The Motus Wildlife Tracking System

In this episode, NAAS member Matt Anderson interviews immediate past president, Kay Hawklee, and board member, Rick Moore, on the efforts that led to the installation of two Motus wildlife tracking stations in Northern Arizona.  Motus is an international research community working together to study the movement and behavior of birds, bats, and insects (www.motus.org).  The two new stations are designed to capture radio signals from tagged animals and to contribute these data to the motus system to help advance research, education, and conservation.  

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:01

Hi, and welcome to this podcast produced by the Northern Arizona Audubon Society. My name is Matt Anderson, and the subject of today's episode is the recent installation of two high-tech radio telemetry receivers, part of the MODIS Wildlife Tracking System, that have the potential to capture valuable information about bird migration and help advance research, education, and conservation. With me today are two individuals who played key roles in establishing these important new resources in Northern Arizona, Kay Hawkley and Rick Moore. Kay is the immediate past president of the Northern Arizona Audubon Society and a member of the Conservation Committee. An avid birder, she makes presentations to groups, leads field trips and bird walks, and is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic advocate for birds and the places they need to thrive. Rick is a board member of the Northern Arizona Audubon Society. A longtime Flagstaff resident, he worked at the Grand Canyon Trust for nearly three decades and has been involved in conservation for many years. And if you've gone birding in Picture Canyon and Flagstaff or in Munts Park, you have no doubt seen the beautiful nest boxes he built for the Western Bluebirds in those locations being monitored through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's nest watch program. So welcome to you both. Let's bring this technological marvel to life. Kay, can you give us an example of how MODIS is used? Perhaps a story about hummus, a bird made famous by a wonderful article in Audubon magazine.

SPEAKER_00: 1:33

Hi Matt. Thanks for asking this question. Hummus is a federally threatened yellowbill cuckoo that was tagged by the Southern Sierra Research Station's team. They tagged it in Kern County, California, and it used six different conservation areas, including one in Southeast Arizona on its migratory path. So that it was really fun because the researchers must have a really good sense of humor. Each different tagging session, they name birds by food. They're either funny or they're hungry. I'm not sure. But so this time the birds were named after dips, hummus and baba ganoosh. There was a time when they named them after cookies. So one bird was Snickerdoodle and one was ginger snap. But what was so important was it showed that his path, being able to watch one individual and understand that that is the significant value of MODIS, is watching one individual on its migratory path all the way up and down the hemisphere, is that's what's so important. And so that's what Hamas showed was that those conservation areas are critical.

SPEAKER_02: 2:52

What a great story, Kay. Thanks. So now that we know more about what the MOTA system can do, can you tell us a little about how the project got off the ground in northern Arizona?

SPEAKER_00: 3:02

What happened was I was at an Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative meeting in Flagstaff. And I heard about this system where a bird has a little backpack with a tag on it, and there is a receiver. So the tag sends out a signal and the receiver receives it. So the receiver is a station that is stationary. And I just thought, wow, that's really cool. Because what they talked about was how much less stress it puts on the bird if you can follow a bird's movements, but don't have to recapture it for rebanding. So they're banded also, but they also have a tag on them. And this just saves a little bit of stress on the bird. So that's part of why I just got interested in MODIS.

SPEAKER_02: 3:57

So tell us a little bit about how the MODIS system is deployed internationally and how it's a benefit to research and conservation and education.

SPEAKER_00: 4:07

Right. It's a global collaborative research program, and they practice the movements of birds, bats, and large insects. And these tiny digitally encoded tags and nanotags are safely attached to these animals. And then that sends out the signal and it's caught by the receiver stations. To date, there are 958 projects across 34 countries. So it's truly a global thing. There are 2,094 MODIS stations. And so far, there have been 51,591 animals that have been tagged.

SPEAKER_02: 4:53

And when you say animals, you're being expansive here, aren't you? We're really focused on birds, but those nanotags can be applied to other animals. And so what are other organizations tagging?

