Putting GPS trackers on birds to track their migration patterns and behaviors is something that has interested scientists and bird enthusiasts for many years. However, it comes with some unique challenges and considerations. In this article, we’ll look at the feasibility, benefits, challenges, and ethics of putting GPS trackers on birds.
Is it possible to put a GPS tracker on a bird?
Yes, it is technically possible to attach tiny GPS tracking devices to birds in order to track their movements and migration patterns. However, it requires finding a GPS tracker that is light enough to not overly encumber the bird or alter its natural behaviors.
Most GPS trackers used for birds weigh between 0.3g to 5g, depending on the size of the bird. The trackers need to be less than 3-5% of the bird’s body weight to avoid impacting their ability to fly or migrate long distances. They are often affixed like a small backpack using non-toxic leg-loop harnesses or tiny, dissolvable surgical glue.
The trackers use GPS and cellular or satellite signals to pinpoint the location of birds when they are in range of cell towers or satellites. The locations can be transmitted to databases and mapped to show the routes flown by birds over days, months or years.
What are the benefits of putting GPS trackers on birds?
Here are some of the main benefits scientists and researchers hope to gain by tracking birds with GPS:
- Study bird migration patterns, routes and timing in greater detail
- Understand time spent at stopover sites during migration
- Identify important feeding and nesting grounds
- Monitor threatened species and inform conservation strategies
- Study impacts of climate change and habitat loss on bird behaviors
- Gain insight into navigation methods and spatial behaviors
By equipping birds with GPS trackers, researchers can gain new insights into avian biology that inform conservation efforts and our overall understanding of bird ecology and behavior.
What are the main challenges?
While the potential benefits are significant, putting GPS trackers on birds also comes with a unique set of challenges:
- Size and weight – The trackers must be miniature and lightweight enough to not encumber the bird’s movement.
- Attachment – Securing the tracker safely without harming the bird or altering behavior is difficult.
- Battery life – Trackers are limited by short battery lives spanning weeks or months.
- Retrieving data – Researchers have to recapture birds to download the GPS data.
- Costs – Tracking birds with GPS remains fairly expensive.
- Data gaps – Migratory routes have gaps when birds are out of cellular or satellite range.
These factors limit which bird species can be tracked and the duration researchers can monitor their movements using current GPS tracker technology and methods.
What are the ethical concerns?
As with any wildlife tracking research, there are ethical considerations surrounding whether the potential benefits outweigh any disruption or risks to the birds being tracked:
- The capture, handling and tagging process causes stress and poses risks of injury that must be minimized.
- The weight of the tracker may slow birds down, hinder their movement, or alter their behavior.
- Carrying a tracker may make birds easier targets for predators.
- Adhesives or harnesses used may irritate the skin or feathers.
- The field impacts and reliability of GPS trackers on birds needs further study.
Following careful protocols and evaluating impacts helps ensure any harm is outweighed by the knowledge gained to help protect bird populations. Tracking periods are kept short, data loggers minimized, and improved tagging methods researched.
What species of birds are typically tracked?
Here are some of the most common bird species that researchers have studied by attaching GPS trackers:
Bird Species | Notes |
---|---|
Large raptors | Such as eagles, condors, hawks – large enough to carry tracker |
Geese and swans | Make long migrations across continents |
Shorebirds | Include species like plovers that migrate huge distances |
Songbirds | Miniaturized trackers allow studying smaller migrants like warblers |
Seabirds | Such as albatrosses and petrels – cover great ocean distances |
The focus is on migratory species that travel large distances across continents or oceans to answer questions about their incredible navigation abilities and flight endurance.
What types of insights have GPS trackers revealed about bird migrations?
Attaching GPS trackers to birds has led to some fascinating new discoveries about their migratory habits and abilities:
- Arctic terns shown to migrate 59,650 miles annually – the longest migration known in the animal kingdom.
- Albatrosses circled the entire Pacific Ocean multiple times – flying 18,000 miles in just 46 days.
- Flight speeds recorded up to 92 mph for peregrine falcons diving.
- Whimbrels flown non-stop 4,300 miles over the Atlantic from Canada to Brazil.
- Cuckoos shown to migrate from Africa to Europe and back within 6 months.
- Bar-tailed godwits flew non-stop 7,145 miles Pacific flight in just 9 days.
This small sampling demonstrates the astonishing feats revealed by tracking birds on a globe-spanning scale never before possible. Seeing their complete migrations mapped out provides concrete evidence of just how far and fast birds can fly.
Notable GPS tracking studies on birds
Some pioneering and influential studies utilizing bird-borne GPS trackers include:
- A 2020 study on migrating common swifts recorded speeds up to 69 mph and averaging 285 miles per day.
- A 2014 study on whimbrels set speed records and revealed time at stopover sites during migrations.
- A 2012 study showed albatrosses regularly circumnavigate the entire Pacific Ocean basin in a single non-stop flight.
- A 2006 study tracked prairie falcons in Idaho revealing sight fidelity and localized seasonal movements.
- A 2002 study tracked northern gannets covering 15,000 miles in 5 months of winter migration.
These types of studies continue to push the boundaries of what’s known about bird migration distances, routes, navigation and vulnerabilities. The GPS tracking data is vital for informing conservation strategies.
What are the limitations of GPS tracking for birds?
While GPS tracking provides exciting new insights into bird behavior, there are still many limitations:
- Tracking duration restricted by battery life and device size
- Data gaps when out of cellular or satellite range
- Retrieving data requires recapturing birds
- Only larger bird species can currently be tracked
- Sample sizes are usually small
- Costs are high – $1000s per tracker
- Effects on birds not fully known
The small size of trackers, their restricted battery life, and the reliance on recapturing birds means only glimpses of journeys can be tracked. The field is still developing, but new technology like solar-powering devices promise continued advances in gathering GPS data on bird migrations.
What does the future hold for bird tracking with GPS?
Here are some ways researchers expect bird tracking with GPS to improve and advance in the future:
- Smaller, lighter trackers as technology keeps miniaturizing
- Lower costs as trackers become commercially mass-produced
- Longer-lasting batteries, solar power and wireless data uploads
- Cell networks expanding into more remote areas
- Increased satellite coverage and precision
- Computerized analysis of movement patterns
- Combining GPS tracking with other sensors like accelerometers
As device technology improves, researchers predict the ability to track smaller bird species over longer times and across continental scales. This will reveal more complete pictures of the phenomenal long-distance migrations many birds undertake each year.
Conclusion
Attaching tiny GPS trackers to birds provides unique insights into avian movements, migrations and behaviors that inform conservation and research. While still an emerging technology with limitations, GPS bird tracking has already revealed the amazing long-distance feats of birds migrating globe-spanning distances at incredible speeds. Continued advances promise even more discoveries ahead on the epic migratory journeys undertaken by birds annually.