Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for October–December 2025
Using Motus Stations to Document Full Annual Cycles of Songbirds by Chris Kelly, Wildlife Diversity Biologist, Western Birds and Carolina Northern Flying Squirrels
W estern North Carolina’s Motus station network has grown to 9 year-round stations, including 5 in the NCWRC Motus Project. This expanding network plays a valuable role in migration research. Autumn migration 2025 brought a surge of detections that tell stories about birds’ full annual cycles and the value of western North Carolina’s habitats for rest and refueling.
Autumn 2025 detections at stations in the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Motus Proj- ect (August 1 to November 30 migration period).
# individual animals detected
# migration research projects served
Station
# species detected
The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center
32
10
19
Pond Mountain
8
6 4 4 2
6
UNC Asheville Observatory
13
10
Kings Bridge
7 3
5 3
WH Silver Game Land
The growing Motus station network documented the full round-trip journeys of some indi- viduals passing through our mountains. Wood Thrush #61130 was tagged by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Guatemala at their Motus Tikal station in December 2024. It passed a Motus station in western Virginia in April 2025, then went undetected during the nesting sea- son. On October 9 and 10, it pinged Motus stations in Asheville (UNC-Asheville Observatory) and Highlands on its way south. By October 19 it had returned to its wintering grounds in Guatemala. A Swainson’s Thrush #62267, tagged in Costa Rica in March 2025, also returned to its 2025 wintering grounds. This individual followed a clockwise migration pattern, traveling north along the Central Flyway to breeding grounds near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and then moving south along the Great Lakes before turning to follow the Appalachian Flyway. It pinged our Kings Bridge Wildlife Conservation Area station on October 9 before reaching Costa Rica just 5 days later! Many migratory birds pause along their journeys to rest and refuel. Repeated detections of an individual at a Motus station allow us to estimate how long a bird remains in one place, known as stopover duration. Longer stopovers often indicate high-quality habitat that provides food and cover during migration. Wood Thrush #65457, tagged in Pennsylvania in August, spent at least a week in range of our Kings Bridge Station (Henderson County) between Octo- ber 3rd and 10th. The station’s antennas cover a landscape mosaic of forest, agricultural lands, and developed areas. During this stopover, the bird likely foraged on caterpillars and soft mast while using forest patches for shelter. Finally, Motus allowed us to track the migration of Wood Thrush we tagged here in western North Carolina during the 2025 breeding season to their wintering grounds. Wood Thrush #63529, an adult male, was tagged on May 22, 2025 and was last detected in Transylvania County on September 23, then reappeared at our Motus station near Highlands on October 9th. October
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