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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Mission and Vision Statement
    • Equality and Diversity Policy
    • BSBO Board of Directors
    • BSBO Staff
    • Visit BSBO >
      • Directions
      • Building Improvements
      • Anna Macke Mikolajczyk Window On Wildlife
      • John Gallagher Memorial Birding Trail
    • eNews
    • BSBO Blogs >
      • BSBO CONSERVATION BLOG
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
      • BSBO Education and Outreach Blog
    • Contact Us
  • Support BSBO
    • Donate
    • Join or Renew
    • BSBO Swamp Shop
    • Education Center
    • Sponsor A Mist Net
    • Help BSBO while you shop
    • Birds and Business Alliance
    • Birder Tea Fundraiser
  • RESEARCH
    • Peer-Reviewed Publications
    • Songbird Research >
      • Migration Monitoring >
        • Migration Tracking
      • Prothonotary Warbler Research
      • Building Collision Study
      • Oak Openings
    • Morning Flight Count
    • Project SNOWstorm >
      • About Project SNOWstorm
      • Meet Buckeye
      • Meet Wolverine
    • Research Highlights >
      • Gray-Cheeked Thrush from Colombia, South America
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
    • Past Research >
      • Colonial Wading Birds
      • Ohio Winter Bird Atlas
      • Shorebirds
    • Reports >
      • Annual Project Reports
      • Navarre Marsh Annual Banding and Survey Data
    • Research Volunteer Form
    • Research Volunteer Page
  • EDUCATION
    • Bird Migration Profiles
    • Family Activities >
      • Free Online Resources
    • Young Birders >
      • Ohio Young Birders Club
      • Youth Birding Camps
    • Teachers >
      • Songbird Banding and Migration Programs
      • Students Against Balloon Releases
    • Group Programs >
      • Presentations by Request
    • BSBO Bird Knowins
  • Conservation
    • BioBlitzes
    • Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Communities
    • Responsible Wind Energy
    • Conservation Updates
    • Position Statement on Feral and Free-Ranging Cats
    • Habitat Designations
    • Easy Ways for YOU to Support Conservation
  • EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
    • Birding with BSBO >
      • BSBO's Biggest Week In American Birding
      • Frequent Flyer Birding
      • Lake Erie Pelagics
    • Birds at Home
    • Highway Clean-up
    • Calendar of Events
  • NW OHIO BIRDING
    • Responsible Owl Viewing
    • Regional Bird Checklist
    • Timing of Spring Migration
    • Timing of Fall Migration
    • Timing of Fall Shorebird Migration
    • Spring Migration Wave Theory
    • ABA Code of Birding Ethics
    • Birding Ohio

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Our First Year of Radio Telemetry

1/5/2022

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While we’re certainly glad to be in a new year, 2021 marked an historic leap for BSBO’s research efforts and our ability to support research occurring across the hemisphere. Amid the uncertainty of COVID, our spring efforts were scaled back to focus on the breeding and migration of Prothonotary Warblers (PROW) in our primary migration research station in the Navarre Marsh unit of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

>>>Read more about this ongoing project 
HERE.

This new project utilizes nanotag transmitters and the Motus network of automated radio telemetry towers to track tagged birds following their release. This wasn’t the first time BSBO had deployed nanotags on birds; however, it was our first project as lead investigators, leading to the installation of our first receiver tower. The advantage of these towers and the Motus network is the ability to track not only our birds autonomously, but to detect tagged birds from other researchers and supply them with data necessary for their projects.  
 
Even with detailed planning, projects of this magnitude rarely run smoothly the first year. Due to technical difficulties, BSBO's first tower was unfortunately unable to record deployed nanotags in conjunction with our first year of PROW tagging. (We eagerly await the upload of data from other towers in the region to see if tagged Prothonotary Warblers from our site may have spent their summer in other local marshes.)

