



Tracking migratory animals in the wild
Migration covers long distances, often spanning continents. How can we study this behaviour? Songbirds are fairly tiny birds, weighing less than 20 grams, thus tracking devices need to be small and light to not affect the animal’s behaviour or compromise its survival. With increased battery lifetime and possibilities for autonomous energy supply, tracking devices (radio transmitters, light-level geolocator archival tags, radar and satellite tracking) are getting lighter, thereby becoming accessible for smaller animals, such as songbirds. The most informative data come from studies using global positioning system (GPS) satellite transmitters, where real-time recording of the signal by satellites enable the long-term monitoring of migratory movement around the globe without recapture of the tagged animal. Using this technology for real-time monitoring of smaller passerines such as the European blackcap is not yet possible due to the relatively large size of transmitters. We use alternative technologies include archival tags that record light-intensity data (i.e. light-level geolocators) as well as radio-transmitters and telemetry systems on a variety of species.
Publications
Kürten N, Schmaljohann H, Bichet C, Haest B, Vedder O, González-Solís J, Bouwhuis S (2022) High individual repeatability of the migratory behaviour of a long-distance migratory seabird. Movement Ecology 10: 5
Van Doren BM, Conway GJ, Phillips RJ, Evans GC, Roberts GCM, Liedvogel M*, Sheldon BC* (2021) Human activity shapes the wintering ecology of a migratory bird. Global Change Biology 27, 2715-2727.doi: 10.1111/gcb.15597
Delmore KE*, Van Doren B*, Conway GJ, Curk T, Garrido-Garduño T, Germain RR, Hasselmann T, Hiemer D, van der Jeugd HP, Justen H, Lugo Ramos JS, Maggini I, Meyer BS, Phillips RJ, Remisiewicz M, Roberts GCM, Sheldon BC, Vogl W, Liedvogel M (2020) Individual variability and versatility in an eco-evolutionary model of avian migration. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287, 20201339. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1339
Kürten N, Vedder O, González-Solís J, Schmaljohann H, Bouwhuis S (2019) No detectable effect of light-level geolocators on the behaviour and fitness of a long-distance migratory seabird. Journal of Ornithology 160: 1087-1095