Telemetry Monitoring – Motus

Ongoing Project

Telemetry Monitoring - Motus

Motus - Birds Canada

Motus, which is Latin for movement or motion, is a collaborative global program of Birds Canada that uses radio telemetry (tagging) to track flying organisms, primarily birds. The small transmitters that are attached to an organism emit a pre-programmed signal and these signals are picked up by Motus receiving stations on the ground and the data are recorded within the global database. With many Motus receivers now operational, the movement of tagged wildlife can be more precisely tracked than ever before.

"Our long-term vision is to create an east-west electronic fence through which tagged birds would fly during their spring and fall migrations."

The WBWRI has deployed its first Motus receiver and the antennas at a secure location north of Fort McMurray near the oil sands mines. Members are provided with the link and information to access the data collected by our Motus receiver to discover if any tagged birds or other flying organisms are moving through our region.

Ovenbird

Our long-term vision is to create an east-west electronic fence through which tagged birds would fly during their spring and fall migrations. Some of the proposed Motus receiver locations are within the range of bird banding stations around Fort McMurray. This overlap offers an excellent opportunity to attach transmitters to birds to address questions about juvenile dispersal, migratory movements, and long-term survival.

Motus Station

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Our members will have the opportunity to track our tagged birds, as well as any birds tagged by others that are detected by our Motus station. This is an excellent opportunity for our members to learn about remote sensing technologies and the types of data that are being collected for use in environmental monitoring and research projects.

Opportunities also exist for tagging bat species and to support strategies for conservation of regional bat populations. Bat migration into and out of northeastern Alberta is not well understood. Once a Motus station network is active in the region, we will consider a bat telemetry tracking project as well.

Our ability to deploy additional Motus receiver stations and attach transmitters to birds, and possibly bats, in the Fort McMurray region will be dependent on funding availabiliy.

Project Sponsor

Did you know?

Motus has been operating for only a short period, with the first receivers and tags being deployed in the past 10 years. Within this period the data that has been acquired has greatly improved the global understanding of bird movement and in some cases, revealed new insight into bird migration and habitat use.

Small transmitters, each with a unique signal can be attached to birds, bats, and large insects, such as butterflies and dragonflies, to monitor their movements across their migratory pathway.

By participating in the Motus network, we will be able learn where our birds overwinter and what pathways they follow between their summer breeding habitats in the north and their winter habitats in the south.

The detection range of an organism that is picked up by the Motus receiver depends on the strength of signal from the transmitter, the Motus antennae type, any obstructions and if a large hill or tall trees are blocking the signal, and the height that the organism is flying past the receiver. For larger antennae, the typical detection range is between 10 and 20 kilometers.

By combining the data acquired by all operators of Motus stations across North America, the Motus database represents a single source of data that can be used for the analysis of migratory bird movements.

While adult songbirds tend to return to the same nesting territories year after year, the juveniles will disperse and normally not return to the area where they were hatched. Juvenile dispersal distance is not well understood for most birds.

Understanding juvenile dispersal is key to knowing the status of bird populations, especially where habitats are disturbed by forest fires and by human development, and tagging juvenile birds may provide novel insights into where these young birds end up as adults.

Motus Station

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Snowy Owl

Ongoing Project