This is a continuation of a 2023 CREO-funded project. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is an international collaborative network of researchers that uses automated radio telemetry to track tens of thousands of individual birds, bats and insects. Motus is based on two components – tiny radio tags and a network of receivers. Motus radio tags are lightweight transmitters that send out pulses every few seconds that are detected by Motus receivers. Receivers are mini-computers hooked to antennas that detect radio signals. The system enables a community of researchers, educators, organizations and community members to undertake impactful research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. By tracking bird movement, PSBO researchers in conjunction with other Motus collaborators, can learn more about avian movement, discover where birds go during migration and how long they stay in specific areas. This information helps guide conservation and habitat management decisions.
This was a continuation of previously-funded installations of two Motus towers in central Puget Sound, adding two more Motus towers in South Puget Sound – one at Point Defiance (Tacoma Parks Maintenance Yard) and another at Skookum Inlet (privately owned). The project has realized early scientific and educational outcomes. Tracking data were contributed to the California Shorebird Migration and Drought Study, revealing that wintering dunlin are traveling through the interior South Salish Sea rather than exclusively along the outer coast as previously assumed — a finding with meaningful conservation implications for inland estuaries and mudflats. PSBO also hosted a full-day technical training workshop in March 2026 to build regional capacity for station maintenance, bringing together partners and volunteers to learn best practices for installation, troubleshooting and data quality, ensuring that the stations will operate reliably and contribute high-quality data to the global network for years to come.
PSBO is also looking forward to moving the network from infrastructure-building into active wildlife tracking. An emerging priority is to collaborate with the Northwest Purple Martin Working Group to develop a tagging effort focused on this species, whose long-distance migrations remain poorly understood in this region. By pairing new tags with our expanding network of receivers, PSBO aims to generate the first detailed movement data for this charismatic aerial insectivore in Washington. ($10,250)