BEYOND BIRD BANDING USING NEW TECHNOLOGY TO STUDY MIGRATORYBIRDS TO HELP REVERSE THEIR LOSS Caitlin Welsh PHOTO CREDIT: BLAKE GOLL
I
T’S SPRING! ACROSS THE GLOBE MILLIONS OF migratory birds are readying themselves for the transcontinental trip of a lifetime. Every year around this time people fill their bird feeders and eagerly await the return of many beloved species to their backyards. Dog-eared copies of favorite field guides and digital tools, like eBird and BirdCast, can help folks anticipate the movements and arrival of these seasonal visitors. Yet these tools don’t tell the full story. A sad chapter includes a study published in 2019 that revealed North American bird populations have declined by 29% across all species since 1970. That’s close to 3 billion birds lost! While certain birds, like ducks and woodpeckers, have increased—thanks to targeted conservation efforts—others including Eastern meadowlarks, barn swallows and even many common songbirds like Baltimore orioles, are all declining. Using newer technologies combined with traditional methods, researchers have been able to gain insight into these losses. Conservation organizations throughout the Mid-Atlantic, led in part by teams based in Pennsylvania, are following a global model for research collaboration that can shed light on these losses and move more people to action to save habitat for wildlife and humankind alike. STUDYING MIGRATORY BIRDS One of the longest-lived tools researchers use to aid the study of birds is banding. Banding involves capturing wild birds, attaching uniquely numbered bands around the bird’s leg, and then releasing the bird back into the environment. These bands help identify the birds so they can be tracked by researchers throughout the animal’s lifespan. Many species return to the same breeding grounds year after year. However, migratory birds rarely return to the exact site and 30
County Lines | February 2021 | CountyLinesMagazine.com
less than 1% of banded birds are captured again, making banding less effective. So what happens when birds fly the coop? That’s where newer technologies like radio telemetry can greatly increase understanding of what’s happening to our birds and other animals while they are abroad. USING RADIO TELEMETRY Radio telemetry works by outfitting a bird or other animal with a small radio transmitter mounted on a removable harness. When the animal moves through areas with antennae and receivers on the appropriate frequency, it can be tracked by its transmitter’s signal. Researchers studying animals in designated locations like preserves can use handheld antennas and locate their specimens while on foot. This can be limiting when working with migratory wildlife that spend parts of their life in completely different areas of the world. Enter the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, an international network designed to track flying migratory wildlife throughout the world. USING MOTUS The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is an international collaborative research network established by Birds Canada. The network uses automated radio telemetry to track migratory animals as they move seasonally across the globe. Instead of tracking animals on foot, researchers let strategically placed stationary receivers do the work. Using Motus, a researcher can see where a bird goes after it’s left the breeding grounds and track it across hundreds or even thousands of miles! Seeing Motus’ potential to help improve the efforts of individual researchers, Willistown Conservation Trust’s Bird Conservation Program teamed up with collaborators from Project Owlnet, the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, and the Carnegie Museum of
