By: Aaron Coolman

Photos courtesy of Brock and Sherri Fenton

I have spent much time over the last twelve months researching Northern Saw-whet Owls, banding and tracking them around eastern North America. The Northern Saw-whet Owl Migratory Connectivity Project utilizes the Motus network that WCT has worked tirelessly to build and maintain since 2016, deploying Nanotags on saw-whets that will provide tracking data on individuals for nearly two years. My research sent me in pursuit of breeding and migratory hotspots for this secretive species, where I found myself in the remote reaches of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Ontario’s boreal forests, to the granite balds and deep fjord river systems of Quebec’s Saguenay region on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, to coastal and montane banding stations in Maine and Pennsylvania, respectively. Additionally, scientists in West Virginia and Nova Scotia invited me to investigate and track breeding saw-whets at their local study sites.

In all, I drove over 5,000 miles visiting different locations and researchers- the effort has paid off in a big way. The resulting dataset is the largest and most successful telemetry project ever conducted on Northern Saw-whet Owls, and the battery life on all of the Nanotags still have at least 12 more months of power. So far, there have been:

• 124 Nanotag deployments.
• 61 movement detections.
• 5 locations deployed over 10 Nanotags during fall migration.
• 1 location deployed 22 Nanotags during post-breeding dispersal. 
• 2 locations deployed 3 Nanotags on actively breeding owls. 
• One individual has been detected in the same location for over 100 days and is likely a year-round resident at this location, which has never before been documented.
• 10 owls have flown over 500km during fall migration, some of which have traveled nearly 1,000km.

It was an exhilarating field season, meeting scores of other biologists, scientists, conservationists, and volunteers while having the opportunity to see new landscapes that I had only ever read about or seen photos of. However, the off-season was not long as I have already begun the next (and last) season of fieldwork for this project. Throughout the winter I will be spending my weekends banding and tracking Northern Saw-whet Owls at Powdermill Avian Research Center outside of Pittsburgh, and at Assateague Island National Seashore in Worcester County, MD. For these efforts, I will deploy radio Motus tags that will last nearly two years, and GPS tags that will provide super-precise location data for up to a year.

The primary goal of the project is to determine if Northern Saw-whet Owls utilize the same migration corridors year-to-year, or if they prefer a nomadic approach. Secondary objectives include describing the potential for a residential breeding population of saw-whets in the Central Appalachians of Pennsylvania, in addition to documenting spring migration departure dates. I have created a 2024 Summary providing visual snippets of the results from the project thus far, and a sneak peek into what the plans are for 2025.

**Data published in this blog are current as of 5 February 2025.

By: Aaron Coolman, Motus Technical Coordinator and Avian Ecologist

This past summer, I embarked on a remarkable journey to unravel the mysteries of one of North America’s most elusive bird species—the Northern Saw-whet Owl. My travels took me from the dense boreal forests of Nova Scotia, Canada, to the wild shores of Lake Superior, Michigan. In partnership with renowned researchers, I set out to capture and tag these tiny owls with cutting-edge Motus transmitters to unlock new insights into this secretive bird’s migration and breeding behaviors.

Armed with Motus technology, which allows us to track wildlife movements in unprecedented detail, we hope to shed light on where Northern Saw-whet Owls travel after breeding, how they navigate vast landscapes, and the hidden corridors they follow as they move across North America. What we discover may change how we understand these charismatic birds—and it’s all part of WCT’s commitment to advancing conservation science.

My first stop was Nova Scotia, where I teamed up with Randy Lauff in the town of Antigonish. Just outside of town lies Archibald Lake, a freshwater lake recently designated a Provincial Wilderness Area. Spanning 684 hectares, this protected land is home to old-growth forests, wetlands, and critical habitat for moose, Brook Trout, Atlantic Salmon, and a diversity of breeding songbirds, including the Canada Warbler and Evening Grosbeak. Among these thriving species is the Northern Saw-whet Owl, which nests in the dense stands of Black Spruce, Balsam Fir, and Eastern Hemlock that blanket the region.

For more than 20 years, Randy has maintained a network of nest boxes for saw-whets in eastern Nova Scotia. When I heard that he was recording his most successful breeding season yet, I asked if he was interested in deploying Motus tags on the adult females tending their nests. He enthusiastically agreed, and I was on my way to Canada within days.