SPEAKER_00: 5:05

Yeah, so when it says animals, I don't know how many of those are birds, but bats are being tagged and studied because there was the white nose syndrome and crash of bats. Um there's also monarch butterflies have just, they've just developed the technology small enough to be able to tag a monarch butterfly. And our stations are going to be adapted to be able to receive those signals. The others are dragonflies and hummingbirds are on the way. They'll be able to tag those very soon.

SPEAKER_02: 5:39

What a wonderful tool. It's exciting to think about the potential these stations have for all of us. The system seems so straightforward when you describe it. I know, though, that going from ideas to implementation includes many complex processes, starting with site selection. Tell us more about that.

SPEAKER_00: 5:57

So we we ended up with two stations. We started out going for one, but while we're in the process, we realized how it'd really be great to have a station down by the Verde River, because we initially started with the idea of having one above the rim. And I put together a team. We were looking for a location because the site is the first thing you pick. And we mulled where we should put it, where we should put it. And then, of course, Rick found the Lowell Perkins location, which is on Anderson Mesa, which is a globally recognized important bird area for the pinyon jay species. And Rick got in touch with them, and he just he's really the person that made this happen above the ram.

SPEAKER_02: 6:49

Well, Rick, tell us a little bit about that. You helped Shepherd this project from its inception. Can you talk a little bit about the work that went into locating suitable sites and the partnerships that helped us get to where we are today?

SPEAKER_01: 7:01

Sure. Thanks for having me on, also. There are a variety of potential sites, but we had some fairly specific requirements for this. And as we were working on it, the thought occurred to me that maybe we could work out something near the important birding area that she just mentioned on Anderson Mesa, which by the way, there's about 230 species of birds that use Anderson Mesa. And I just thought, you know, there's the Lowell Observatory site there. Maybe they'd be willing to partner with because there is a paved road that goes into this area. It's called the winter. We could access the site if we needed to in the winter. It's inside a fenced enclosure, so we would not have to worry so much about vandalism and things like that. And it's a disturbed area. So we would be able to put it there with sort of minimal fuss for the Forest Service. And so we got all the lowell, and they were very enthusiastic about it. They're very happy to work with us on it. And ultimately that's where it wound up near the old USGS telescope dome building.

SPEAKER_02: 8:22

Fantastic. And I know that this is a very complex project. Finding the site was one step, but also finding the communications resources to be able to install as well. How did that happen? Who was involved, and what can you tell me about that process?

SPEAKER_01: 8:39

Well, installing these is actually relatively straightforward. You know, you what you need to do is put up a tower. And in this case, we needed to do a standalone tower. So it required pouring a concrete foundation and then putting up a 30-foot tower. And the challenges that were associated with this site really is the elevation. You know, if it's more than 7,000 feet, which for those of us who live in Flagstaff, we're used to that, but it's unusual for most of the country. And it was on the edge of Anderson Mesa where the prevailing winds come across it. And so we had high wind loads. And this tower and these antennas needed to be pretty bomb-proof. Three of the antennas are almost 12 feet long, each one of them. And then there's uh four more antennas that are each about five feet long. So there's a good wind load on these things. We also needed a site that had cellular connections so that we could automatically upload the data from the receiver station at the base of the tower. And that is available there. So this turned out to be, you know, just really a pretty perfect site. And we are able to, with our directional antennas, reach out about five miles in any direction. And those three antennas are aimed in different directions to catch birds that are going around the east side of the peak for coming up across the from Rogers Lake and out by Mormon Lake. And we should eventually get some bird signals.

SPEAKER_02: 10:14

Excellent. And this is one of two sites that you're describing. Okay, tell me a little bit more about the site that is down in your neck of the woods.

SPEAKER_00: 10:22

Our chapter does have Above the Rim, which is the Mugion Rim. And I'm located below the rim. And we have a private rancher that is very interested in conservation, the O'Callahans, and they own Rancho Trasperisis, and they have an existing tower that we had seen when we were out there guiding field trips for the Verde Valley Burning and Nature Festival. So it was the perfect structure to just go ahead and attach the antennas to. And the tower is up high on a hill, and it looks down on the Verde River, which is a great migratory corridor. So it's a perfect spot. And we're really excited about that station as well.

SPEAKER_02: 11:11

And how did you get the communications equipment installed there? Who did it and what kind of experiences did you have when that was being done?

