Godwits on the Go

Using Satellite Technology to Track Migrating Marbled Godwits

Like many shorebirds, Marbled Godwits have conservation scientists worried. These medium-sized shorebirds migrate from the southern coastal U.S. and Mexico to breed on the northern Great Plains and other sites in the U.S. and Canada. Categorized as a species of high concern in both the U.S. and Canadian Shorebird Conservation Plans, the species was identified as the focus for an international shorebird conservation effort by the Marbled Godwit Working Group. This group comprises scientists from agencies and organizations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Scientists and managers need information about the routes these birds follow, their stopover sites, and where they breed in order to protect areas critical to the birds’ survival.  To address this need, now retired USGS scientist Adrian Farmer and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) biologist Bridget Olson began fittingMarbled Godwits captured at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, north of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, with lightweight, solar-powered satellite transmitters. Objectives for their study included:

1. identify the migration pathways and breeding and wintering sites for selected godwits from the two breeding populations (the Midcontinent of North America; and James Bay/Hudson Bay, Canada),
2. characterize the weekly movements of godwits and estimate the length-of-stay of tagged godwits at their respective winter, breeding and staging sites; and
3. estimate the length-of-stay of selected godwits during spring and fall migration at migratory stopovers, including the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah.

Since 2005, a total of 28 Marbled Godwits from two breeding populations, and three staging/wintering areas have been fitted with transmitters.  Data transmission from outfitted birds, as well as data analysis, is ongoing. 

For more information, please contact Bridget Olson at Bridget_Olson@fws.gov.

Report Marbled Godwit sightings: If you see a Marbled Godwit with an antenna extending from its back or with bright colored leg bands with large numbers, please report the time of sighting, specific location, and band color and alphanumeric code, if visible, to Bridget Olson at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (contact information at right).