It’s another milestone for Tom Kashmer, Research Coordinator of Sandusky County Park District. In 2010,
Kashmer banded his 100,000th bird, a feat accomplished by very few individuals around the country.
Kashmer has now reached a unique place in history when an Indigo Bunting crossed his path last fall at
Creek Bend Farm in Lindsey. The bird was a ‘recap,’ meaning it had already been captured, recorded,
banded and released.
What makes this unique is that it was previously banded in 2001. It was estimated to have hatched in
2000. Ironically, the Indigo Bunting was originally banded just down the road (as the buntings fly) on
May 23, 2001 by Mark Shieldcastle in Ottawa County. The United States Geological Survey has officially
certified the encounter as the oldest documented Indigo Bunting in the wild. The Cornell Lab of
Ornithology currently lists the oldest
known wild Indigo Bunting as eight years, three months. As Kashmer says, "This record flies way past
that."
Indigo Buntings are 4-5" sparrow-sized songbirds commonly seen midsummer on the edges of woods and
fields, along roads and streams. Males appear a brilliant, jewel-like blue. Tom says, "Since the
birds migrate south each winter, to an area in southern Mexico or northern South America, we’re
estimating that this Indigo Bunting has traveled approximately 65,000 miles in its lifetime, so
far."
That’s an accomplishment for both man and bird.