John Taylor, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and developer of the "Taylor Rule" for setting interest rates | Stanford University
John Taylor, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and developer of the "Taylor Rule" for setting interest rates | Stanford University
If you see a Swainson’s thrush (Catharus ustulatus) wearing a small backpack with an antenna at Jasper Ridge, don’t be alarmed. The bird is part of the latest development in Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma)’s bird-banding and monitoring program.
This summer, a team coordinated by Trevor Hebert has been working on fitting birds with Motus tags to understand Swainson’s thrush migration. The team includes partners from SFBBO, Julian Tattoni, Katie LaBarbera, BSURP interns Noah Macias and Marty Freeland, and SOAR intern Maya Xu.
Swainson’s thrushes arrive at 'Ootchamin 'Ooyakma in late April or early May and stay until September. They nest in the riparian woodland near Searsville Lake but migrate as far as 5,500 miles to Central and South America for winter.
The details of their migration are not well understood. Researchers aim to answer questions about stopovers, journey duration, and specific wintering locations. This information is crucial for conservation efforts since it provides insights into potential threats during migration and at wintering sites.
Motus technology enables tracking birds across continents without needing recapture to download data from GPS devices. Each Motus tag emits radio pings that register with receiver stations up to 20 kilometers away. These tags recharge via solar panels embedded in them.
Jasper Ridge joined the Motus collaborative research network by installing a receiver station in May 2024. This allows real-time tracking of tagged birds like Swainson’s thrushes and others such as Band-tailed Pigeons tagged by California's Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Catching Swainson’s thrushes for tagging is educational, offering hands-on experience with fieldwork and ecological research. Youth from the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and others have participated in these activities.
While only larger birds like thrushes can carry Motus tags, other birds caught during banding operations are measured, documented for demographics and body condition, then released with metal ankle bracelets serving as identifiers if recaptured.
For interns like Noah Macias and Marty Freeland, Motus tagging has been a highlight of their summer research at Jasper Ridge. Other projects include waterbird research by Noah and Marty’s new JRBP bird checklist.
Marty Freeland is a rising sophomore studying conservation science in the Dirzo Lab at Stanford University's School of Humanities and Sciences.
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