Stretch Funds: Geolocator Data Analysis

I'm so excited to have reached my funding goal in just two weeks! Thank you all for your incredible support. We're doing important research that will open the door to many conservation and management techniques in the years to come.

With the two weeks remaining in the campaign, I've added a stretch goal that would allow us to analyze geolocator data we've gotten back in the past year (for those of us unfamiliar with geolocators, check out Dr. Linkhart's 2016 study). The team used geolocators before PinPoint GPS devices became available to us, and, with them, we were able to first identify how Flammulated Owls migrate--approximately. The geolocators are accurate to about 100 miles, but they can still tell us a lot about migration timing and general routes.

 

Dr. Linkhart's geolocator data in 2016 allowed for the definition of the yellow "Migration" area in the above map.

Data from 2015 was published in the above cited article, but, since then, we've gotten over a dozen geolocators back from migratory birds. With the work we've been putting in with deploying PinPoints, and with Dr. Linkhart's demanding teaching schedule, we haven't had the opportunity to analyze geolocator data from 2016 and 2017. These two years and twelve individual sets of data are just waiting to shed more light on Flammulated Owls' migration ecology.

With your support, we can begin to analyze this data as soon as the owls depart Colorado for their fall migration in November. The amount of money we raise will determine how much data we're able to sift through, with the goal of publishing our findings on all twelve birds.

We can't wait to begin this exciting new endeavor!

 

Flammulated Owl with geolocator affixed using the backpack technique.