In late June, I posted about the new project to track Long-billed Curlew migrations from eastern Montana.

Well, the fall migration has started for these birds and they are moving out!

As of early this week, 4 of the 7 birds had taken off and left the Montana prairie for points south. Currently, one bird is in northeastern Colorado, another in very eastern New Mexico, and the other 2 are in northeastern Durango State, Mexico, very close to each other.

The initial data suggests that the flights south were very rapid, taking only a few days to reach these destinations. Of course, we are still waiting to see if they continue further south or make other movements. A map should be available soon, so keep checking in.

(Image: Long-billed curlew flying above Great Salt Lake, Utah. Source: Lynda Richardson.)

Posted: July 9th, 2009 under Birds, Grasslands, North America.
Tags: animal tagging satellite, colorado, Dave Mehlman, Durango, long-billed curlew, Mexico, montana, New Mexico, satellite tagging