By JOE BURNAM
DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section has been banding and monitoring prothonotary warblers in south Georgia since 2018. But this year staff also teamed with Georgia College and State University’s Dr. Michelle Moyer and graduate student Sarah Kennedy to catch and fit the bright yellow birds with small geolocators in south and central Georgia.
The goal: Learn more about the warblers’ migration to and from their winter homes mostly in South American mangrove swamps. Insights such as routes and timing can help focus conservation efforts.
DNR and GCSU extract a mist-netted warbler (note the decoy bird nearby). (Joe Burnam/GaDNR)
Prothonotaries are a Georgia State Wildlife Action Plan species of greatest conservation need, and one that has been declining for decades, mostly because of habitat loss and changes to the wetlands and swamps they depend on. (Nicknamed swamp warblers, the birds are the only cavity-nesting warblers in the eastern U.S.) Banding provides data on productivity, survival and site fidelity.
However, the small, ultralight trackers strapped to 22 prothonotaries at Alapaha River Wildlife Management Area and middle Georgia sites this spring have barometric sensors that record altitude, flight time and other data – all key to more accurately mapping wintering and migration location data.
The trick is that the warblers must be caught again to retrieve the locators and download the data. But given that prothonotaries often return to the same place to nest, odds are high for recovering some tags next year. For example, at Alapaha River this spring, five birds banded in previous years were spotted, including an incubating female banded as an adult in 2022.
A prothonotary fitted with an ultralight tracker (Joe Burnam/GaDNR)
As part of that monitoring, the Wildlife Conservation Section banded 26 nestlings and five adults at the WMA near Ocilla.
In collaboration with other researchers, states and the Prothonotary Warbler Working Group, the plan is to continue the work in Georgia to gain a deeper understanding of the species’ life history and critical habitat needs throughout the year. The data gathered will help focus conservation efforts where they are most needed and effective for prothonotaries.
Joe Burnam is a senior wildlife biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Section, part of the DNR Wildlife Resources Division.