August 2025

A male nighthawk equiped with nanotag #58158 on July 31, 2024 in remote Northwestern Maine just east of Beaver Pond (T12 R17 WELS) has been detected by MNHO’s Hollis receiver station. After a successful migration to and from his non-breeding grounds, this bird was tracked to his roost site in a cedar swamp and recaptured by project staff on July 13, 2025. He was then detected by our new Killick Pond Motus receiver station in Hollis, Maine on August 23, 2025 en route to his non-breeding grounds in South America.  In ideal conditions, a tagged bird needs to be within 12 miles of a receiver station to be detected.

This piece of data gathered from the new Killick Pond receiver station underscores the value of our Motus receiver stations for, not only capturing valuable data on tagged birds throughout the breeding season, but also providing key insights during migratory movements during the non-breeding period. 

Thank you to everyone who helped us fund the Killick Pond, Hollis station last fall! This data is just the beginning of the valuable insights we’ll be getting from this station about nightjar migration pathways and movements during the breeding season.

Follow this nighthawk’s journey at: www.motus.org/dashboard/#e=profile&d=animals&s=58158