Satellite tracking update 1/06/2020

June 01, 2020

Unfortunately we have had no further transmissions from our PNG snipe 59 since May 10. The transmitter program shifted to 1 fix every 4 days on May 6, meaning that data downloads are received every 12 days. It is possible that the bird was on the move when the transmitter was trying to get a GPS fix and it has failed. However, it is also possible that something has happened to the bird and / or the tag. We will keeping checking the Argos system regularly to see if our bird has re-appeared.

On a brighter note, one of our colleagues at ANU has dug up their recent field guides to birds of PNG, and it seems that latham’s snipe are listed as vagrants with the known distribution not encompassing the regions our birds have migrated through. So our project has revealed some new and exciting results for the species in PNG.