The bird-banding totals for April for the closed Erie Landfill in North Arlington are in:
Total Banded – 186
Number of Species – 24.
The lower-than-expected totals are the result of the inordinate number of windy and/or rainy days. (Above, a Northern Flicker being banded.)
NJMC naturalist Mike Newhouse and his volunteers band birds in the spring and autumn as part of a research project to see how birds use landfills during migration.
The Meadowlands Commission is especially interested in creating new habitat for endangered and threatened species.
Full list below.
American Goldfinch – 28
American Redstart – 1
American Robin – 39
Brown-headed Cowbird – 4
Common Grackle – 3
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 2
European Starling – 2
Field Sparrow – 2
Hermit Thrush – 5
House Sparrow – 1
House Wren – 1
Northern Cardinal – 4
Northern Flicker – 1
Northern Mockingbird – 2
Palm Warbler – 12
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 3
Red-winged Blackbird – 10
Song Sparrow – 12
Swamp Sparrow – 2
White-crowned Sparrow – 2
White-throated Sparrow – 19
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 14