U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant: Migratory Bird Monitoring and Conservation

Specifically, this project will use nano-tag transmitter technology and a network of receivers to track Roseate Terns and Piping Plovers. Capture and tagging will occur at sites along the northeastern U.S. Atlantic coast. Piping Plovers will be captured on their breeding grounds during the incubation period. Roseate Terns will be captured during two phases. The first of phase will occur during the breeding period, to collect data during the chick-rearing period, and the second phase will occur during the post-breeding period to ensure tag retention through migration. Both species will be tracked using an array of automated radio telemetry stations along the U.S. Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. Existing data analysis methods will be utilized to assess the exposure of Roseate Terns and Piping Plovers to offshore wind energy facilities in the Atlantic OCS, and examine timing, length of stay, and use of migratory stopover and wintering sites in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region, intends to make a sole source award of an cooperative agreement to the University of Rhode Island. Funding for this project is provided under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 as amended, 16 U.S.C. 742a -754, and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 2901-2911. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is mandated to protect migratory bird species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918), with additional protections for species listed as Endangered or Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (1973).