Migratory connectivity—the linkages between northern breeding sites and southern nonbreeding areas—in birds is a critical component to understanding how threats affect migratory populations.

For small songbirds these links are often hard to determine because tracking these species can be difficult. Using new geolocator technology we can get estimates of daily location on many new species.

The goal of this study is to document the migratory connectivity of Gray Catbirds and Veeries that were affected by contamination on their breeding grounds around the Sudbury River in Massachusetts. By discovering their specific nonbreeding locations in the southern United States, Central America, the Caribbean Basin, or South America, we can better direct restoration funds to those populations that were directly affected by the contaminants.

This project is funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration program to document the migratory connectivity of Gray Catbirds and Veeries that were affected by contamination on their breeding grounds around the Sudbury River in Massachusetts.