A bird in the hand

UA student flocks to rare finds

Mitchell Pruitt moves quickly even when he's walking. At 6 feet 4 inches and with long strides to match, his fellow researchers almost sprint to keep pace with Pruitt.

He went into overdrive that night in mid-November when he noticed movement in the net.

Fast Facts

Northern saw-whet owls

Thought to be named for the similarity between one of their calls and the sound of a saw being sharpened on a whetstone, Northern saw-whet owls are not thought to be rare but are elusive. Fewer than 20 sightings have been made of the birds in Arkansas in the past 50 years.

Saw-whets are about 7 to 8 inches long and weigh just 2.3 to 5.6 ounces, making them about the size of an American robin. They primarily eat mice.

Saw-whets are thought to migrate, and in some years do so in greater numbers than in others. Not much is known about the bird’s migration patterns due to its elusive, nocturnal behavior.

Source: allaboutbirds.org

"I ran," Pruitt said.

He knew what the net contained. The University of Arkansas junior and one of his professors, Kim Smith, had captured a northern saw-whet owl. When they did so, it was just the 13th confirmed spotting of the species in Arkansas. No such record had been made since 2010. Not much is known about the tiny owl, about the size of a robin but with talons and mounds of gray-brown feathers. Pruitt and Smith learned much about the birds after capturing a pair late last year. But the research continues, and Pruitt, long considered a birding prodigy, spends many a late evening and early morning at the Ozark Natural Science Center near Huntsville continuing the search.

A big find

National Signing Day had just concluded, and collegiate athletes across the country had pledged to trade their athletic prowess for a college scholarship. Smith pursued Pruitt just as fervently as any football coach sought a quarterback.

Pruitt placed himself on the radar of the state's birding community when he completed what's known as a Big Year, a yearlong pursuit of birds. The concept got spoofed by the Steve Martin movie "The Big Year." But such pursuits are serious business, and those conducted in Arkansas are thought to be successful when 300 birds are found and documented. Pruitt found 311, just shy of the state record at the time. Three of those finds were the first recorded sightings in the state. Then only 16 years of age, he received the aid of his parents, who drove him around the state, logging more than 14,000 miles in the process.

"He finds birds. They come to him," said Kathleen Pruitt, Mitchell's mother. "And people want to bird with him."

Smith sat down with Kathleen and Ken Pruitt to convince them about the University of Arkansas. The younger Pruitt did not want to stay in his hometown of Jonesboro and attend Arkansas State University, so he elected to come to Fayetteville. He enrolled first as a biology major, then declared himself a business major because his parents own a business. He thought at the time he would be content if birding was only a hobby, but he was mistaken. He now is enrolled as an environmental, soil and water science major.

Even with the brief detour at the business college, this was always Pruitt's path.

He always spent his time outdoors, Kathleen Pruitt said, like the summer he volunteered 400 hours at Craigshead Forest Park near Jonesboro as a 14-year-old.

"His reputation preceded him, even in high school," she said.

Smith always suspected Pruitt would make the jump to studying birds, sensing a passion rare among students his age. Smith recognized it because he was the same way, having completed his first Big Year when he was a student.

H. David Chapman, among those who have joined Pruitt and Smith at the Ozark Natural Science Center for followup expeditions, explained there are two types of bird watchers. There are those like himself, the birders keen on the next find, and the ornithologists like Pruitt and Smith, concerned with the science behind such sightings.

The ongoing study, authorized courtesy of a stack of paperwork Smith and Pruitt keep in Smith's vehicle, is indeed a very focused, scientific affair, one that serves as Pruitt's undergraduate honors college thesis project.

It took a special bird -- and a special project -- to capture his attention on a full-time basis.

Night moves

Smith read with interest years ago as researchers in several surrounding states documented saw-whet owls.

"Every place they've tried to catch saw-whet owls, they've caught them," Smith said.

That statistic is significant because previous thought maintained the birds were residents of the north. Smith wanted to do a search starting in 2009 after he learned of successful capture efforts in Missouri and Alabama. He just needed the right student to help.

He selected Pruitt, whom he learned about when the youngster was on his Big Year excursion and they were in pursuit of the same bird.

"He's incredibly enthusiastic about the project," Smith said.

