Allegheny Front Migratory Observatory (AFMO)
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The Allegheny Front Migratory Observatory (AFMO) is located within the Monongahela National Forest in Grant County West Virginia. AFMO sits ten miles southeast of Davis WV, at 4,000 feet in the Allegheny Front Mountain range, in the area known as Dolly Sods.
Each year the AFMO observatory station and its mist nets are set up in late summer and then dismantled in early fall.
The AFMO banding station runs from late August to early October.
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If you would like to contribute to the banding station and its continued success, you can by donating to the BBC AFMO Fund!
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The BBC oversees the AFMO bird banding station. The oldest, continuous Bird Banding Station in North America. |
Fall 2024 Overview:
The station was closed for 10 days due to poor weather conditions. Additionally, net hours were reduced on several days due to weather delays and due to nets being closed to prevent the number of birds captured from exceeding the number that could be processed in a timely manner by the available volunteer staff.
A total of 1,825 birds were banded at AFMO in 2024. The highest daily total this season occurred on 21 September 2024, with 361 birds banded. Starting this season, Orion Metheny collected feather samples from birds banded at AFMO for contribution to the Bird Genoscape Project (www.birdgenoscape.org).
The station was closed for 10 days due to poor weather conditions. Additionally, net hours were reduced on several days due to weather delays and due to nets being closed to prevent the number of birds captured from exceeding the number that could be processed in a timely manner by the available volunteer staff.
A total of 1,825 birds were banded at AFMO in 2024. The highest daily total this season occurred on 21 September 2024, with 361 birds banded. Starting this season, Orion Metheny collected feather samples from birds banded at AFMO for contribution to the Bird Genoscape Project (www.birdgenoscape.org).
2024 AFMO Results: (top 10 species netted, logged, and banded)
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Black-throated Blue Warbler (282)
Cape May Warbler (276) Black-throated Green Warbler (143) Blackburnian Warbler (134) Tennessee Warbler (114) |
Blackpoll Warbler (113)
Magnolia Warbler (96) Ovenbird (83) Bay-breasted Warbler (74) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (67) |
Notable birds banded at AFMO that returned to AFMO in 2024 included a BCCH that was banded in 2019, a GRCA and a COYE that were banded in 2021, and a COYE banded in 2023 that was recaptured five times between 24 August and 20 September 2024. A Cape May Warbler banded at AFMO on 4 September 2024 was found dead in North Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, NC, on 14 October 2024.
2024 Summary Statistics Allegheny Front Migration Observatory
2024 Summary Statistics Allegheny Front Migration Observatory
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Birds Banded: 1,825
Repeats: 10 Returns: 12 Foreign Recaptures: 0 Species: 60 |
Effort: (net-hours) - 2,174
Capture Rate: (birds/100 net-hours) 85 Nets: 14 Dates of Operation: 8/24 - 10/8 Days Operated: 36 |
2024 Final Notes:
The Brooks Bird Club supports and sponsors AFMO. Over 30 volunteers contributed their time and expertise to the operation of AFMO in 2024. The Monongahela National Forest authorized the Special Use Permit that allows AFMO to operate within the national forest. The Garrett College Wildlife Club assisted with carrying the banding shed into and out of the national forest at the start and end of the season. AFMO thanks all who have contributed to the operation of the station over the decades.
The Brooks Bird Club supports and sponsors AFMO. Over 30 volunteers contributed their time and expertise to the operation of AFMO in 2024. The Monongahela National Forest authorized the Special Use Permit that allows AFMO to operate within the national forest. The Garrett College Wildlife Club assisted with carrying the banding shed into and out of the national forest at the start and end of the season. AFMO thanks all who have contributed to the operation of the station over the decades.
Brief History of the AFMO Banding Station
AFMO began in the fall of 1958 at the location of the Red Creek Campground on the eastern boundary of what is now the Dolly Sods Wilderness in Monongahela National Forest. Staffed by unpaid volunteers throughout the entirety of its existence, AFMO has operated during fall migration in every year since 1958 except for 2020 and 2022. In 1963, the station was moved 250 meters northeast of the campground to its current location.
About the AFMO Location
AFMO is perched at the top of a ravine at 1,180m elevation along the Allegheny Front. When winds come out of the west, the combination of topography and wind concentrates the flight of southward-migrating birds, and many birds fly at net level as they reach the top of the ravine. The station sits at the edge of the red spruce and northern hardwood forests of the Allegheny Mountains and overlooks the oak forests of the Ridge and Valley ecoregion to the east. The vegetation in an approximately 1.6-hectare area around the net lanes is periodically trimmed and pruned to prevent vegetation succession from altering the flight path of migrating birds over the net lanes.
AFMO Archives: (work in progress) Archives
AFMO began in the fall of 1958 at the location of the Red Creek Campground on the eastern boundary of what is now the Dolly Sods Wilderness in Monongahela National Forest. Staffed by unpaid volunteers throughout the entirety of its existence, AFMO has operated during fall migration in every year since 1958 except for 2020 and 2022. In 1963, the station was moved 250 meters northeast of the campground to its current location.
About the AFMO Location
AFMO is perched at the top of a ravine at 1,180m elevation along the Allegheny Front. When winds come out of the west, the combination of topography and wind concentrates the flight of southward-migrating birds, and many birds fly at net level as they reach the top of the ravine. The station sits at the edge of the red spruce and northern hardwood forests of the Allegheny Mountains and overlooks the oak forests of the Ridge and Valley ecoregion to the east. The vegetation in an approximately 1.6-hectare area around the net lanes is periodically trimmed and pruned to prevent vegetation succession from altering the flight path of migrating birds over the net lanes.
AFMO Archives: (work in progress) Archives
Allegheny Front Migration Observatory (AFMO)
Jordan Run, Grant County, WV
Katie Garst, [email protected]
2024 Banders: Robert Dean, LeJay Graffious, Orion Metheny
Jordan Run, Grant County, WV
Katie Garst, [email protected]
2024 Banders: Robert Dean, LeJay Graffious, Orion Metheny
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The comprehensive History of AFMO.
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Learn about the Dolly Sods Wilderness.
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