In Mid-December, 2021, Dixon Water Foundation’s Mimms Unit ranch in the Marfa Grasslands became the first location in the Chihuahuan Desert to host a Motus wildlife tracking station. Motus is an international network of tracking stations that will document when radio-tagged migratory wildlife species come within the range of the a deployed station. This range is typically around 15-20km (9-12 miles). The station utilizes several radio antennas that coincide with widely used radio collar technologies, as well as a solar powered logger that catches observation data which is uploaded over a cellular network.
The Mimms Unit was selected as a host site due to the presence of over-wintering grassland birds that are the focus of several studies researching habitat requirements and causes of population declines for species of concern. Many birds spend their breeding seasons in the Northern Great Plains and migrate south to the Chihuahuan Desert for the winter. The goal of this station is to record the presence of radio-tagged birds to help answer questions about when and where birds spend various portions of their life cycle.
Dixon staff worked with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies to locate a site for the new station and chose to repurpose an out-of-service utility pole on a hillside overlooking large pastures.
Researchers and the public alike can learn more about Motus at their website, motus.org
