Birding magazine recently featured the research of Luke DeGroote, the avian research coordinator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s environmental research center Powdermill Nature Reserve. Check out the June 2017 issue for the full article.
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Powdermill Antennae Helps Track Migration
by Scott Pruden
Ever wonder where birds and butterflies go on those long, seasonal migratory journeys? So do scientists, and the installation of several new antennae at Powdermill Nature Reserve will help them find out.
The three arrays are part of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. Motus (which is Latin for “movement”) is an international collaborative research network that tracks small flying organisms, like birds, butterflies, and bats, that have been fitted with digitally encoded radio transmitters.
These “nano-tags” broadcast intermittent radio signals, which the antennae scan for and detect. Scientists use the data collected to track the migration patterns of tagged animals. The network includes more than 350 receiving stations throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
Data from 2016 shows that about 40 percent of nano-tagged tagged birds are tracked using Motus, compared with about one in a thousand birds tagged with leg bands.
Powdermill Avian Research Center is located near Rector, Pennsylvania, at Powdermill Nature Reserve, the environmental research center of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and is one of the longest continuously operating bird banding stations in the United States.
Powdermill Reserve, which encompasses 2,200 acres of ponds, streams, woodlands, open fields, and thickets, allows scientists to monitor and study changes in the local ecology and wildlife populations. The reserve is home to a wide variety of plants and animals facing habitat destruction in the region.
Installation of the Motus antennae is supported by a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, which helps support conservation efforts in southwestern Pennsylvania and throughout the United States.
Fall Bird Banding at Powdermill
Fall is an exciting and busy time for our avian researchers at Powdermill Nature Reserve, Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s environmental research center in Rector Pennsylvania.
As birds migrate south, thousands fly through Powdermill, where they are identified, banded, and studied before they continue their long journey to their winter nesting grounds.
Researchers band anything from worm-eating Warblers to brightly colored purple finches in their nets each year.
This fall alone, more than 4,000 birds representing 150+ species have been studied and banded since September. Researchers catch the birds in specially designed mist nets that are cast each morning before dawn. Caught birds are carefully transported to a banding station, where they are identified, measured, and given a small band issued through the US Geological Survey. Bands provide information for other researchers and don’t affect the birds flight, nesting, or eating habits.
Above all else, the well being of every bird is Powdermill’s top priority at all times. The entire banding process takes less than a minute, and the vast majority of birds are actually quite calm during their short visit at the banding station.
But why band birds at all?
The fundamental goal of bird banding has always been to record the age, sex, wing length, fat deposits, and body mass of captured species as a way of monitoring, year to year, how avian populations are faring in the wild.
Banding gives us insight into many things like the life cycles and longevity of birds, habitat use, and how disease and environmental toxins are affecting wild bird populations.
Want to learn more? You can see monthly and annual banding summaries online or follow Powdermill Nature Reserve on Facebook for weekly updates and stunning pictures.
