S49.3: Tracking North American migrants by satellite
M.R Fuller1, W.S. Seegar2, L. Schueck1, J. Takekawa3, M. Petersen4 & M. Martel5
1U.S. Geological Survey, Boise, Idaho, USA, e-mail mfuller@eagle.idbsu.edu; 2Engineering, Research and Development Centre, Edgewood, Maryland, USA; 3Boise State University, Idaho, USA; 4US Geological Survey, Anchorage, Alaska, USA; 5University of Minnesota, St. Paul, USA
Fuller, M.R., Seegar, W.S., Schueck, L., Takekawa, J. Petersen, M. & Martel, M. 1999. Tracking North American migrants by satellite. In: Adams, N.J. & Slotow, R.H. (eds) Proc. 22 Int. Ornithol. Congr., Durban: 3007. Johannesburg: BirdLife South Africa.We used the Argos satellite system to study the timing of seasonal movements, migratory paths, staging and stopover areas, and areas where migrants spend the winter or austral summer. We tracked more than 60 Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus and found that the species migrates all across N. America, with considerable variation among individuals, whereas results from about 40 Swainson's Hawks Buteo swainsoni reveal a regular, clearly delineated path and distinct destination. Results from 15 American White Pelicans Pelecanus erythrorhynchos and 13 Ferruginous Hawks B. regalis illustrate widely divergent postbreeding period movements among individuals. Tracking of more than 50 Lesser Snow Geese Anser caerulescens and nearly 90 Spectacled Eiders Somateria fischeri has led to mapping routes and destinations, and discovering moulting and wintering areas. Ospreys Pandion haliaetus have been monitored from the mid- and western U.S.A. to their nonbreeding season ranges. With these results and review of the variety of North American migratory birds, we focus on the relative number of PTTs to use and how to program the transmission schedule to maximise PTT use to study avian movements.
Note: Full paper not submitted