KBO tracks the first Western Purple Martin with GPS tag technology
By Sarah Rockwell
Spoiler alert: Our first recaptured Martin flew almost 8,000 miles to southeastern Brazil and back again!
The unique western subspecies of Purple Martin is of conservation concern, roughly estimated at just 3,500 pairs. Relatively little is known about the Western Purple Martin compared to the more abundant eastern subspecies. One of the biggest challenges in identifying ways to help migratory species is that we simply don’t know where they are most of the year. Western Purple Martins breeding in Oregon are only here from about April to August, and until recently, we only had the slightest idea of where they spend the non-breeding months. From 2020-2023, a small team of researchers from KBO, USFS, USGS, and Cape Arago Audubon Society captured adult Western Purple Martins and outfitted them with lightweight archival GPS tags that fit like a backpack with two leg loops to track their movements. Our goal is to track martins that nest in Oregon to discover their migratory pathways and winter roost locations and assess whether conservation actions are needed at these non-breeding sites. This is the first study of its kind with the western subspecies and the first to track them with GPS technology throughout the year!
There is one important catch – to have a battery small and lightweight enough for a small songbird to carry safely, the tags cannot transmit GPS data, only store it on board. Returning tagged birds must be recaptured following a year-long round-trip migration to retrieve the tag and its precious geospatial data. It can be very challenging to find these birds again, not to mention recapture them! So, we were thrilled to recapture our first female, whom we nicknamed Roxa (‘purple’ in Brazilian Portuguese – pronounced more like “hosha”), in the summer of 2021.
Roxa returned with fascinating information, revealing new discoveries about her incredible 8,000-mile journey. After she left her nesting area in coastal Oregon in August, Roxa first headed south to Baja California, where she spent about a month from mid-Aug to mid-Sept on an extended fall stopover – although somewhat unusual for a songbird, this long pause was not totally unexpected, as it matched hints from earlier research using geolocators on a few martins from British Columbia (Fraser et al. 2017). She then continued south through western Mexico, with GPS points taken every 5 days, including stops in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela before entering Brazil, where she passed over many of her Eastern Purple Martin cousins in their wintering area in the Amazon. She then spent another multi-week stopover in late November in northern Minas Gerais, near Parque Nacional do Peruaçu – which was unexpected! Roxa finally completed the last leg of her trip to the southeastern Brazilian coast, where she spent Christmas in Linhares in the state of Espírito Santo. She even made it to the beach city of Praia do Morro in time for Carnaval before winging her way back north and graciously returning her GPS tag to us.
We now have an amazing window into what Roxa and other Western Purple Martins are up to after they leave Oregon and the incredible voyages they undertake. These insights also lead us to more questions. Why does she stop for so long in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Minas Gerais, Brazil? Could she be molting and regrowing feathers at one of these locations where the insect food resources are especially abundant? Does she use the same route every year, and do other Western Purple Martins use similar or different routes? What changes are occurring in the habitats she occupies along the way? Are any of these places threatened by deforestation, pesticide use, or other conservation challenges? We hope to apply what we have learned to help make sure the Western Purple Martin’s migratory journey, connecting people and places across continents, remains a phenomenon we can all marvel at well into the future.
In summer 2023, we recaptured two more returning Purple Martins with new data to add to our understanding of their migration routes and winter homes – we are so excited to process these data and see how they compare to our first recapture! We also deployed 8 more GPS tags on Purple Martins nesting at Fern Ridge Reservoir near Veneta, OR. Those individuals have finished their nests for this summer and will be leaving soon for parts unknown – but a little less unknown than before – so we will also have more chances to add data to this study next summer.
The USFS, USGS, Purple Martin Conservation Association, and the Greenfield Hartline Habitat Conservation Fund supported this work. The research team comprised Sarah Rockwell from KBO, DeAnna Williams of USFS, Joan Hagar of USGS, and Joe Metzler from Cape Arago Audubon Society. Watch the short video On the Wings of Roxa and join her 8,000-mile journey.
Although maybe not as exciting as having an actual “time machine,” KBO Board member Jeff LaLande (archaeologist and historian) will again offer a “Walk Into Ashland’s Past.” It was over a year ago that Jeff first offered this event. It proved to be very popular.
Join us for this extraordinary final family-friendly bird banding outing of the year! This fundraiser for our renowned banding program includes an opportunity to meet and chat with KBO’s new Banding Program Manager, Lucinda Zawadski, PhD., Martín López Aguilar from Mexico, and the KBO interns. You will learn about the importance and unique contribution of bird banding to science and see some of Oregon’s birds up close. You will also get to experience one of our field stations on beautiful Upper Klamath Lake and observe science in action, including mist netting and data collection, AND interact with the biologists. After the field station visit, we have a unique opportunity to bird from the deck of Rocky Point Resort with Lucinda and Martín, with light refreshments provided by Rocky Point.
Join Shannon Rio for three weeks of classes, chatting about our local birds and ending with a field trip. Powerpoint presentations will include, for example, a deep dive into a specific group of birds like woodpeckers and learning fun bird factoids. We will explore the use of a variety of bird guides and info books. This class is collaborative and interactive and meant to be fun. We will meet at noon for 1 1/2 hours, so bring a sack lunch along with your curiosity. Please bring your favorite guidebook for referencing the species we are learning about and sharing with the group. The class will be capped off with an all-day outing to use what you have learned.
My name is Giselle Lares Ragoonanan, I am an indigenous naturalist, assistant field researcher, nature soundscape recorder, and wildlife conservationist. I live on the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago at the end of the Caribbean archipelago. Trinidad was once connected to the mainland, making my country a unique combination of rainforest habitat and Caribbean tropical climate. A geographical relic.
Birds help to calm my anxious thoughts and become omnipresent, trying to understand their evolutionary ability to grow flight feathers, what feathers are used for take-off and landing, song and calls, mating, and molting strategies. It all continues to fascinate me, which is why I am drawn to the science of birds. In January 2022, I began my first internship with a local ecologist working on a bird genoscape project collecting blood samples of 100 rare birds on Trinidad and Tobago for the B10K project assigned by the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, using mist-netting. I have since worked on several projects with this local ecologist as well as projects with our local university (UWI) and the Trinidad & Tobago Field Naturalist Club, of which I am a member. As my knowledge expanded, I was assigned Director of our local community conservation organization (ARC Conservation), working to promote rainforest habitat protection through research and education.
Join KBO’s bird banding team in the field this fall for a bird banding experience. This is a unique opportunity to meet some of our scientists in a small group setting, learn about bird banding, and see some of Oregon’s birds up close. You will experience a beautiful Upper Klamath Lake field station and observe live-action science, including mist netting and data collection. This is an excellent introduction to science in the field for kids and young adults (as well as great for non-birders, almost birders, and fully-fledged birders). Come and have fun in the field with us!
The Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion is a globally significant biodiversity hotspot and area of conservation concern, with some of the most extensive remaining oak ecosystems in the western United States. Oaks in this region are most threatened by conifer encroachment, fire suppression, agricultural development, incompatible grazing practices, non-native species, and severe fire.