Satellite tracking – the live map
In Autumn 2016, an exciting new effort began to satellite track spoon-billed sandpipers on migration and identify unknown sites using tiny (2g) tags designed by Microwave Telemetry Inc.
PREVIOUS TAGS: Tags were fitted to six spoonies in China and six in Russia, leading us to new staging, wintering and breeding sites, including only the second known autumn moult site in the DMZ of North Korea. We confirmed that birds migrating to Myanmar do so overland, and have addressed the threat of illegal mist netting at sites in southern China with local conservationists informing Chinese authorities who removed the nets – direct and immediate on-the-ground action.
CURRENT TAGS: Another four tags were fitted in October 2019 on the Jiangsu coast, three of which are still transmitting. We lost contact with AH on 29 October, but we’re happy to report that the bird has subsequently been seen alive and well.
Follow their progress below and see where they spend the 2019/20 winter.
LIVE MAP
The information is for illustrative purposes only and should not be used without our permission:
© Nanjing Normal University/RSPB/BTO/WWT.
How to interpret the map
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- Each coloured track represents a different spoon-billed sandpiper:
green for KY, yellow for JY, red for AH and blue for EH.
- Each coloured track represents a different spoon-billed sandpiper:
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- Each ★ star is the last location fix received for that bird. Click on the stars to see the birds’ details.
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- The tracks are produced by joining up location fixes but the birds often won’t have flown in a straight line between the fixes, so the tracks show the approximate route not the exact route.
- Some fixes have large areas of error (in some cases, hundreds of kilometres). While we regularly check it and remove errors, it’s possible that you could see erroneous fixes from time-to-time.
This project is a collaboration between Nanjing Normal University, RSPB, BTO, WWT, and Microwave Telemetry Inc. For the latest news on the satellite tracking efforts, check the satellite tracking blog.
Get involved
Find out how you can support the project, sign up to get the latest news by email, or contact us directly.