About the Project
To enhance our understanding of how Ibis are using urban areas, we launched the next phase of the White Ibis Project in October 2015 to directly compare the movements, diets, and health of ibis using both urban and wetland resources. To do so, we continue to capture birds in select urban areas and wetland sites that commonly host Ibis flocks in south Florida. All birds captured are equipped with a single leg band that tells us in which season it was initially captured and in which location type (urban or wetland). You may be able to see a number on the band that identifies the individual bird if you can get close or use binoculars.
Additionally, some birds are selected to receive a GPS transmitter similar to the radio transmitters used in the previous phase of our project. We only select the largest birds to wear a transmitter and harness system to ensure the bird will be minimally impacted. The GPS transmitters communicate with satellites to collect its location every 2 hours and submit location information to us via cellular networks. This is the first time GPS transmitters are used on ibises and the data we acquire through this technology is very important, as we will be better able to track ibis across large areas to better understand what types of resources they are using and how much they are moving throughout the year.
GPS Transmitter Project
Though the GPS transmitters are able to tell us where a bird is every 2 hours, we do not get real time data and often experience lags in the receipt of data when birds are outside of cellular network coverage. Therefore, your observations are very valuable to us as we continue to monitor these birds! Please visit the “Report a Sighting” page to learn how to submit a sighting to us.
Our Capture Sites | urban areas
Pelican Lake/Kagan Park
Juno Beach, FL
Total Captured: 24
3 GPS Tagged
Indian Creek Park
Jupiter, FL
Total Captured: 48
3 GPS Tagged
Pelican Lake/Kagan Park
Juno Beach, FL
Total Captured: 15
3 GPS Tagged
Solid Waste Authority
West Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 36
3 GPS Tagged
Dreher Park
West Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 45
3 GPS Tagged
Lion Country Safari
Loxahatchee, FL
Total Captured: 28
5 GPS Tagged
Gaines Park
West Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 36
3 GPS Tagged
DuBois Park
Jupiter, FL
Total Captured: 11
3 GPS Tagged
Wakodahatchee Wetlands
Delray Beach, FL
Total Captured: 44
4 GPS Tagged
Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge
(Visitor Center Area)
Boynton Beach, FL
Total Captured: 9
2 GPS Tagged
Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge
(North East Area)
Boynton Beach, FL
Total Captured: 17
6 GPS Tagged
J.W. Corbett Wildlife
Management Area
West Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 11
1 GPS Tagged
Kitching Creek
Hobe Sound, FL
Total Captured: 15
0 GPS Tagged
Loxahatchee Mitigation Bank
Boynton Beach, FL
Total Captured: 12
4 GPS Tagged
Our Capture Sites | wetland areas
Cat Colony Feeding Site
West Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 6
0 GPS Tagged
Busch Wildlife Sanctuary
Jupiter, FL
Total Captured: 1
1 GPS Tagged
CROW Wildlife
Rehabilitation Center
Sanibel, FL
Total Captured: 1
1 GPS Tagged
Fisheating Creek Wildlife
Management Area
Venus, FL
Total Captured: 1
0 GPS Tagged
John Prince Park
Lake Worth, FL
Total Captured: 16
1 GPS Tagged
Loxahatchee Slough
Natural Area
Jupiter, FL
Total Captured: 12
5 GPS Tagged
Palm Beach Zoo
West Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 1
0 GPS Tagged
Royal Palm
Royal Palm Beach, FL
Total Captured: 2
0 GPS Tagged