Site of the Week
The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/
The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, which thankfully has the catchy acronym SCPBRG, is a department based at the University of California. Their website is packed with details of their work, all of which makes for fascinating reading, but one project in particular might catch your attention: the scientists are tracking eagles using email.
The researchers are trying to trace the migration paths of bald eagles as they move from Canada to the West coast of America, but traditional banding techniques have only shed limited light on the subject. Now, by attaching small and easily-carried transmitters to a number of eagles, the scientists have access to more data than banding could ever provide - and it’s far easier to collect. The transmitters send information about the location of the eagles, via satellite, straight to the Santa Cruz team by email. The hope is that the research will provide a much clearer view of the birds’ migration patterns, and help conservationists to better understand their needs.
You can read all about this fascinating research, and see the eagles’ progress for yourself, in the Eagle Migration section http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/migration.htm of the site. As well as this you can browse the Raptor Web, which presents tons of background info on birds of prey, and take a look at the rest of the group’s research , which ranges from owls and falcons to the critically endangered California condor.
Richard Northover
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