13 February 2009 – A new study published in Science Vol. 323, no. 5916 announces surprising discoveries about songbird migration. York University biology professor Bridget Stutchbury and her team mounted dime-sized geolocator ‘backpacks’ on 14 Wood Thrushes and 20 Purple Martins breeding in Pennsylvania in 2007. They were then able to track the birds’ fall migration to South America, and their spring 2008 journey back to North America, before retrieving the geolocators from five Wood Thrushes and two Purple Martins last summer.

Data from the geolocators indicated that songbirds can fly in excess of 500 km per day – three times faster than previously estimated. As well, the study revealed astonishingly rapid long-distance movements during spring migration; the birds’ overall migration rate was two to six times more rapid in spring than in fall. To learn more, visit the York University website.

The paper has been received with enthusiasm, and many bird researchers, including Bird Studies Canada scientists, will be using this technology for future studies.