MOTUS
In 2024, our organization installed a wildlife monitoring system in Salmon Arm as part of a network known as the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (in Latin, “motus” means movement or motion). Motus is an international collaboration that uses a coordinated array of ground receiving stations to track movements of radio-tagged birds, bats, and even insects. This cooperative leading-edge science, technology and outreach programme has become key to meeting conservation and educational needs for a broad range of wildlife species.
About Motus
Tagged animals are automatically detected by a global array of Motus receiving stations as they pass by on migrations. With more than 2,000 receiving stations now in over 30 countries, the work is coordinated by Birds Canada with support from numerous Universities, and the Fish and Wildlife departments of various provinces, states and countries. The data gathered by every Motus receiver is automatically placed in an open-source network, operated by different organizations throughout the Americas and increasingly across the globe. By belonging to the Motus network, researchers can see data gathered by any receiver in the network and not just the receivers they have erected. This enables high resolution tracking of individually identifiable animals over great distances.
Until the advent of modern radio tagging technology, bird banding (or “ringing”, as it is referred to in Europe) was the main bird migration research tool for nearly 200 years. The challenge for researchers was that only a small percentage of bands were ever seen again, because they had to recapture the bird, or at least get close enough to see the band. Now, with the development of radio tags, researchers no longer have to catch the bird again to identify it. Miniature transmitters employed in the Motus system send out a unique code that is logged by any receiver within range. Under ideal conditions, a Motus tag can be detected up to 20 km away. The smallest of these tags weigh only 60 milligrams and are light enough to be used even with larger insects such as butterflies and dragonflies.
The homepage for Motus can be found here. On the website, you will find a map showing receiver locations, as well as records of tagged animal detections and receivers that have detected those tags.
Our Motus Station
Our Motus tracking station (Salmon Arm Bay #11297) is located in Salmon Arm Bay, within Marine Peace Park at the entrance to the wharf. The bay is already widely recognized as one of western Canada’s most important bird habitats. Thousands of shore birds, waterfowl, raptors, songbirds, and bats migrate through the area each spring and autumn, and many also remain here all summer, where they nest and feed. The value of this location as bird habitat suggests it is an ideal site for a Motus receiving station. The station fills a critical void in the Motus array within the BC interior; at present, the nearest Motus receiving stations are at Vaseaux Lake, Monte Creek and Rayleigh.
Our First Motus Detection
Our first tag detection took place on May 27 2025, when a Swainson’s Thrush was detected on its northward spring migration, heading north after overwintering in Panama. The graphics presented here are taken directly from the Motus website to give you an idea of type of information this project generates.
Sponsorship
We greatly appreciate the City of Salmon Arm and the Shuswap Community Foundation (Margaret Haney Fund) for their financial and logisitical support in bringing this project to life. Their funding allowed us to purchase four Vagi antennae and related mounting assemblies, a receiver and other electronic equipment, as well as other hardware items. The funds were also used to hire an electrician to install the antennae array on a City of Salmon Arm street light. The City agreed to store our receiver equipment in a secure storage shed located nearby. We specifically wish to thank City council and staff, in particular Darin Gerow and Gary Buxton, for their cooperation and flexibility in supporting our use of City infrastructure. Without their help and the City's generosity, this project would have been much more difficult to implement.