The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is an open-source, international collaborative network of community hosted radio-telemetry receivers and wildlife researchers designed to track the movement of flying migratory animals, including birds, bats, and insects. This data is used to document the movement of specific species and individuals, while investigating a wide variety of wildlife movement questions.
Male Painted Bunting banded at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, NC.
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System houses Motus towers across the country to reveal the connectedness of the Reserves, despite geographic separation and unique local characteristics across site.
Across the Reserve System:
- 18 Motus stations
- 65 species tracked
- 744 individual animals tracked
Each new Motus station installed within the Reserve System will help to enhance collaboration within reserves and advance their scientific priorities.
Project documents
The NERRS Science Collaborative project page for the Motus systems throught the Reserve System.
A short introduction video explaining the Motus Projects within the NERRS.
The Motus project team demonstrated how to use the products that they developed and discuss how to learn more about Motus and the state of the network within the NERRS.