Palmetto Pintail Project:
Capture & Tracking
Northern pintails were trapped with various methods at
several locations across South Carolina. Once the birds were fitted with
satellite transmitters, they were released at capture locations and their
movements will be tracked for up to one year.
Waterfowl
trapping occurred after the hunting season. Pintails were trapped along with
other waterfowl during February 2003 using rocket nets and wire traps.
Researchers attempted to trap pintails at both coastal and Piedmont locations.
Ten female northern pintails were captured at three sites – 2 at Two Rivers
Farm near Columbia, 4 at Santee National Wildlife Refuge near Summerton, and 4
at Santee Coastal Reserve near McClellanville. Captured pintails were
transported to Santee Coastal Reserve to be fitted by researchers with a
satellite transmitter. If a hen pintail was captured with a drake pintail, the
pair was kept together.
Each
female pintail was fitted with a back-pack style satellite transmitter
attached with a Teflon ribbon harness. The transmitters weigh about 20 grams,
which is less than 3% of the bird’s body mass. Instrumented pintails were
released at capture locations.
Microwave Telemetry (mention of product name is not state government
endorsement) has programmed the transmitters to send a signal every 65 seconds
for eight hours every six days. After each cycle, the 8-hour period is shifted
forward to the next 8-hour period. This routine conserves battery power and
should allow researchers to track the pintails for up to 1 year, which would
encompass spring migration, breeding, and subsequent fall migration.
An Argos receiver attached to several NOAA polar-orbiting weather satellites
receives the transmitter signal. Pintail locations are estimated from a
Doppler shift in the signal as the satellite approaches and orbits away from
the transmitter. The data is relayed down to earth where it is interpreted.
Four good signals from a transmitter are needed during a satellite pass to
obtain an accuracy of less than 1000m. Data is sent electronically to the USGS-Cooperative
Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University where it is processed
and forwarded to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources at Santee
Coastal Reserve for mapping.