And someone must be dedicated yet patient to endure the many hours of waiting, unsuccessfully, for a capture. Smith, Pruitt and various assortments of hangers-on have spent three months now traveling weekly to the science center, about an hour's drive from their Fayetteville homes. Each time, the crew waits about five hours, checking their nets every 45 minutes. The crowds of bird enthusiasts thinned as weeks passed without a capture. As many as 15 traveled with them at the prospect of seeing a saw-whet, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Arkansas birders.

Joe Neal literally wrote the book on birding in the state, serving as co-author of the catalog "Arkansas Birds" in addition to penning several other titles. He never thought he would see a saw-whet owl in Arkansas. He woke one morning at 3 a.m., his normal time. While he sat around checking email, a message arrived. It came from Pruitt, detailing the capture and release of the first saw-whet. He immediately had two thoughts -- shock, and the realization that Pruitt had not slept for all his excitement at the discovery.

Neal tagged along for the second capture in December and crossed the bird off his list.

"It only took 30 years. And it took Dr. Smith and his honor student to do it," Neal said.

And the birds were gone again in about 15 minutes, each wearing a new ankle bracelet.

Flight patterns

Both of those birds were ensnared in a series of nets strung on the trails at the Science Center. The first capture took place on their first night out. The owls were lured toward a series of 12-meter-long nets that are illegal to own without proper permitting. Smith, a licensed master bird bander and the holder of many current scientific permits issued specifically for the study of saw-whet owls, is among those allowed to have them. The birds are strictly nocturnal, so the nets get strung up on tall aluminum poles as the last of the sunlight retreats for the day. An electronic predator call placed in the center of the nets constantly emits loud waves of a piercing "toot toot toot" sound followed by a series of whines like those made by the owls.

Research told Pruitt that the call volume matters more than the call quality, so the noise echoed through the trees. The nets are always set up in a grove of cedar trees, the birds' preferred habitat. The first night a bird was caught, it was captured at the science center's helicopter pad. Additional research told Pruitt and Smith open areas are less likely to yield results, so the nets were moved, even after the initial success.

Upon their capture, both birds were checked for size and health. Pruitt flashed a blacklight under the bird's wings to determine its age, and both found at the science center were adult females. Each bird was fitted with a small band documenting the capture.

"They are smaller than I expected," Pruitt said. "You can see pictures of these birds, but it doesn't do them justice until you've got one in hand."

And they fought back against Smith and Pruitt.

Particularly with the second bird, both researchers came out bloody, the victims of talon punctures.

"They are raptors, after all," Pruitt said.

But saw-whet owls are also impossibly photogenic, and Pruitt used his Nikon D90 camera to capture an image of the bird as it perched nearby on a tree seconds after its release.

The proof of the birds in Arkansas caused a stir, and large groups flocked to the center for the chance to see one.

Smith also received several calls about local sightings. One homeowner certain of her find sent a photo along with her report, and Smith looked at the photo only to see a common, much larger screech owl. But enough reported sightings from the Holiday Island area have arrived to make Smith suspect a population does move through that location.

A studied approach

Fewer make the trek to the science center now that seven weeks have elapsed without any captures.

"It's a really bad flight year," Smith said. "The fact we caught two is really great."

The research did not stop with the capture of the two birds. If anything, the research only expanded, and the pursuit will now continue through mid-March before resuming again next fall.

The chase goes beyond the life-list from which many birders would love to mark saw-whet owls. Pruitt wants to know why the birds are here.

Pruitt's field notebook contains data on the conditions of each night of the search. He recorded the weather, moon phase and net arrangement from each night.

And there's the difference between a birder and scientist again. Smith and Pruitt continue going to the Science Center even though they do not expect to catch another bird. They now suspect a delay in getting the required paperwork eliminated a critical time in early winter when owls being were caught in adjoining states. But the netting program must continue if it is to prove the birds pass through at certain times of the year and not in others.

"We're trying to sort out the winter distribution," Smith said. "The revelation that these birds are coming farther south means we need to keep the project going for several years."

Already, the time scheduled for the search has been extended. It will continue into March, then resume in October. If a number of birds are caught in October, it would confirm the two researchers' suspicions about an early migration. The search may also expand into other areas such as Devil's Den State Park or Mount Magazine.

"This has been an eye-opener for him in terms of what research is about," Smith said of Pruitt, the one-time business major, now a science major, involved in a birding project.

And an eye-opener for anyone who didn't yet know of the young birder from Jonesboro.

Kevin Kinder can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAWhatsup.

NAN Our Town on 02/19/2015

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