The Power of a Connected Network

In 2022, the Migratory Bird Initiative began traveling around North America supporting the growing network of Motus stations installed by Audubon and its partners. We helped build stations in the cougar-inhabited backcountry of Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary,  up north in polar bear country along the shores of Hudson Bay home to the Weenusk First Nation, and many places in between. During these adventures, one thing became abundantly clear, not only does Audubon love migratory birds, but we understand that tracking their seasonal movements is a vital step to full annual cycle, hemispheric conservation, a target of Audubon’s Flight Plan. 

A truly unique strength of Audubon is our deep, extensive network of Centers, Sanctuaries, State and Regional Offices, and Community and Campus Chapters across the United States as well as our partnerships with local communities and conservation organizations in Canada, Latin America, and across the hemisphere. These all intersect to contribute to a truly astounding network passionate about migratory bird conservation.  

As investments in bird tracking technology expanded over the past several years, Audubon found itself at an inflection point. We were growing beyond Audubon groups focusing on their own important questions to address local conservation concerns, and ready for a more coordinated effort, harnessing the power of Audubon’s extensive network to answer hemispheric-scale questions using a holistic, integrated approach. 

Enter the Migratory Bird Tracking Program, which will coordinate and support tracking efforts across the organization to ensure alignment with Flight Plan. The Tracking Program will engage people to identify and address the factors causing bird population declines, critical information necessary to help bend the bird curve. The Tracking Program will also provide resources and guidance to ensure that tracking efforts across Audubon are scalable to address broad conservation challenges. Over the next several months keep an eye out for these resources to become available to the Audubon network. 

There is still much to learn about migratory birds using tracking devices. A recent assessment of tracking data conducted by Audubon, Georgetown University and the Smithsonian Institution demonstrated that over half of migratory birds that breed in North America have not been tracked using tracking devices. Some examples of important insights  brought to light by tracking studies  include an ongoing study conducted by Audubon South Carolina, Audubon Delta, and others using barometric pressure geolocators on Prothonotary Warblers to better understand their stopover needs and vulnerability to offshore wind during migration; Audubon Great Lakes has been tracking Black Terns with Motus and identified that severe weather events, such as storms and flooding, disrupt nesting sites, and finally, Audubon Americas and local partners are using Motus to track Lesser Yellowlegs to help farmers manage their land in Colombia’s Cauca Valley while supporting nonbreeding habitat.  

As migratory birds embark on their journeys across the hemisphere, they encounter countless obstacles before reaching their destinations. Only with coordinated tracking studies can we unravel the mysteries of which conservation challenges are causing migratory bird population declines and what seasons are most important for solving these conservation dilemmas. As Audubon’s Migratory Bird Tracking Program matures, we will ensure that local conservation efforts scale up across Audubon to contribute to the success of our Flight Plan, ensuring that our hemispheric perspectives translate to local conservation actions on the ground.

The success of the Tracking Program depends on the participation of the entire Audubon network. Audubon Centers, Sanctuaries, Chapters, State and Regional Offices as well as Audubon Americas and our partners across the hemisphere all have a role to play. This new Migratory Bird Tracking Program will be the latest example of Audubon’s truly hemispheric conservation agenda to secure a future for migratory birds. For more information on the Migratory Bird Tracking Program, please reach out to Alicia Brunner, Program Manager of Migratory Bird Tracking.