A Miniature Micropower Cell Phone for Tracking Migratory Animals

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This award supports the development of a miniature radio tag capable of communicating with cell tower receivers normally used by cellular phones. The device is essentially a stripped-down version of a cell phone with low enough mass (2 grams) to permit its attachment to migratory birds or other small animals. To conserve power, a timer in the unit will keep it dormant until preprogrammed dates when the transmitter will activate and attempt to make contact with a nearby cell phone tower. Because the device will remain off during an extended period, and then activate for only long enough to make contact with the nearest receiver, a tiny battery is expected to provide sufficient power for several contacts over a period as long as 2 years. Each unit will communicate a unique identifying number, so that individual tagged birds can be linked to a specific location. Following the contact, the PI will receive notification of the tag identity and location from the cellular network provider by email. The tag will be useful in studies of migration and dispersal, both of which are nearly universal behaviors among animals, particularly birds. Despite their importance, the impact of these behaviors on population dynamics remain major unanswered questions in biology, in large part because of our inability to track Individual animals throughout their annual cycle. The strategy is expected to locate birds to within a 5 km radius, a completely unprecedented level of precision for locating individual small migratory animals. The project is a collaboration of ecologists and electrical engineering researchers that will involve undergraduate and graduate students in collaborative learning opportunities, including both design and field testing of the instrument.