Motus Monitoring at River Point Bird Observatory
On this page: Introduction| Motus Tracking|Project Objectives |Learn More |Acknowledgements
River Point Bird Observatory
Migratory connectivity—the linkages between northern breeding sites and southern nonbreeding areas—is a critical component to understanding how environmental threats affect migratory songbird populations. BRI’s River Point Bird Observatory (RPBO) has become a valuable resource for interns, graduate students, educators, and collaborating biologists in the development of new research studies on migratory birds.
RPBO is located at River Point Conservation Area in the town of Falmouth, Maine and supported by the Falmouth Land Trust. Surrounded by wetland habitat and open fields, RPBO is a unique ecosystem home to many different birds.
During spring and fall, BRI’s staff and volunteers gather data about the presence and abundance of birds at RPBO, employing standardized bird capture surveys. In addition to bird banding, we document bird observations using eBird.
River Point Conservation Area
Motus Tracking
Motus telemetry station
To obtain data about where these small birds are going, researchers use coded VHF tags, which are part of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. The tags send out signals multiple times per minute and are detected when they fly by strategically placed Motus towers. Automated receivers will record information about the time of the signal and the individual tag identified.
By recording this information, scientists are able to easily share tracking data across projects, as well as increase our understanding of the pattern of species’ stopover movements in migration paths.
The Northeast Motus network has been substantially expanded in recent years and now represents a robust opportunity to learn about the movements and stopover ecology of Maine’s songbird species, while complementing ongoing long-term migration research at RPBO.
2025 RPBO Motus Project Objectives
This goal of this project is to create a Motus testing and training site at RPBO. Specifically, project objectives are to:
1) Better understand wetland-associated bird habitat use during migration
2) Further develop and test the technologies employed by the Motus network
Expanding the use of radio telemetry and Motus tags at RPBO will increase the data that’s available for scientists and landowners for conservation action to manage habitats for songbird species.
Check out our focal species for banding below:
Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)
Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
In spring 2025 we deployed 30 tags on songbirds, and thanks to additional funding from Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, we will continue Motus tagging this fall to collect more data!
Learn More
At RPBO, this work focuses specifically on wetland-dependent songbirds, a group facing significant declines in Maine. These efforts contribute to a broader understanding of migratory connectivity and habitat use for wetland songbirds across their annual cycle.
Check out the video to see a demonstration of how the Motus tags are attached to the songbirds!
By pairing Motus data with long-term monitoring at RPBO, BRI is helping to refine conservation priorities for these species in Maine while also improving Motus network calibration and tracking capabilities, ensuring that this technology can guide habitat restoration and wildlife management efforts more effectively in the future.
After the birds are tagged, they continue on their migration journey! With a network of over 150 Motus towers in the Northeast U.S., as the birds come into the detection range of the tower, the radio tag transmits a “ping”, which is recorded in the online database.
This work ties into larger efforts to inform further technological development and understand the network’s utility to inform conservation decision-making. This goal will be achieved by supporting the development of terrestrial station calibration protocols, using the RPBO station for methods testing.
Collaborations and Funding Support
This project is supported by:
Northern Waterthrush
Photo credits: River Point Conservation Area/Google Maps; Motus telemetry station/Maine Audubon; Focal species/Alex Lamoreaux; Northern Waterthrush/istock-Carol Hamilton
