Bird Migration and Motus Towers in Illinois

JWP Audubon and the Illinois Wesleyan University Biology and Environmental Studies programs are happy to sponsor a presentation by Mike Avara, a research scientist in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science at the University of Illinois, who will give a talk on Bird Migration and Motus Towers in Illinois.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is an international collaborative research network that uses coordinated automated radio telemetry to track the movement of birds and animals as small as insects. As of 2022, more than 1,500 receiver stations have been installed in 34 countries, although most are located in the United States and Canada. Mike Avara, who bands migratory birds and monitors the Illinois Motus telemetry network, has studied the Northern Saw-whet Owl, the smallest owl species found in Illinois. He has live-trapped and attached Motus tags to saw-whets at banding stations in central Illinois in an effort to learn more about their fall/winter stopover behavior and fall/spring migration trajectories. Mike will report on some of his research findings and discuss how the Motus network has expanded and transformed bird migration research throughout the state.

The presentation will be held in room C101 at the Center for Natural Science (CNS), 201 Beecher Street, Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), Bloomington. Parking is available in the lot just north of the CNS on Beecher Street.