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.

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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.

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