Connecting Colorado to Continental Bird Migration

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Help Us Track the Hidden Journeys of Colorado’s Birds!

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Every spring and fall, millions of birds move through Colorado—resting, feeding, and preparing for journeys that stretch from Canada to Central and South America.

But here’s the truth:

👉 We still don’t fully know where “our” birds go.
👉 We don’t know how long they stay.
👉 And we don’t know what challenges they face along the way.

That’s about to change.

Denver Audubon has received approval to install a Motus Wildlife Tracking Station at the Kingery Nature Center—a powerful tool that will allow us to follow birds far beyond our borders.

With your support, we can connect our local habitat to a hemispheric network of over 2,000 tracking stations, helping scientists answer some of the most urgent questions in bird conservation.

🔬 WHAT IS A MOTUS STATION?

A Motus station uses radio telemetry to detect tiny tags placed on birds. Each tag emits a unique signal—like a fingerprint—that can be picked up by stations across North America.

📡 One small bird tagged in Littleton could be detected:

In Wyoming days later
Along the Gulf Coast during migration
Or even deep in Central America months later

At Kingery, this means we can:

Track migration timing and routes
Understand how birds use our habitat
Contribute to global conservation science

Stations can detect tagged birds from 15–20 km away under ideal conditions, making Kingery part of a much larger scientific network .

💡 WHY THIS MATTERS

Research is showing just how complex—and fragile—migration is:

Birds time their departures based on weather patterns like atmospheric pressure
Many species travel thousands of miles with narrow survival margins
Even small disruptions—like habitat loss or pesticide exposure—can delay migration and impact survival

This project will help answer critical questions like:

Are birds using Kingery as a stopover site?
How long do they stay?
Does habitat quality here affect their survival later?

🌱 LOCAL ACTION, GLOBAL IMPACT

The Kingery Nature Center sits in an important ecological corridor used by migratory birds for nesting and stopover habitat .

By installing a Motus station, we will:

✔ Strengthen conservation planning in Colorado
✔ Guide habitat restoration at Kingery
✔ Partner with leading researchers and organizations
✔ Inspire thousands of visitors through real-time science

And most importantly…

👉 Show how a single place in Colorado connects to ecosystems across an entire hemisphere.