UNION LEADER • May 3, 2020
A migration tracking system that can track movements of birds, bats and even large insects will soon expand across New England, thanks to a nearly $1 million federal grant. The grant will be used to establish 50 automated telemetry receiving stations in Maine and other New England states. The receivers can track movements of animals tagged with radio transmitters. These nanotags are tiny enough to be placed on monarch butterflies and dragonflies. Biologists will use the smallest nanotags to track fall movements of monarch butterflies and the migration routes, timing and behavior of American Kestrels, the region’s smallest falcon and a bird that has experienced drastic and largely unexplained declines across New England.