Motus Stations

BCO Supports New Motus Wildlife Tracking Stations

Before his passing, one of Bob’s last projects was helping install one of four Motus Wildlife Tracking Stations in Southern Oregon’s Klamath Basin, in the fall of 2024. In standard fashion, Bob drove through the night to arrive at the refuge and worked tirelessly and in good humor alongside ODFW, USFWS, American Bird Conservancy, and conservation partners.

Motus—a global wildlife tracking network—helps scientists better understand the movements of birds and bats. Better data helps fill in the knowledge gaps for migratory routes, timing, life history, key habitats, and more. Motus stations operate like cell towers, picking up the signals of tagged passing wildlife. A bird or bat (with a radio tag) that flies close enough to a tower can “ping” that Motus station, sending information to the Motus.org website. This gives researchers near-real-time insight on when and where the animal is traveling.

The team put up that first station in 2024, at Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, with Bob’s help. The project’s final three Motus stations were installed this spring on private lands. One is owned by Lakeside Farms, and two are on preserves owned by The Nature Conservancy—Sycan Marsh and the Willimson River Delta. And they’re all working!

From right: The Motus team: Kaly Adkins—ODFW, Ken Popper—Wildlife Biologist consultant, with Bob Sallinger—BCO Founder, and William Blake—American Bird Conservancy and Jen Newlin—science writer consultant at the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in 2024. The team installed Oregon’s 23rd Motus station. Photo from Jen Newlin.

At that original refuge station, one tagged sharp-shinned hawk, a robin, dunlin, white-crowned sparrow, yellow rail and four different Lewis’s woodpeckers have been picked up so far, including one bird tagged as part of an ODFW-sponsored Lewis’s Woodpecker migration study.

“Protecting our birds requires good science,” said Kaitlin Lovell, BCO Board Treasurer. “BCO is thrilled to stay committed to Bob’s vision for Motus work and to help grow Oregon’s knowledge of birds and bats that are using the Klamath basin.”

All four of the new Motus stations, combined, detected 65 animals passing by: 22 individuals representing 12 bird species and 1 bat.

What’s passed by the new stations?

Motus Klamath Basin Wetland Project station detections, at a glance:

Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge station:
- American Robin, Dunlin, Lewis’s Woodpecker (4), Sharp-shinned Hawk, White-crowned Sparrow, Yellow Rail

Lakeside Farms station:
- American White Pelican, Hoary Bat, Lewis’s Woodpecker, White-crowned Sparrow.

Sycan Marsh station:
- American Kestrel, Wilson’s Phalarope

Williamson River Delta station:
- American White Pelican, Dunlin (3), Hoary Bat (2), Lewis’s Woodpecker, Long-billed Dowitcher, Swainson’s Thrush

The Motus Wildlife Tracking Station Bob helped install at the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in 2024. Photo by Jen Newlin.

Some long-distance bird travelers came by the new stations. The longest known distance traveled, so far, to Klamath Basin from the South, was by a Wilson’s phalarope. It traveled over 2,800 km from Texas (Gulf Coast on the border with Mexico) to the Sycan Marsh station. The longest distance traveled to Klamath Basin from the north, over 2,500 km from Alaska (west of Prince William Sound) was from three different dunlins (pinging the Williamson River Delta Station and the Klamath Marsh station) and a long-billed dowitcher (passing by the Williamson River Delta).

From left: Bob Sallinger, Kaly Adkins from ODFW, William Blake with American Bird Conservancy and Ken Popper, a wildlife biologist consultant, officially deploy the new Motus station at Klamath Marsh, in September 2024. Photo by Jen Newlin.

Bob Sallinger helped construct the antennas for a new Motus wildlife tracking station, in 2024, alongside Kaly Adkins from ODFW, Ken Popper, a wildlife biologist consultant, and volunteers from Oregon’s Midstate Electric Cooperative. Photo by Jen Newlin.

“With the data already gathered from Motus, we are learning fascinating new information regarding bird migration,” said Katy Weil, a BCO board member. “For example, two years ago, we learned that one American Robin had traveled from Vancouver, Canada, to the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge and then on to the San Francisco Bay area. Other species migration patterns have revealed previously unsuspected route deviations. If we know when and where they are traveling, we are a step ahead in planning conservation actions. Also, Motus station installation and bird tagging are more affordable and less impactful on smaller bird species than older telemetry methodologies.”

Ken Popper, wildlife biologist and a lead on this project, who had worked with and known Bob for over 30 years, said he was proud to complete the final three stations this spring, in Bob’s honor.

American Bird Conservancy Mentions Our Project:

See the new Motus story featured in the ABC’s fall 2025 magazine.

Project partners include Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bird Conservation Oregon, American Bird Conservancy, Lakeside Farms, US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, Klamath Tribes, Bureau of Land Management, NRCS, Greenfield-Hartline Habitat Conservation Fund, Midstate Electric Cooperative, contractor and wildlife biologist Ken Popper and volunteers. BCO is the project’s fiscal sponsor.

Motus website map showing the migratory routes of (tagged) animals visiting the four new Motus stations, in 2025.
Check it out here.