Saturday Sharing

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Saturday Sharing

Weeeeeeeeee!

6/7/2019 :: Information on the Motus System

During this year's Falcon Watch and Rescue, three of the birds, Red, White, and Blue, have been fitted with the MOTUS tracking system by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. It is possible that Yellow will also be fitted with the system if Yellow needs to be rescued again. Here is some background information on the MOTUS system from the Motus website.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus is Latin for 'movement') is an international collaborative research network that uses a coordinated automated radio telemetry array to track the movement and behaviour of small flying organisms. Motus tracks animals (birds, bats, and large insects) affixed with digitally-encoded radio transmitters that broadcast signals several times each minute. These signals are detected by automated radio telemetry stations that scan for signals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. When results from many stations are combined, the array can track animals across a diversity of landscapes covering thousands of kilometers.

This multinational system has its roots in the SensorGnome network which was piloted in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, a major infrastructure expansion was made possible through a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant to Western University, The University of Guelph, and Acadia University. This gave rise to the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. The system has grown steadily since that time and as of February 2017 over 350 receiving stations were active across the Western Hemisphere.

The purpose of Motus is to facilitate landscape-scale research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals.

Learn more and watch video here: https://motus.org/about

The data that will be received will be incredibly interesting since, for the first time, the fledged falcons from RCSOB will be tracked allowing even greater insight into yearling peregrine falcon behavior. In addition, this will illuminate the distances these falcons will potentially travel!

6/7/2019 :: Fourth Fledge!

Red fledged at about 6 am this morning, almost made the roof of the University, but eventually became grounded at the Greyhound station and was rescued. Red will be fitted with a telemetry harness by the PA Game Commission today for tracking. So far, White is the only fledgling that has shown any real proficiency in flight. Now that all four have fledged, they will begin flying a bit farther, to buildings several blocks away. Falcon Watch and Rescue volunteers will be out keeping an eye on the young falcons. If you'd like to help with Falcon Watch and Rescue, please contact Kathleen Banski at kbanski@pa.gov.

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