SPEAKER_00: 11:20

Well, that was really great. It was both of these stations were installed by Niles Radio Communication, owned by Kelly Cullen. And Rick is, again, the genius that got in touch with Kelly. And Kelly thought that this project would be fun. And he's learned more about why we need to do this project and how popular MODIS is and how important it is. He didn't realize that how many of these towers were located in the United States. So the Eastern Seaboard, they've got a lot of towers. And there are towers on the western coast, but we were a gap. And so it's really exciting that Kelly was able to go out there. And we met one time at Trace Breesis and he looked at the tower and thought, yeah, I can do that. And then he came out there, and one day he put up all of the antennas, and then cables run down to the computer that has a phone chip in it that sends the signal of a bird's detection to Birds Canada. And they're the people that started all of this. And they're the ones that collect the data. What I love about Birds Canada is they don't sell the data. It's shared with all researchers. Some of these in the past have owned the data themselves, but they're very open. So there have been 262 publications that have been based off of MODIS data so far.

SPEAKER_02: 12:56

Thanks for that information, Kay. I had no idea that MODIS data had been used in so many publications. Those numbers are already impressive and will continue to grow. Let's take a short break, and when we return, let's talk a little more about the installation of the communication systems that make these kinds of successes possible. Rick, in addition to your important roles in site identification and planning, you spearheaded efforts to find just the right person to install the high-tech gear. Can you tell us more about that?

SPEAKER_01: 14:31

Sure. I called Niles just because I knew that they did communication towers. Called them Cold. And Kelly Cullen, the co-owner of Niles, answered the phone. And I talked with him about what we wanted to do, and he was very interested in doing it. And he met me out at the Lowell site there on Anderson Mesa. And he just took off running with it. And while he says it was a tiny little project compared to the big multi-million dollar cellular communication towers things that they frequently do, he was completely hands-on on this. He was out there with the backhoe, he jackhammered the rock out that was in the way and poured this four foot by four foot by four foot concrete foundation, set the tower in it. He and his helpers, and you know, got the tower erected, did all of this work, just basically him and maybe a couple of other guys. And we would never have gotten this tower up and in place and anywhere near the time that we did, if we could have ever done it, even without his help. They're absolutely wonderful.

SPEAKER_02: 15:38

Thanks, Rick. So the sites have been selected and the communications equipment installed. Kay, how did you go about testing the system to make sure it was ready for tag birds in the future?

SPEAKER_00: 15:50

Yes, testing the tags was one of the last things that I realized at the very last minutes. Oh, we've got to know that these things are working after all of Kelly and his crew's hard work. So I borrowed some test tags. We took those test tags to different areas the night that the stations were installed. Kelly installed the Rancho Trace Brisus station in one day. And that afternoon, a group of us gathered there and made sure that the tags that we had were working. While we had him there, we needed to make sure that everything was working. And it was so exciting because he was picking up the signal from the two test tags. One was a low-tech tag, which is a nano tag, which they put on Southwest Willow flycatchers. And it's so tiny, it's like a grain of rice in your hand. And the other tag was larger, and it's a CTT cellular technology tag. And it was being picked up also, it was actually being picked up from a little further distance. So we're we're still working on how far away the test tags are picked up, especially right now, before the birds are they're on their way, they're coming.

SPEAKER_02: 17:16

We're still awaiting in the first ping from these stations, and that's going to be a very exciting event. How do you expect that the data are going to be used by the local Audubon Society?

