Motus receiver maps Goldcrest migration

A Goldcrest tagged as part of the Motus project was recently recorded making a North Sea crossing.

The bird was tagged on the Frisian island of Vlieland, off the Dutch coast, on 20 October. The next morning, the same bird was detected flying past the Spurn Bird Observatory Motus receiver.

Signals were received between 05.30 am and 05.34 am, indicating that the Goldcrest had continued in a north or north-west direction over Spurn after making landfall.

After completing a North Sea crossing, the tagged Goldcrest continued inland from Spurn Bird Observatory.

More in-depth information on the bird's journey is held by the research team led by Professor Sander Lagerveld from Wageningen University, studying the migration ecology of small passerines and bats. See Motus.org and click on the yellow dot over Spurn on the global map of receiver stations.

This is, say researchers, "a great example of the collaboration between researchers undertaking Motus tagging and the citizen science of hosting a receiver with no need to recapture the bird".