Satellite Telemetry Research:
Long-Tailed Ducks and Snowy Owls

A color-marked snowy owl with just the antenna from a satellite transmitter showing.

Mass Audubon is currently involved in two satellite telemetry research projects, one on snowy owls, the other on long-tailed ducks.

Snowy Owl Telemetry Research Project
The snowy owl project is run by Norman Smith, director of Mass Audubon's Blue Hills Trailside Museum, in partnership with the USGS Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Center and the Owl Research Institute.

During this 3 year program, a small number of healthy snowy owls will have tiny satellite transmitters attached, which will give ongoing data on their locations.

This project will add to our knowledge of the life and migration patterns of this magnificent raptor, the largest owl seen in Massachusetts. Learn more

Long-tailed Duck Telemetry Research
Long-tailed Ducks winter in Nantucket Sound by the hundreds of thousands. As part of Mass Audubon's environmental review of the proposed Cape Wind energy project, Long-tailed Ducks are being studied using satellite telemetry.

This research, conducted in partnership with USGS, will determine where the ducks feed during the day and roost at night, and whether these activities, or the "commute" between them, will be impacted by the wind project. Learn more