Satellite-tracking the Migrations of Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus): Last spring, researchers at the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary--Virginia Commonwealth University and The Nature Conservancy of Virginia satellite-tracked a female Whimbrel, Winnie, who amazed us all with her unexpected, nonstop route between coastal Virginia and breeding grounds in northwestern Alaska. Last fall, the research team tracked the migratory route of Willy, a male who traveled from Virginia to the Caribbean and endured four hurricanes before continuing on to wintering grounds in Guyana (northern South America). This spring, the team—thanks to their ongoing supporters—began what has been another successful season of satellite-tracking the migratory routes of more Whimbrels – five in all – to their breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska. One of the birds, Hope, has since started the fall migration, flying from Canada’s Hudson Bay towards the Caribbean on a nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean. To learn more and to follow maps of this year’s stars (Boxer, Fowler, Elki, Hope, and Indi) or revisit the famous routes of Winnie and Willy, visit the Center for Conservation Biology, or Seaturtle.org .

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus): Two adult female Long-billed Curlews are being tracked by the Nebraska Long-billed Curlew Satellite Tracking Project, a collaborative effort among researchers at Iowa State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and the project’s many supporters. These birds, Sandy and Bailey, were outfitted with satellite transmitters in Garden County, Nebraska, on 19 May 2009; as of the most recent Web posting (31 July), both are at coastal lagoons in Tamaulipas, Mexico.