Nebraska project uses space-age technology to track Long-billed Curlews

Researchers working in the Nebraska Sandhills are using a newly-developed technology to track two adult female Long-billed Curlews as they leave Nebraska and travel across the continent. The Long-billed Curlews were outfitted with micro-sized, solar-powered, satellite transmitters on 19 May 2009 on their nesting grounds in Garden County, Nebraska. Even though the researchers have not caught a glimpse of the curlews for weeks, the transmitters attached to the curlew’s backs continue to send data daily via satellites orbiting in space. In just the past few days, one Curlew started its "fall" migration and left Nebraska, then flew through Kansas, and was last recorded in northern Oklahoma on 21 June.

The purpose of the project is to understand where Nebraska’s Long-billed Curlews go after they leave the state. "Even though nesting habitat here in Nebraska is critically important to these birds, any one curlew may spend as much as 75% of the year somewhere else", said Iowa State graduate student Cory Gregory. Gregory, who caught the birds and attached the transmitters, added that "linking nesting sites to migratory stopover sites and wintering areas will aid conservation efforts".

The researchers have created a website and interested individuals are invited to follow the Long-billed Curlews as they migrate across the country. "Technology not only allows us to track the curlews, but technology also gives us the opportunity to present the information to anyone, any where in the world, essentially at the same time we receive it", said Stephen J. Dinsmore, Iowa State Assistant Professor and a lead on the project. The website will be updated frequently. Larkin Powell, Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Joel Jorgensen, Nongame Bird Program Manager with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, are also leaders on the project.

Long-billed Curlews are large, distinctive, migratory shorebirds with very long down-curved bills. While still relatively numerous, Long-billed Curlews are a species of conservation concern. The species breeds in rangeland in the Great Plains and Intermountain West, including the Nebraska Sandhills and Pandhandle. Long-billed Curlew winter along the Gulf and Pacific Coast, and at interior sites in Mexico and southern Texas.

The size and weight of the satellite transmitters are strictly limited to ensure that they do not impede the bird’s ability to fly. The transmitters are attached with a Teflon ribbon harness. The transmitters will continue to track the curlews as long as the small solar panel continues to charge the unit, and, as long as the bird survives. It is hoped they will function for more a year or more.

The project is a partnership between Iowa State University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Sandhills Task Force, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Major funding is provided by the Nebraska State Wildlife Grant Program. The Sandhills Task Force generously sponsored one of the Satellite Transmitters.

More information about Long-billed Curlews and the project can be found at: www.BirdsNebraska.org.

Contact: Joel Jorgensen, 402-533-0924, joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov