Tracking Magellanic Penguins
Satellite Tracking Devices Tell Scientists Where Migrating Birds Go
How do Magellanic Penguins get from their northern feeding grounds to their breeding grounds in Argentina. Satellite tracking may tell us.
Scientists have attached satellite tracking devices to Northern Bald Ibis to discover where they spend the winter. They’ve put satellite devices on Bar-tailed Godwits, tracking their movements and proving that the birds are champion migrators. Now Dr. Dee Boersma and other scientists at the University of Washington are hoping to find out a lot about how the Magellanic penguin gets back to its breeding grounds in late August, September, and October.
Magellanic penguins breed in southern Argentina, Islas Malvinas, and the Falklands. When it’s winter in the Southern hemisphere, they migrate north. Their migration route back to the breeding colony is something of a mystery, but it can be a dangerous journey. These days, Magellanic Penguins are competing with fishing fleets for food, getting caught in fishing nets, and getting covered with oil from unknown sources. Scientists want to find out where the oil is coming from if they can, and map out the migration route so that they can make it safer and protect the food supply of the birds.
Healthy penguins that have gotten their feathers oiled and were subsequently cleaned up by people will be the ones chosen to carry tracking devices. Once they’re released back into the wild later this month, you’ll able to watch their progress on a tracking map at the Penguin Studies web site.
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