Wing Island Bird Observatory

10/14/2026

Check out the video and article about Wing Island done by Cape Cod News!

Click on the image to watch the short news feature about bird banding at Brewster's Wing Island. 07 October 2026 - BREWSTER, MA - With a click and a snap, a tiny band on a birds leg builds a story about the Cape Cod's birdlife and climate. What is happening at Wing Island? On Brewster’s Wing Islan...

10/07/2026

Some fun birds to see up close 😊🪶

We are so lucky to get to do this amazing work 🌞



All banding, marking, and sampling is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey

10/06/2026

We have surpassed our record for most Gray Catbirds banded in one year!

Right now we are at 1,108 GRCAs for 2026 :)

These birds are very special to us here on Wing Island-they have served as an amazing learning tool and also as constant companions for us at the table.

We will be sad to see them go but for right now we are still counting!



All banding, marking, and sampling is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey

10/01/2026

It has been hard for us to choose a BBOD (best bird of the day) on Wing Island the last few days-a pretty great problem to have.

Please enjoy this amazing variety of migrants we have been lucky enough to band this week.

Comment which you think should be the BBOD 😊

All banding, marking, and sampling is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey

09/24/2026

THANK YOU to everyone who came to our banding demonstration last Saturday!
We had such a lovely day sharing our knowledge, our love of birds, and the impact of bird banding with all of you.
We hope to have more banding demonstrations in the future, and we deeply appreciate all of the donations made through ticket purchases. This station runs entirely on donations and grants, so your support truly helps us continue our work.
Please enjoy some of the amazing birds we’ve seen over the past week.
Migration really is the best time of year :)

09/14/2026

Incredibly exciting day on Wing Island yesterday-

We had some ba**er friends from Northern California visiting us, who skillfully extracted this Cooper’s Hawk from the net. Always unreal to see one of these birds of prey up close.

In migrant news, a Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Brown Thrasher stopped by on their way South.

Another highlight was when our volunteer ba**er Michele, had the pleasure of banding her first ever Yellow-shafted (Northern) Flicker!

We are getting very excited over here as migration is starting to pick up - so stay tuned !



All banding, marking, and sampling is conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey

09/07/2026

09/07/2026

Check out the tie-dye Baltimore Oriole we had on Wing Island today !!! 🧡💛

This bird was sporting a GORGEOUS mosaic plumage when it stopped by.

Coloring like this is caused by a diet consisting of Tartarian Honeysuckle- if eaten when the bird is molting, the red pigment can deposit into the feathers causing this coloration.

On this bird’s tail, we can see a really cool example of retained juvenile feathers alongside newer formative feathers.
On the right side, the paler feathers are retained juvenile rectrices, with visible growth and fault bars.
Growth bars are subtle visual bands that form as a feather grows, reflecting the bird’s nutrition or stress level during that time.
Fault bars indicate even more nutritional difficulty, and show up as a small break across the feather.
On the left, several of the rectrices were replaced during the bird’s formative molt. These newer feathers contain the honeysuckle-derived pigments, leaving us with this stunning split-colored “tie-dye” tail!