WLI Bulletin September 2025

In 2019, the 1st Motus station in Argentina was installed at the San Antonio lighthouse, located at the southern end of the Samborombón Bay Ramsar Site, Punta Rasa. In a collaborative effort between the guadaparque staff of the Ministry of Environment of the Province of Buenos Aires and researchers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it was possible to equip a monitoring system that uses automated radio telemetry to track wildlife to contribute to its conservation and weave a collaborative research network.

A research station that can track migratory birds, bats, and insects to provide researchers with information that collaborates so that decision-makers and biodiversity managers can take measures and actions to conserve the populations of these species, whose numbers are declining at an alarming rate.

Compared to other technologies, automated radio telemetry makes it possible to track animals with high temporal and geographical accuracy, over great distances. The Motus open source database and network are powered by Birds Canada, being the largest collaborative automated telemetry system in the world with more than 2062 stations currently in place and under continuous development.

The four antennas that make up the station are directed towards different sectors of the Rincón de Ajo Provincial Nature Reserve and the Samborombón Bay Wildlife Refuge.

Then, later in 2022, 12 specimens of the Red Knot (Calidriscanutus rufa) were captured and equipped with radio transmitters (nanotags) to establish presence, habitat choice and permanence times of the species during the summer in the protected natural areas that make up this important wetland.

In the capture, they were marked with metal rings on the right tarsus with the inscription PR02+numbering+e-mail bs@gba.gov.ar and with orange plastic flags coded with 3 black letters on the left tibia, allowing subsequent identification at the individual level.

The devices were placed on their backs and morphometric measurements such as weight, beak (culmen), tarsus, abdominal profile, ages, molt and long wing were taken.

For subsequent follow-ups, they were monitored with binoculars and telescopes with vehicle and walking tours during the months of July, August and September. We also have the participation of the reports of citizens who visit the wetland to take photographs. Then the data stored by the receiving equipment were downloaded to the station for processing and analysis.

The Motus station detected 11 individuals between two and 13 times each. While in the monitoring we recorded 10 individuals between two and six times each.

The specimen equipped with the Nanotag #339 AHU flag was last detected by the station on July 16 but was observed in monitoring from July 29 to September on several occasions. This suggests that both activities are necessary and complementary for the study of wildlife and that in turn the use of radio-transmitters does not affect the survival or movements of individuals.

Implementing a greater number of radio transmitters to continue the studies of this species would enable a greater understanding of the permanence and use of space in the different life cycles in the protected area. To this end, it is necessary to develop efforts to achieve collaborative and interdisciplinary actions, optimizing the different projects that make up the conservation programs; research; public use; and participation, education and environmental communication of the Management Plan of the Provincial Natural Protected Areas of Samborombón Bay for the conservation of this and other species that use the environments of this important Wetland.

Swifts and swallows are very important component of the aerial ecosystem. Once a common sight in our towns and countryside, the swifts and the swallows have been disappearing fast from our skies all over the world. Although these belong to different families of bird (Swifts belong to the family Apodidae and the swallows to the Hirundinidae), these are similar in their use of habitat, food and habits. While foraging, swifts keep themselves high up in the sky and swallows fly low over the ground. Swallows take rest while foraging by perching on trees or electric wires.

The Society for Research in Ecology and Environment (SREE) conducted road transect and questionnaire surveys in two districts of northwestern India in Bharatpur and Bayana between December 2024 and July 2025 to understand abundance and diversity of swifts and swallows and to understand peoples’ knowledge and perception of these birds.

A 100 km road transect and six-point counts recorded one species of swift i.e. House Swift Apus affinis and four species of swallows i.e. Barn Hirundo rustica, Wire-tailed Hirundo smithii, Red-rumped Hirundo daurica and Streak-throated Hirundo fluvicola Swallows. We found a communal nesting colony of Streak-throated Swallow (900 nests) in a cemented highway bridge built over a seasonal river in Bayana, and 50 House Swift nests under the roof of a 4 m tall old building in Bharatpur. A single tunnel shaped nest of Red-rumped Swallow was also recorded in a culvert and a cup-shaped nest of Wire-tailed Swallow in Bharatpur. A maximum of 1000 Barn Swallows were sighted in our area foraging over freshwater wetlands. These are migratory to our region, departing during March. Our team met school principals, teachers, students and villagers to make them aware of these birds in their localities and to initiate an interest in monitoring these birds.

Our questionnaire survey revealed that urban people keep less knowledge of these birds (15%, N = 30) than rural people (60%, N = 30). However, both groups had minimal knowledge when it comes to differentiating between swift and swallow. Of all respondents, only 25% kept knowledge of the nests of these birds. We feel that there is an urgent need to conduct an ecological study on swifts and swallows in the region. A survey to locate nests of all these birds is required. Activities to educate students, teachers, local people about the importance of these birds should be also taken up urgently.

The wetlands of Matuku Link in Auckland, New Zealand, are a habitat for its namesake, the nationally critical matuku [Australasian bittern] and other rare and uncommon water birds such as the puweto [spotless crake], pateke, [brown teal] and maataata [fernbird]. They also though, are a habitat for several exotic mammalian species:  stoats, ferrets, & rats and protecting our native fauna means controlling the numbers of these predators.  Recently a new trapline cut through dense scrub and on steep slopes, was established close to the wetland edge with a number of traps housed in wooden boxes spaced at appropriate intervals.

This part of the wetland has not been part of the predator control previously owing to the difficulty of access. As such it could be anticipated that the unwanted predators would be at peak population density. Around the same time as the trapline was being discussed, several people in the local community contracted leptospirosis, and eDNA testing found the bacteria were significantly present in the adjacent lake water. Vectors of the organism include rodents so a PhD student contacted us to see if we could provide freshly caught rats for analysis. Freshly caught rats are to be dissected and the kidneys removed for analysis and extraction of DNA and any leptospiral DNA found can be further analysed to determine the serotype. In this way it is hoped to find how prevalent the leptospiral bacteria are in this local population of rats and which serotypes are present.

Simple snap traps and peanut butter lure are attached to trees and covered with a decidedly low-tech cover [cut down plastic milk bottles] as in the photos below. The cover helps preserve the lure from rain and assists in directing the approach of the rats for a humane kill.

This new trapline therefore is not only benefitting environmental health but also may give valuable data for human health.