In collaboration with Salt Lake City’s Tracy Aviary and the Weber State University College of Science, the Ogden Nature Center has installed a Motus tracking station with a detection range of 15-plus kilometers on the 152-acre nature preserve, just south of the LS Peery Education Building. It’s the 30th station of its kind in the state of Utah, which had zero active stations just a few years ago.

The project was funded jointly by the Ogden Nature Center and WSU, while Tracy Aviary donated equipment. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources also participated.

Maya Pendleton, the Ogden Nature Center’s conservation director, said Utah is now among the leaders in the Western U.S. in terms of the number of active Motus stations in the state.

“It’s extremely exciting how quickly this has caught on and how excited people are,” said Pendleton.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System was launched by Birds Canada and consists of a sophisticated network of automated receiving stations that pick up signals from small radio transmitters that have been attached to animals.

Data that’s gathered can help researchers gain a better understanding of migration patterns, animal behavior and habitat use. In turn, that information can be used to affect management plans and conservation efforts for various species.

Per the Motus website, there are currently 1,764 receiver stations in 34 countries globally.

Staff members and volunteers at the Ogden Nature Center are regularly banding birds — and they’ll be affixing Motus transmitters as well — but creatures tagged around the world, including birds, bats, butterflies, dragonflies and other small creatures, also will be tracked when they enter the new station’s range.

As of press time, Pendleton says no data has been collected due to the small number of birds that are currently migrating. However, there’s an expectation that data will come in as species begin to migrate throughout the spring and fall, and she’s eager to share it with other researchers.

“A lot of times in science, everybody is keeping their data to themselves, but this is a completely open-data, collaborative effort. So, my tower will help researchers down in Mexico, up in Canada (and elsewhere),” Pendleton said.

Asked about some of the bird species the station might see, Pendleton noted that WSU is doing work with the Lazuli bunting, a North American songbird. However, she stressed that a variety of creatures can be monitored through the new Motus station.

“Bats are a huge part of this project as well, just because bats are facing issues worldwide from habitat loss and climate change but, more significantly, diseases,” Pendleton said.

In addition to bolstering research and conservation efforts, the data that’s being collected will be used to educate the public about animals that are being tracked by Motus. Tracy Aviary is currently developing an interactive website that will allow people to access information on animals that have pinged local towers.