SPEAKER_00: 17:29

Well, one of the things that I think we could do, which is very exciting, is because of this research, I just learned that there is a thing called a peri-urban space. And it's where there is like a green space that a city has put out, made into a green space. And what is very valuable for migrating warblers is peri-urban space with forest margins. So a peri-urban space with forest margins is like a low-value green space in terms of the way we think about it, but it's a high-value green space when you have migrating warblers. So they did a study of Tennessee warblers and how they use these periurban green spaces. So I think that what we could do is we could take that information to city planners, county master planners, and advocate for leaving these forest margins and creating green spaces that really are a high value for migrating birds because this is the hardest time in some of their lives. It's very energy and time consuming for these birds to migrate. And their stopover points are crucial. That's like the most important thing. And one of the things that modus detections can teach researchers is where are they stopping over? What resources do they need? What resources are they using? They actually captured a female American red start that was, she was captured both on her breeding ground and her wintering ground. So knowing what one individual bird does and what resources it uses is crucial to be able to save those particular spots. And then also to make sure that they have the plants that they need. One of the things that we can do is we can focus our conservation efforts on what plants are they using. I mean, this is invaluable. It's it's a lot like monarch. Monarch waste stations have milkweed plants for monarchs. We need to do more of that for birds.

SPEAKER_02: 20:06

So these data help us tie together all that information to be able to advance research, promote conservation, and make some real targeted efforts. One of the things that I found interesting when I was reading about MODIS is that even though a station may only pick up one particular bird, it's true that its movements are likely representative of others of its species. So it really amplified the power of a single hit at any one of these MODIS stations.

SPEAKER_00: 20:36

Yeah, because there's those shorebirds are struggling. And you wouldn't think here in Arizona that we have shorebirds come through, but we do. At our Sedona wetlands, we have shorebirds come through. And there are actually a lot of places up in Flagstaff that shorebirds use. And that brings us back to Anderson Mesa. There are a lot of ephemeral lakes on Anderson Mesa, and that's where people go to find shorebirds. The birders that are up there, they're going to those lakes to find those shorebirds. Lesser yellow legs, greater yellow legs, the dowiters, and large birds also. We've got large waterfowl that use that. American white pelicans use Kachina wetlands. So it's all going to be very interesting to find out and to help enhance our conservation efforts and focus them on where birds need and what they need to be able to refuel during their migration.

SPEAKER_01: 21:38

If I can jump in for one second, Kay would probably know more about than I do. But a lot of people don't understand about the unbelievable trips that these birds make, some of them when they migrate. There are birds who fly from northern Canada down to southern South America. There are hummingbirds that fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico. They make tremendous flights, and there are some really unusual birds that fly across the Pacific in one flight. But the birds that we see up here as they pass through, they're usually going between the breeding grounds and their wintering grounds. Really makes modus need to be an international effort. Because you can take care of their habitat up in their breeding grounds, say up in Canada somewhere. But then if their wintering grounds are falling apart down in, you know, the Yucatan, then you still have a problem. So MODIS being international is critical.

SPEAKER_02: 22:46

Boy, that's a great point. The title of the MODIS project in Northern Arizona is Wings Across Borders, Tracking Birds, Connecting Cultures. It's clear that the data can be useful to researchers, ecologists, conservators. And others who are stewards of nature. Let's talk about the partnerships that help make the MODI stations here a reality.

SPEAKER_00: 23:09

Matt, we couldn't have done this if we didn't have funding from National Audubon. And they are really working hard to have MODIS be a part of their hemispheric conservation plan called Flight Plan. And the other people, I mean, Niles Radio, absolutely, we could never have had these stations without them. But also our partners that are the landowners. Lowell Observatory were just great. In fact, it was really remarkable that we didn't hit any obstacles with either Lowell or the landowners at Rancho Trace Beresis. And Rick had to go through the permit process with Coconino National Forest, and they were wonderful. So we had absolutely wonderful participation from everybody involved. I never did get a no, we can't do that. All I ever got was a yes. How can we help?

SPEAKER_01: 24:12

We should also mention Pat Lorch, who works with the Southern Sierra Research Station, who provided a bunch of initial invaluable advice and guidance on this. Without him giving us a lot of critical information early on, this would have been a much more difficult and longer process because the learning curve is pretty steep on some of this stuff, and he helped a lot.

SPEAKER_00: 24:41

Also, Matt Webb of the Bird Conservation of the Rockies was very helpful in setting up our internal MODIS project. And Greg Clark, who works at Wild at Heart, is really wonderful and helped. He lent us one of the test tags and helped me understand much more about how this project works in between his times where he is relocating burrowing outs down in Phoenix. He took time out to help us with that.

SPEAKER_02: 25:19

So one of the unanswered questions that I have is what does MODIS mean? How did that name come about?

