparrow
6 Fox Sparrow
51 Song Sparrow
127 Lincoln's Sparrow
79 Swamp Sparrow
170 White-throated Sparrow
2 Harris's Sparrow
7 Eastern White-crowned Sparrow
5 Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow
172 Slate-colored Junco
1 Red-winged Blackbird
3 Common Grackle
26 Ovenbird
5 Northern Waterthrush
13 Black-and-White Warbler
297 Tennessee Warbler
20 Orange-crowned Warbler
479 Nashville Warbler
11 Connecticut Warbler
42 Mourning Warbler
151 Common Yellowthroat
109 American Redstart
33 Cape May Warbler
12 Northern Parula
87 Magnolia Warbler
33 Bay-breasted Warbler
14 Blackburnian Warbler
19 Yellow Warbler
12 Chestnut-sided Warbler
117 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
107 Western Palm Warbler
203 Myrtle Warbler
33 Black-throated Green Warbler
10 Canada Warbler
15 Wilson's Warbler
5 Rose-breasted Grosbeak

06/08/2025

Spring bird banding at McKellar Island Bird Observatory (MIBO) has come to a close for 2025. Here is a preliminary tally of the birds banded this spring. A more complete account will follow:

Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Yellow-shafted Flicker 1
Flicker intergrade 1 (x Red-shafted)
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 11
Traill's Flycatcher 2
Least Flycatcher 8
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 1
Tree Swallow 5
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 2
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 32
Eastern Bluebird 2
Veery 2
Swainson's Thrush 6
Hermit Thrush 5
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 1
Brown Thrasher 3 (the first ever for MIBO)
Purple Finch 3
American Goldfinch 11
American Tree Sparrow 9
Chipping Sparrow 6
Clay-colored Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 8
Lincoln's Sparrow 52
Swamp Sparrow 8
White-throated Sparrow 133
Eastern White-crowned Sparrow 72
Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow 4
Slate-colored Junco 10
Red-winged Blackbird 16
Common Grackle 1
Ovenbird 5
Northern Waterthrush 6
Tennessee Warbler 21
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 14
Mourning Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 6
American Redstart 15
Cape May Warbler 43 (no spring bandings prior to 2024)
Northern Parula 3
Magnolia Warbler 10
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 6
Blackpoll Warbler 3
Western Palm Warbler 11
Myrtle Warbler 21
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 3
Wilson's Warbler 9
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
628 birds of 61 species

03/22/2025

Here are the banding totals from all years (2014 - 2024) from McKellar Island Bird Observatory.

03/22/2025

Here are the fall 2024 banding totals for McKellar Island Bird Observatory. Our 11 year total of birds banded is now 27,683 birds of 117 species.

03/20/2025

In the fall of 2024, we banded 1465 birds of 64 species. This is lower than the previous 10-year average of 2214 birds banded. We had about 500 visitors this fall coming to see the banding process. Despite lower-than-average totals, there were 12 species banded in higher numbers than average. We speculate that the increased number of warblers captured was due to the spruce trees that we planted. Many of these trees have achieved a height of 3 metres, thus providing habitat for birds. These birds likely spent more time around our nets thus increasing the probability that they would be captured.
Pine Siskin were scarce, with none banded, compared to the previous 10-year average of 91 banded. Below average number of Dark-eyed Juncos were banded, 48 banded this year compared to the average of 146 banded. About half the usual number of Goldfinch were banded this fall. Swamp Sparrows and Tree Sparrows were also about 50% below average. Lincoln Sparrow numbers banded were about 75% lower than average, 18 vs 72 average. Swainson’s Thrush banded were about half the usual. Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Tennessee, and Palm Warbler numbers were from 66% to 40% below average. Banded above average numbers were American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Ovenbird, Yellow Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Our butterfly gardens are flourishing though there were very few Monarch caterpillars were observed after the initial flush early in the season. We planted more trees in the shelter belt along the river, this year focusing Black Willow.
Our Tree Swallow nesting boxes were all occupied this year, mostly with Tree Swallow, but also a few Eastern Bluebirds.
Our Chimney Swift tower went unused again this year as did our Purple Martin gourds.
Two of our volunteers have now achieved proficiency with taking birds our of nets and banding them. They are being considered for banding sub-permits, meaning they now have the skills to run bird banding stations.
We have been working closely with Superior Shores Gaming Association, volunteering there, and thereby receiving funds to hire bird banding assistants. We are looking for additional volunteers for Superior Shores. Volunteers spend 2 hours a month at the ‘bingo hall/casino’ on Memorial Avenue to receive a portion of the profits, that go to McKellar Island Bird Observatory.
Please contact John or Maureen at 807-767-1575 if you’re interested in volunteering at Superior Shores in support of the observatory.
We are most grateful to Cenovus Energy for permitting us to run our observatory on their land.
We are eternally grateful to all volunteers and generous donors who continue to support the observatory.

