This World Migratory Bird Day, we’re highlighting two Western Tanagers and the incredible journeys they made through Audubon’s Kern River Preserve and beyond.
Located in California’s Southern Sierra Nevada, Audubon’s Kern River Preserve protects one of the largest remaining riparian forests in the state, providing essential food, shelter, nesting, and stopover habitat for hundreds of bird species, including migratory birds like the Western Tanager.
Last year, researchers with
@southernsierraresearch tagged both birds at the preserve with lightweight Motus transmitters, tiny radio transmitters that can be detected by stations across the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. The detections showed just how far these vibrant birds travel and how important stopover habitat is along the way.
During spring migration, the first tanager, a female tagged on May 18, spent a week resting and refueling in the preserve’s lush riparian forest before continuing north through California’s Central Valley all the way to St. John in British Columbia, Canada. That’s nearly 2,500 kilometers, or more than 1,500 miles. Researchers nicknamed her “Sunset.” 🌅 That fall, a second bird, a juvenile of unknown sex tagged on September 14, stayed at Audubon’s Kern River Preserve for 15 days before continuing south and later being redetected in Jalisco, Mexico, about 2,696 kilometers, or 1,675 miles, away.
Birds don’t recognize borders, which is why collaboration across California and the hemisphere is so vital to their survival.
1, 2, 5, 7 Western Tanagers 📷 Edwin Jacobo, researcher and Audubon Kern River Preserve Assistant Manager. (Birds were handled by trained researchers with the proper permits.)
3 Kern River Preserve 📷 Janine Kraus/Audubon
