Light Weight Tracking Technology Could Help Reveal Mysteries of Golden-winged Warbler Decline
Audubon and partners across the South and Midwest are using radio tags to track a rare songbird.
Audubon Conservation Biologist Aimee Tomcho spent the past few weeks stalking a tiny songbird through the steep hills of Yancey, Madison, and Ashe counties in western North Carolina. Using mist nets strung through the underbrush, Tomcho and her colleagues captured Golden-winged Warblers and outfitted seven with tiny radio trackers, strapped snugly to their rumps.
The devices, known as nanotags, will give researchers an unprecedented look into the movements of this rare bird, which is imperiled across much of its range. In southern Appalachia, Golden-wing populations have declined as much as 98 percent since 1966.
