White-crowned Pigeons successfully tagged in the Florida Keys

White-crowned Pigeon project begins

A solar-powered transmitter is
attached to a light harness made
of teflon ribbon.  

As the Swallow-tailed Kites fly overhead on their way to wintering areas in South America, ARCI’s field crew is on the ground in the Florida Keys beginning a range-wide collaborative study of White-crowned Pigeons. 

Every national population of this vulnerable species, which occurs only in extreme southern Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean Basin, is threatened due to poaching, poorly managed hunting, or loss of essential habitat. This newly-funded project, with enthusiastic partners in at least eight island nations, will use satellite telemetry to track migrations, determine seasonal habitats, and assess local threats to White-crowned Pigeons. Each individual we mark provides valuable information for the conservation of this sensitive species. 

A vital part of this effort is teaching the public and policy makers the importance of a science-based, cooperative strategy for saving this highly mobile and popular species, which is the primary seed disperser for the highly threatened West Indian hardwood forest community.

Success at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden  

At 8:14 a.m., on 4 September 2013, the field crew successfully trapped and tagged an adult White-crowned Pigeon (the third of the season) at the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden, and outfitted the bird with a light satellite transmitter. The bird was released less than 30 minutes later and flew off strongly and landed in a nearby Jamaica Dogwood tree in the gardens where it rested for over an hour. The team also caught a juvenile bird on August 2nd, and being too young to tag, was banded with a USFWS aluminum band.

A tagged bird is ready for release.

Assistance on the ground
We'd especially like to thank Misha McRae, executive director of the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens, for graciously welcoming our project and personally assisting us as we sought a place to set our mist nets. Thanks to Jessica Padilla for her volunteer help, Barrie Byron for taking photos of us while we had our hands full with the juvenile bird and of course Gwen Filosa for the positive article she wrote up in the Key West Citizen on Monday.

The field crew works at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens where one adult White-crowned Pigeon was outfitted with a 5-gram, solar-powered satellite transmitter. This particular model, made my Microwave Telemetry, is the lightest satellite transmitter available for tracking birds to date. Click here for more information about this technology.