06/07/2024

Spring Migration is officially over. Fall Migration begins August 1st

06/07/2024

03/07/2024

John is being interviewed on CBC Radio tomorrow morning(March 8th) at 8am. Well worth listening to. Congratulations John!

01/31/2024

Fall 2023 bird banding at McKellar Island Bird Observatory

A total of 3030 birds of 78 species were banded this fall. This is the second-highest number of birds banded in the fall and the highest-ever number of species recorded in the fall. These exceptionally high numbers were likely attributable to unusually mild temperatures that resulted in birds lingering in the north a little longer than usual. However, we captured a Common Redpoll (see photo) on August 28 that clearly did not linger long in the north. Typically, Redpolls start appearing in late October. The most unusual bird banded was a Hooded Warbler (see photo), recorded in a handful of years in Northern Ontario. We banded our first-ever Red Crossbill (see photo). We banded a White-breasted Nuthatch (see photo), a species last observed in 2015. By far the most exciting bird banded was a Common Raven (see photo) that required 4 hands to band. The most abundant bird banded was Nashville Warbler with 438 birds banded. In second place was Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler with 332 birds banded. These 2 species accounted for about ¼ of all birds banded.
We examined forty-five of our nesting boxes in late June and early July to band nestlings (see photo). A total of 246 Tree Swallow nestlings were banded. This nesting season was phenomenally productive with 12 of the boxes containing 7 nestlings and 18 having 6 nestlings. Two boxes contained used Eastern Bluebird nests and one contained recently hatched Bluebird chicks.
Our pollinator gardens continue to prosper (see photo). We now have about 6,000 square feet of gardens dominated by Common Milkweed and Russell Lupins. Monarch Butterflies were common this year and there was a good crop of caterpillars. Now that we have substantial milkweeds, we give permission to those of you who raise caterpillars, to harvest leaves to feed your ‘cats’. If you need Common Milkweed seeds to start your own patch you can get them from the bird banders at the observatory, the first week of May.
Last summer the observatory entered into an agreement with Superior Shores Gaming Association. Superior Shores is the only ‘Casino’ in Ontario with most of the money going right back into the community; 80+ charities are supported in Thunder Bay. In exchange for this support, charities are required to provide pairs of volunteers to work one 2-hour shift per month. The work is easy: greeting customers at the door, picking up trash, wiping down surfaces, and helping paid staff if needed. We currently have 9 volunteers who have been doing this since August and we are looking for a few more. Contact [email protected] for more information. With this support, we were able to hire one bird banding apprentice for 6 weeks last fall. We are on schedule to hire one for the entire 2024 season thus taking the load off John.
Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this a successful season. Thank you Cenovus Energy for letting us use the land where this study takes place. See you in May.
We are taking bookings for group visits in May. Contact [email protected]
2023 fall banding totals for Mckellar Island Bird Observatory:
Black-billed Cuckoo 2
Northern Saw-whet Owl 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 12
Downy Woodpecker 13
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Yellow-shafted Flicker 4
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 5
Alder Flycatcher 33
Traill's Flycatcher 6
Least Flycatcher 17
Blue-headed Vireo 4
Solitary Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 65
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 38
Red-breasted Nuthatch 18
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 7
House Wren 13
Winter Wren 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 25
Eastern Bluebird 5
Veery 3
Gray-cheeked Thrush 13
Swainson's Thrush 147
Hermit Thrush 21
American Robin 1
Cedar Waxwing 32
Purple Finch 2
Common Redpoll 1
Red Crossbill 1
Pine Siskin 92
American Goldfinch 68
American Tree Sparrow 48
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 4
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 13
Lincoln's Sparrow 134
Swamp Sparrow 103
White-throated Sparrow 148
Eastern White-crowned Sparrow 3
Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow 23
Slate-colored Junco 203
Oregon Junco 1
Ovenbird 26
Northern Waterthrush 13
Black-and-White Warbler 16
Tennessee Warbler 90
Orange-crowned Warbler 27
Nashville Warbler 438
Connecticut Warbler 5
Mourning Warbler 32
Common Yellowthroat 81
Hooded Warbler 1
American Redstart 105
Cape May Warbler 34
Northern Parula 10
Magnolia Warbler 105
Bay-breasted Warbler 15
Blackburnian Warbler 7
Yellow Warbler 24
Chestnut-sided Warbler 28
Blackpoll Warbler 60
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Western Palm Warbler 180
Myrtle Warbler 322
Black-throated Green Warbler 14
Canada Warbler 12
Wilson's Warbler 12
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 4
Total of 3030 birds of 78 species 3030
Photo credits to Brady Mills (portrait photos) & John Woodcock (landscape photos).

11/05/2023

The Dan Fulton Memorial Award

11/05/2023

Josh Balec receiving the Dan Fulton Memorial Award from Josh Levac at MIBO's volunteer Appreciation Day!