SPEAKER_01: 25:26

Well, I've had a lot of people ask that question, and it took a little research on my part, but it turns out that MODIS means motion or movement in Latin. And that's why they chose that name. So it's not an acronym or anything, it's actually a Latin word for motion.

SPEAKER_02: 25:46

That's fantastic. What a great answer to that question. Thank you for that. Where can people go for more information on the MODIS program?

SPEAKER_00: 25:56

Modus.org has wonderful tools. At the bottom of the screen, there's a map of the globe with little yellow dots. And if you just drill down into those dots, you're going to find our two stations that are active. And I have those up on my screen and then refresh them every morning just in case a bird flies by. And it was so funny because Kelly installed the station and the very next morning, he got on his computer and he was looking, he was checking to see if a bird was going to fly by. But it takes more than 24 hours to for a detection of a bird to upload via satellite. And we also, I didn't have the heart to tell him that even though he installed the station in Flagstaff in December and we were in coats, that it might not be till April or May when we're in shorts until we get a detection or we get a ping from a bird.

SPEAKER_02: 26:57

So these MOTA stations provide terrific capabilities for capturing data regarding birds. How do you see that maybe expanding in the future, Kay?

SPEAKER_00: 27:07

I'm really glad you asked that because NAU is what a wonderful place for research to happen. And so we kind of had this thought of if you build it, they will come. And hopefully these stations can inform research by graduate and undergraduate students in the future. I was on the MODIS website today looking at the 262 publications that have been based on MODIS data. And they're in journals, conservation biology, scientific reports, the journal of ornithology. So that is exactly one of my purposes was for NAAS to be able to help researchers in the future in our area.

SPEAKER_02: 28:00

It's okay, Rick. A year from now, when you look back on the implementation of the MODIS system here in northern Arizona, what will be the memories that you have? What will be your takeaway?

SPEAKER_00: 28:12

One of the most exciting things will be when a bird flies by and pings our station, and then to watch its continued path, because you can do that on MODIS.org. That and the fact that while we're not the researchers, I feel like our next phase of this is to take this into classrooms and help with educating school children on the wonders of migration. So that's the program that I hope to see developing within a year.

SPEAKER_02: 28:46

Boy, that's a great outlook. That'd be a nice thing to come to pass, wouldn't it? Rick, how about you?

SPEAKER_01: 28:52

Well, actually, for me, it will probably be if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want. These MODIS towers were a real stretch for Northern Arizona Audubon build. And even think of it. And Kay deserves the huge amount of credit because she was the one who drove this train, getting it going and keeping it going. And to be honest, at the beginning of it, I thought, really? Northern Arizona Audubon is going to undertake something like this? And they brought it home. Came up with the idea and brought it home.

SPEAKER_02: 29:33

Fantastic. Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00: 29:35

Yeah, but the truth is, if Rick hadn't done what he did above the rim and all the work with the permits and finding Niles Radio, it would have died. The idea would have died. So it is definitely a team effort between National Audubon, Southwest Audubon, and Northern Arizona Audubon Society. It was definitely a team effort.

SPEAKER_02: 30:01

You two are both heroes in my book, and I appreciate all the hard work that went into making this set of MOTA stations a reality. This is an exciting new resource for science and conservation in Northern Arizona. And I know we're all eagerly waiting that first ping. Thank you for your time and your expertise today, both of you very much.

SPEAKER_00: 30:23

Thank you, Matt.

SPEAKER_02: 30:24

As a reminder, more information on the MOTA system can be found on the Northern Arizona Audubon Society's website, including links to the terrific article in the NAU Lumberjack newspaper and an Audubon piece on how hummus, the Western yellow-billed cuckoo wearing a transmitter, is helping land conservation efforts. The site also contains current information on the organization's activities, including a calendar of upcoming events such as field trips and bird walks. And of course, if you are interested in volunteering or making a financial donation, you'll find information on the site to help you with those goals. Thank you for listening to today's episode. We hope you enjoyed it. This has been a production of the Northern Arizona Audubon Society, the voice for birds in Northern Arizona since 1972.