Recently, Selva (Research for conservation in the Neotropics) and WCS installed a new Motus wildlife tracking station in Puerto Lempira - the first in eastern Honduras and only the second in the Moskitia. This station, part of a growing network across the Americas, uses radio technology to detect birds equipped with tiny radio tags that pass through the Moskitia, one of the last large forests of Mesoamerica. Each signal helps reveal where migratory birds travel and rest along their incredible journeys.
Left photo by Edwin Miranda: Wood Thrush. Right photo by WCS Honduras. Antenna installed in Puerto Lempira, Honduras.
Why the Moskitia? It’s the second-largest forest left in Mesoamerica, yet it’s being lost rapidly to illegal cattle ranching and fire. Because the region is so remote, we still know surprisingly little about how migratory birds use this vast landscape.
This new station helps fill in a missing piece of the migration puzzle. Now when a tagged bird – like Wood Thrush #63460 – passes through, we’ll be able to see how birds connect the Moskitia with forests as far away as Connecticut. But this is just the first step, and the Moskitia needs many more stations to understand its role in bird migration and its connectivity to North America!
One more step toward understanding – and protecting – the incredible journeys of our shared migratory birds
The installation of the station was made possible through support from the Sam Shine Foundation and Birds Canada.