Automated Telemetry System Tracks Migratory Song Birds
Dr. Phil Taylor, Department of Biology, has developed an automated telemetry system (www.motus-wts.org) that enables researchers to track migratory songbirds throughout the Maritimes and beyond. In 2014, he and his students used this technology to tag post-breeding Blackpoll Warblers on Bon Portage Island and Seal Island, two of Nova Scotia’s most southwestern islands.
These studies revealed that many individuals move extensively throughout coastal areas of the Maritimes and Maine prior to embarking on their trans-oceanic migration to South America. Nothing is known about the underlying reasons for these movements. In this research project, Dr. Taylor and his students will compare the timing and extent of these movements for two species of migratory warblers, the Blackpoll Warbler, and the Yellow-rumped Warbler. By comparing the movements and habitat use of the two species across the entire Gulf of Maine and Maritime regions, he aims to better understand the reasons for the movements, and obtain a fuller understanding of habitat use and importance for migratory songbirds in general.
This research project has been supported by Nova Scotia's hunters and trappers via the Province of Nova Scotia’s Habitat Conservation Fund.