'Antenna will teach us more about bird migration'

The tracking antenna picked up two jack snipes in Teesside

A new antenna which tracks birds has made its first detection.

Teesside's RSBP Saltholme reserve manager Chris Francis said its Motus antenna, which was installed in May, would help researchers better understand the migratory patterns of the animals.

He said the structure had picked up its first birds - two jack snipes - earlier this month. The pair had had travelled from Sweden, albeit via two different slightly routes, according to the Motus tracking network.

"It just builds up a much clearer picture of what these birds are doing," Mr Francis said.

The Motus system, developed by the non-profit organisation Birds Canada, is an electronic method of tracking birds.

Birds are tagged with trackers which are then picked up by antennas around the world.

European excursion

Unlike analogue ringing methods, the birds do not have to be seen by humans to be tracked

Mr Francis said: "Many of these birds fly at night so you wouldn't see them."

The Saltholme antenna, which was funded by the Teesmouth Bird Club and cost about £5,100, revealed one of the jack snipes had flown from Sweden to Denmark and then to the UK, whereas the other bird had flown from Sweden to Germany before its trip to Teesside.

Mr Francis said: "If they go back to Sweden next year, hopefully they'll trigger another antennae somewhere and that information will get recorded."

He called on more organisations to consider installing the equipment as there were several in the south of England but far fewer in the north.

RSBP Saltholme's antenna is the only one in the North East.

"Had those birds flown five miles further north or south they wouldn't have been detected," he said.