FBMP Motus Tower
Forest Beach Migratory Preserve Motus Station

The Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory, Inc. has been working on bringing an extension of the Motus Wildlife Tracking Network to southern and eastern Wisconsin. Our goal is to build a network of towers east-to-west across southern Wisconsin, and north-to-south along the Lake Michigan shoreline, from the Green Bay area southward. To make this happen, WGLBBO has been busy hosting regional meetings, attending workshops, raising funds, and working with a variety of partner organizations and individuals.

We are pleased to announce that as of summer 2019, three stations have already launched thanks to this effort, with more to come! The Motus towers in southern and eastern Wisconsin will be vital for tracking bird migration across Lake Michigan and the state of Wisconsin.

The image below shows the antenna coverage of the first three stations we have established in our southern Wisconsin Motus subnetwork. This image is a screenshot from the Motus Receiver Locations webpage, with imagery by Google.

Map of Motus Towers in WI
From southwest to north, the newest Motus towers are located at:

Thanks to Davor Grgic for a lot of help in setting up these stations!

Next to come are stations at:
  • Madison Audubon Society’s Goose Pond Sanctuary, in Columbia County
  • Milwaukee County Zoo, in Milwaukee County
  • Eagle Valley Nature Preserve, in Grant County
  • A yet-to-be-determined location, near the lower Wisconsin River, in Iowa or Sauk County

 

Contact Western Great Lakes Bird & Bat Observatory for more information or if you're interesting in hosting a Motus tower in Wisconsin!