Researchers Trace 6,800-Mile Myrtle Warbler Route to Gulf Coast With Tiny Geolocators
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 6
Researchers Trace 6,800-Mile Myrtle Warbler Route to Gulf Coast With Tiny Geolocators
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 6
Summary
A year of recovered backpack-tag data showed Anchorage-breeding myrtle warblers flew east across Canada and then south to the Gulf Coast, not west to California as researchers had expected.
The route was reconstructed with Tic Tac-sized multi-sensor geolocators that log air pressure, light and wind data, letting scientists map small birds more precisely after recapturing them.
That barometric approach improves on older light-level geolocators, whose location estimates can miss by hundreds of miles and become especially unreliable around the spring and fall equinoxes.
Researchers say the circuitous path may reflect migration routes encoded over millions of years as glaciers reshaped ranges, while the findings could help pinpoint stopover sites, winter habitat and collision risks for conservation.