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Thursday, October 31, 2024

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Donald Trump boards a garbage truck to draw attention to Biden's remark; Poll: Arizona voters support protecting union jobs, and labor laws; Crypto backers pour millions into Ohio; U.S. regulation on the line; New election directors step up in NC amid tight deadlines, high turnover.

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Donald Trump responds to Biden's 'garbage' comment. Hispanic Americans are outraged by insults about Puerto Rico, and climate-smart technology could be a key election issue.

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A Cambodian poultry farmer who lost his livelihood could be a hero for others, rural Montanans are anxiously awaiting a court ruling over a climate lawsuit brought by young people, and Northeast states say more housing for working families could boost jobs.

AR tower has unique mission: tracking birds as they migrate

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Friday, October 13, 2023   

Arkansas is part of an international collaboration that uses automated radio signals to track the migration of birds, bats and insects.

It's called the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, and one Motus tower is on the property of the Little Rock Audubon Center.

Dan Scheiman, manager of the Plants for Birds Program at Audubon Delta, a regional office of the National Audubon Society, said researchers place radio tags on birds and, when they fly near the antenna, it picks up their signal.

He said the data collected provides researchers with insight into migration patterns and behaviors.

"A lot of our birds are declining. We've lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970," he said. "In order to know where the problem areas are, we need to know where these birds are spending the summer, where they're spending the winter and where they're stopping in between, because it could be somewhere along those migration routes that they're experiencing some kind of trouble, like habitat loss."

Scheiman said the research shows different species have different migration routes. Arkansas is home to more than 420 bird species, but the local tower has detected birds that have been tagged in places from Canada to Costa Rica.

Scheiman said Arkansans can do their part to help migrating birds by providing safe habitat for them.

"Everyone can help migrating birds by making their own yards safer and healthier for birds," he said, "so one of those things they can do is to plant native plants that provide food and cover for our birds, so when they're on their long migration journey, they have a place to stop and rest and refuel."

He added that one of the biggest hazards to migrating birds is windows. He recommended that people try to make their windows more visible to birds in order to decrease the number of crashes into windows.

Disclosure: Audubon Arkansas contributes to our fund for reporting on Animal Welfare, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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