Once we identified the technical issue, BSBO was able to deploy a new radio receiver at our tower in July. Since this deployment (and really since its installation), the Navarre tower has withstood some major storms and wind along the lakeshore and continues to stand strong. So far, the tower has detected 10 tagged birds passing through the marsh, allowing us to document their length of stay. One of these birds was a male Prothonotary tagged during BSBO's PROW project in May, who was detected immediately following the deployment of the new receiver on July 12. This male spent the next 16 days in the marsh until he finally flew off, molted off his nanotag, or until the battery in his nanotag was depleted.
Small, yellow bird with bluish wings held in person's hand.
Prothonotary Warbler with nanotag, tagged Spring 2021
Other detected birds were tagged by BSBO in conjunction with a project being investigated by Powdermill Avian Research Center of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pennsylvania. This project is studying the survival and behavior of birds following window collisions. BSBO is the control group, tagging normal, wild-caught individuals. Species tagged by BSBO this fall included Ovenbird, White-throated Sparrow, and Gray Catbird. Following their tagging and release, many of these birds remained in the marsh for 1-4 days before departing. The sole catbird tagged this fall remained at Navarre from October 11 to 14 until it was detected again on October 18 in North Carolina, south of Asheville; a four-day journey of about 440 miles (as the crow/catbird flies). 
Medium size, gray bird being held in person's hand, showing white tag and antenna positioned on the back.
Gray Catbird with nanotag, tagged Fall 2021
Small, brown bird with white throat and yellow lores being held in person's hand, showing white tag and antenna positioned on the back.
White-throated Sparrow with nanotag, tagged Fall 2021
In addition to our own birds tagged this fall, on the night of September 28, an Eastern Whip-poor-will was picked up by our Navarre tower - our first non-BSBO tagged bird detection. This whip-poor-will was originally tagged by Elora Grahame of the University of Guelph in Ontario in August 2021, east of Lake Huron as an ASY (after-second-year, an adult hatched in 2019 or earlier) male. Elora is a Ph.D. candidate focusing on factors affecting migration rate, timing, routes, and stopover duration for Common Nighthawks and Eastern Whip-poor-wills. Elora was generous enough to provide further details about this detected bird and send over photos of him. You can follow Elora and her nightjar updates on Twitter @elora_grahame. ​
Headshot of cryptically patterned, brownish Eastern Whip-poor-will.
Eastern Whip-poor-will detected at Navarre, photo courtesy of Elora Grahame
Fanned-out tail of male Eastern Whip-poor-will, cryptically patterned brown with large white patches at the tips of outer tail feathers.
Eastern Whip-poor-will detected at Navarre, large white patches in tail indicate male, photo courtesy of Elora Grahame
Fanned-out tail of female Eastern Whip-poor-will, cryptically patterned brown with small buff patches at the tips of outer tail feathers.
Eastern Whip-poor-will female tail for comparison
​Following his tagging in August, this whip-poor-will was detected by towers in southern Ontario by the end of September. Passing outside of Kitchner, London, and St. Clair National Wildlife Area, he would last be detected in Ontario on September 28 on the Point Pelee peninsula before being detected southwest across Lake Erie at our Navarre tower in Ohio. This detection not only exemplifies the collaborative power that the Motus network offers, but also showcases a migration route between Ontario and Ohio and a direct flight over the waters of Lake Erie.

After passing by the Navarre tower, this Eastern Whip-poor-will would not be detected again until October 16 outside of Galveston, Texas on the Gulf Coast. Towers become less prevalent south of this point and are absent from much of the Gulf Coast area of Mexico. So we (and Elora) may not find out where this bird eventually settles for the winter. But we’re both hopeful for his return through our region and to his breeding territory in 2022.

With one year of this new technology under our belts we’re excited for what the upcoming year will bring (without technical difficulties!). The Navarre tower will run throughout the winter and plans are in the works to install our second tower south of the lakeshore before spring. The BSBO research department will also be a part of a much larger nanotagging collaboration this upcoming spring migration, so check back soon for future updates!   

Our sincere thanks to all those who so generously supported this invaluable research.
​
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    ABOUT THE
    ​NAVARRE MARSH BANDING STATION

    The Observatory's primary banding station is located in Navarre Marsh behind the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station on Toledo Edison property. Migration monitoring consists of constant effort mist netting and migration point counts (5 minute counts at 6 locations at the research site). 

    Habitat is remnant beach ridge consisting of canopy trees of Hackberry, Kentucky Coffeetree, and Cottonwood with tremendous under story of rough-leaved Dogwood on the sand ridges. This is similar to the vegetation found on the well-known beach ridge of the Magee Marsh Bird Wildlife Area where the world-famous boardwalk is situated. 

    Two other remnant beach ridge habitats in Northwest Ohio are the Darby unit of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge. The Navarre beach ridge is the largest of them all occupying about 370 acres of wetland and beach ridge habitat. 

    The Navarre Marsh Migration Monitoring Station is on private property and not open to the public; however, we are able to give access to research students when special arrangements are made in advance. 

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