The process of capturing and tagging the owls was quick. The female owls were found sitting faithfully inside their nest boxes, incubating their eggs. After carefully weighing, measuring, and banding each owl, I attached the Motus tags, which are lightweight and harmless to the birds. Within 30 minutes, each owl was released back into her nest box, resuming her incubation duties. These were the first Motus-tagged Northern Saw-whet Owls in eastern North America known to be actively breeding—a milestone for our research!

Only a few days after returning from Nova Scotia, I was off again—this time to Lake Superior, Michigan. Here, owl banders Chris Neri and Nova Mackentley have uncovered a previously unknown breeding population of Northern Saw-whet Owls. Since the mid-2010s, they have banded over 200 juvenile saw-whets every summer, from July through mid-August. This discovery is especially significant because saw-whets were not previously known to breed in such numbers in the lower 48 states, particularly at this low elevation. Most breeding activity in the U.S. occurs in high-altitude regions like the Rocky Mountains or the cloud forests of New Mexico and Arizona.

With the help of Chris and Nova, we successfully deployed 22 Motus tags on adult and juvenile owls. If you take a close look at juvenile saw-whets, you’ll notice that their plumage is quite different from the adults. Juveniles sport dark chocolate feathers on their heads and backs, while their bodies are rich golden-brown, resembling freshly baked cookies. Remarkably, within 12–16 weeks, they’ll molt these feathers and take on the appearance of an adult owl—a stunning transformation that’s like a tiny owl magic trick!

By tagging both adult and juvenile saw-whets, we aim to answer important questions about their post-breeding behavior. Where do they go after the breeding season? When do they leave their nesting areas? Will they return to the same locations next year? And where will they spend the winter months? The Motus Wildlife Tracking System offers us an unprecedented opportunity to gather this data, and WCT is proud to be leading the charge in this vital area of migration science. Be sure to follow along by keeping up with our owls at Project #753 on motus.org!

While my research has taken me deep into northern forests, you don’t have to travel far to encounter the magic of the Northern Saw-whet Owl. In fact, these migratory owls visit our very own backyards in Willistown! Every winter, saw-whets find shelter in the dense hedgerows, riparian corridors, forest pockets, and native shrub gardens scattered throughout the region. WCT has been actively involved in monitoring saw-whet owl migration since 2012, banding these charming little owls at Rushton Farm as part of Project Owlnet. This research forms the basis of my Master’s of Science thesis at the University of Delaware, with significant support from Project Owlnet, who generously provided funding for the Motus tags used on these trips. With your help and support, we are uncovering the hidden lives of Northern Saw-whet Owls- illuminating previously unknown parts of their lives.

This research is being conducted as the basis for my Master’s of Science thesis, where I am enrolled at the University of Delaware. Significant support comes from Project Owlnet, who has gracefully provided me with funding to purchase research materials, such as the Motus tags used on this trip.

By Aaron Coolman, Motus Technical Coordinator and Avian Ecologist

In January, the Bird Conservation Team traveled to West Virgina to join 150 of North America’s most prominent ornithologists. Attendees came from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and regions of Central America. Winter’s blessings were clearly in our favor, greeting us in the mountain highlands of West Virginia in a soft, fleece covering of snow. Dark-eyed Juncos scattered the campus in contrasting shades of charcoal and snow-white bellies atop pink legs, and Carolina Chickadees served as tour guides, escorting the hurried scientists between adjacent buildings. We gathered to meet in person for the first time to discuss the Road to Recovery (R2R) movement which focuses on the effort to recover bird species in rapid decline throughout the U.S. and Canada.

R2R was started on the heels of the famous 3 Billion Birds article published in the journal Science. This groundbreaking publication presented the most comprehensive and up-to-date population trend analysis for 529 species of birds known to breed in the U.S. and Canada, and the results were staggering. Since 1970, nearly 3 billion breeding birds have vanished from our continent. Furthermore, 112 species have experienced a global population decline of 50% over the last 50 years and are expected to continue declining over the next 30 years. These birds have been dubbed the “Tipping Point Species”. As a frame of reference, there are approximately 700 bird species that regularly breed in the U.S. and Canada on an annual basis. This report on impacted species wasn’t a gut punch- it was an abdominal rupture.

