Marae West will give an update on what bird researchers are learning from the new Motus tower installed at Lea Island north of Wilmington. The structure is part of the effort to track migratory birds on the North Carolina coast. It is a partnership between Cape Fear Audubon, Audubon North Carolina, and UNC Wilmington’s Danner Lab.

Standing 20 feet tall, the rig sports antennae that will pick up radio signals from any bird with a radio tag that flies within nine miles of the island.

“This team effort is helping to better understand how birds move through our coast. It also helps fill in the gaps in a global network of bird data.

“Birds connect our coastal sanctuaries in North Carolina to places across the hemisphere,” said Lindsay Addison, coastal biologist at Audubon NC. “This tower will give us the details, letting us know when a bird that’s traveled from, say, Hudson Bay or South America has stopped over right here on our coast.”