Nanotagging Owls
We are excited to be part of a research project that is putting nanotags on Northern Saw-whet Owls and tracking their activity via Motus towers. This project is headed by Project Owlnet & Aaron Coolman, a master's student at University of Delaware, and aims to look at migratory connectivity for this species.
What is a Motus tower?
The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is an international collaborative research network. Motus towers are specially designed antenna systems that detect signals from small, lightweight radio transmitters fitted on birds and other wildlife. As these animals migrate or move through the landscape, the towers pick up their signals, providing scientists and conservationists with invaluable data on migration routes, stopover sites, and habitat use. The benefit to using this network is that the tags are small enough to put on smaller birds and other animals, down to the size of a dragonfly!
Motus station map for the Northeast.
To learn more about the Motus network, visit the website at www.motus.org
What is a nanotag?
A nanotag is a tiny radio transmitter that is attached to a bird or animal in order to track it’s journey across diverse landscapes. The large number of Motus towers (those little yellow & purple dots in above image) helps- when a tag is within range of a tower, the signal is transmitted, giving scientists a better picture of the overall movement of the individual.
The antenna is generally all that you can see of a nanotag on a saw-whet owl.
What are some questions we hope to answer with this project?
Project Owlnet has provided 250 tiny radio transmitters (nanotags) with the goal of documenting the migratory connectivity of Northern Saw-whet Owls. The Friends of Whitefish Point is one of seven stations collaborating on this project. There are four main questions:
Winter Habitats: Where do Northern Saw-whet Owls spend their winters?
Migration Timing: When do they embark on their migration cycle?
Migratory Connectivity: What is the connection between the breeding and wintering ground for individuals?
Pathway Consistency: Do individual owls use the same migratory routes year after year?
What do we hope to learn from our summer owls on this project?
An important focus of this work is to better understand the post breeding dispersal of Northern Saw-whet Owls that occurs at Whitefish Point in summer. This is a poorly understood part of saw-whet owl natural history, and the Whitefish Point movement gives us a unique glimpse into this aspect, as it has never been documented elsewhere. Banding these summer juveniles provides us with good information, but we still don’t know where these birds are nesting or where they go before the fall migration. With that in mind, we tagged 12 adults and 10 juveniles in summer 2024, and 10 adults and 5 juveniles in summer 2025.
Preliminary results so far from Aaron:
“Owls tagged in the western Great Lakes generally migrate west and southwest around Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, then continue south/southeast into the lower Ohio River valley and along the Mississippi. One bird from Thunder Cape migrated directly over Lake Superior and was detected in the Keewenaw Peninsula. One individual tagged at Whitefish Point migrated mostly south through the lower peninsula of MI. Another owl that was tagged at Whitefish Point in July 2024 spent a month from mid-November to mid-December at Sarett Nature Center in Berrien County, MI.
I am seeing a new detection from Whitefish Point last year that was tagged in July and detected near Ottawa in August. Haven't confirmed this yet but that is a recent data upload! Pretty cool.
Owls tagged in the central Great Lakes/n Ontario migrate mostly south in fall, and settle in lower Ontario or fly directly over Lake Erie or Lake Ontario and settle in the central Appalachians, especially Pennsylvania. This could be due to an abundance of Motus stations in PA compared to places like WV, VA, eastern OH and upstate NY. Northbound migration reverses the trend, direct flights over the lakes in a due north orientation.
Owls tagged in eastern Quebec or along the Atlantic Coastal Plain migrate southwest along the coastline or along the ridge lines of the Appalachians. Some individuals have been detected on coastal islands in Maine- this doesn't mean the bird was at the island as these stations typically have better detection ranges, but almost certainly was hopping islands and flying over coastal bays, open ocean, or generally along the coast. Most Appalachian or Coastal fall migrants seem to be using the Appalachians on their northbound spring migrations.”
Many thanks to Project Owlnet, Aaron Coolman, Tim Baerwald, Holly Erickson, Chris Neri and Steve Davis for their help with the nanotagging and for getting this project going.
We could not do this without the help and support of people who care about owl research. If you would like to further support our research and projects, please go to www.friendsofwp.org/donate, and thank you!
*All birds are banded, tagged and released under required federal and state scientific research permits.
Other news and updates
Fall Owl Banding begins on Sunday night, September 14th! Please welcome our fall banders Liv Ridley & Bridget Schmidt. The owl banding visitation still has some spots available, you can register on our website: www.friendsofwp.org/visitowlbanding
Lead Owl Bander - Fall 2025
Born and raised in rural Maine, Liv has always felt at home in natural places. They received a B.A. in Biology from the University of Maine at Farmington and have been a wildlife technician ever since. While Liv has worked with passerines and marsh birds, they've found their true passion lies with owls and seabirds. This is their third season as an owl bander and their second season at Whitefish Point, and they have spent the past four summers living on small islands off the coast of Maine as a seabird researcher for National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute. Liv loves the field and feels incredibly lucky to work so closely with such elusive and inspiring species. They are so excited to be back at Whitefish Point for another fall migration.
Assistant Owl Bander - Fall 2025
From Ohio, Bridget graduated with a degree in Wildlife Conservation from Ohio University and has a strong love for birds of all kinds. She has been fortunate enough to be able to see some birds from all around the world and has had some amazing banding experiences. From passerines in Ohio, hummingbirds in Ecuador, Common Terns in Maine, raptors in Wisconsin and Pinyon Jays in Utah, she has high hopes to continue traveling to band birds. This will be her second season working with owls and she is hoping to be able to band a few new species!