The R2R team recognized that the current conservation efforts weren’t working, so they called on a new group of talent to enhance their efforts. Social scientists were hired, and quickly new strategies for on-the-ground conservation were implemented. Instead of remaining siloed in echo chambers of technical language and research publications, social scientists emphasized the importance of engaging community members and local stakeholders early in the planning stages of new or existing projects. As a result, the main theme of this movement is that the “human dimension” is critical to success, yet is frequently left out of the equation by scientists. When time is taken to include those who are impacted by conservation initiatives, projects can move towards a common goal of co-production rather than scientists being seen as “luddites” or enemies of societal progress. Preserving a critical wetland hosting native amphibians, reptiles, and fishes; changing a developer’s plans to include wildlife-friendly designs; convincing a forester to leave a selection of mother trees to promote reforestation and early-successional habitat- all of these scenarios and more come to life when scientists extend beyond their labs and into real conversations with key stakeholders.

After the first day of presentations, I quietly said to my coworkers: “Doesn’t WCT already implement many of these practices?” Lisa Kiziuk, Director of Bird Conservation Program, chuckled and replied: “We absolutely do.” And it’s true. We are oftentimes reaching beyond the boundaries of our preserves to meet the community where they are at. The Grassland Bird Collaboration (GBC) is a prime example. For more than a decade, Zoe Warner, GBC Program Manager, has been monitoring breeding birds utilizing the vast hay meadows of Doe Run in southern Chester County and building relationships with the local landowners and farmers. In 2022, WCT officially created the GBC and has since hosted bi-annual meetings in Doe Run to further engage the community responsible for these grasslands. Farmers and landowners, together with conservation partners, have been invited to share their thoughts and experiences with the program which has produced invaluable feedback. This engagement has been crucial to the success of the program, and since its inception ecosystem indicator species such as Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Grasshopper Sparrow breeding numbers have noticeably increased throughout Doe Run.

R2R emphasizes that conservation biology requires scientists to work collaboratively. Our efforts are immeasurably stronger when people with diverse skillsets work towards a common goal. These efforts can be focused on single-species recovery, such as the Golden-winged Warbler Working Group or Evening Grosbeak Working Group championed by the R2R movement. Or they can support a hemispheric suite of species, like the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. Motus is a network of Automated Telemetry Receivers that are built and monitored by independent researchers primarily across the Americas, Europe, and Australia. WCT first became involved in this global network in October, 2016, with the first station of many being installed right in our backyard at Rushton Farm. Thanks to our dedicated partnerships with Powdermill Avian Research Center, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and many others, the Northeast Motus Collaboration has installed, upgraded, and actively monitors over 160 Motus stations.

As the coverage of this network continues to expand, researchers can now study animal migrations at national and international scales. Our own Shelly Eshleman, Motus Avian Research Coordinator, has been using Motus to analyze migration patterns and habitat use of Eastern Towhees, an early successional or “shrubland” habitat specialist whose population is in precipitous decline. Our colleagues from western Pennsylvania are using the network to investigate migration patterns and population declines of Evening Grosbeaks, perhaps the most charismatic of the winter finches. The GBC has spearheaded an effort to study migrations of Bobolinks in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Maine to compare how different populations migrate using Motus.

The impetus for our involvement in Motus was an idea from Scott Weidensaul and David Brinker, who together with Lisa thought Motus would be an exceptional opportunity to study the migration patterns of Rushton Farm’s favorite owl: the Northern Saw-whet Owl. I am thrilled to announce that in autumn of 2024, I will be bringing our 7-year Motus journey back to the place it started. Through a collaborative effort with Project Owlnet and the University of Delaware, I will be leading a project alongside Scott and David to study the migration patterns of Northern Saw-whet Owls using the Motus network we have worked so hard to build. I am inspired every day to work with as talented a group of dedicated conservationists and scientists as those at WCT and I am delighted to bring this new project to our organization. The Road to Recovery conference in Shepherdstown taught me many things, but the one that stands out is that we can’t accomplish our goals alone, and certainly not without support from a community. The one we have in Willistown is special.