Working Together for Wood Thrushes
Once common in Eastern deciduous forests, Wood Thrushes are now considered a Species of Conservation Concern.
(photo © Larry Hubble)
The flutelike “ee-o-lay” song of the Wood Thrush is a familiar sound in Northeastern hardwood forests, but in recent years it has become less common: Wood Thrush populations in North America have declined by more than 50% since 1970. A new United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) project aims to use the Motus Wildlife Tracking System to track the migratory movements of Wood Thrushes to and from their wintering areas in Mexico and Central America, with the hope of providing data that can be used to protect this bellwether species across its full annual cycle.
The USFWS initiative is ambitious in scale: in 2024, biologists will affix Motus transmitters to more than 500 Wood Thrushes at breeding sites in at least 26 states, along with an additional 150 birds on their wintering grounds in Central America — the largest single-species Motus project to date. The New Hampshire effort is being coordinated by Dr. Pamela Hunt of NH Audubon, who is partnering with several Granite State organizations and landowners to deploy nanotags on 25 Wood Thrushes within range of existing Motus receiving stations. Here in the Monadnock Region, these partners include the Harris Center, Dr. Michael Akresh of Antioch University New England, and master bander Lindsay Herlihy.
One of six Wood Thrushes tagged in the Monadnock Region as part of the new study. (photo © Phil Brown)
Motus receiving stations, like this one on the Harris Center's Granite Lake Headwaters property in Stoddard, will detect the tagged birds any time they pass within range. (photo © Brett Amy Thelen)
A Granite State First at Granite Lake Headwaters
Tagging officially began on the rainy morning of May 30, when the Granite State’s very first tagged Wood Thrush was banded at the Harris Center’s Granite Lake Headwaters property. In the following weeks, five additional Wood Thrushes were tagged on Harris Center lands in Nelson and Stoddard.
After the tagged birds depart for their southward migration in September, the Motus network will detect them anytime they pass within range of Motus receiving stations along their fall migratory route, on their wintering grounds, and again as they return north next April — yielding vital data on their migratory connections, routes, timing, survival, and conservation needs.
Contact Us
For more information on the Wood Thrush tagging project, contact Bird Conservation Director Phil Brown at (603) 525-3394 or by email.
