PearlMS, tagged by Dr.
Jennifer Coulson in 2011 near the East
Pearl River in Mississippi, spent most of the 2015 North American breeding
season in his previous nesting neighborhood along the West Hobolochitto River
near Picaynue, Mississippi. It is not always easy to determine whether a male
is nesting, though on several occasions, data showed PearlMS roosting during
the day in one particular location – a behavioral pattern that suggests incubation
shifts. Jennifer and her husband, Tom,
searched the daytime roost locations, wading through the dark water and mud
typical of this lowland forest habitat. They did not find a nest, “only lots of
mosquitoes,” and concluded that 2015 was not a breeding year for PearlMS.
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| Southbound migration and last known location of PearlMS |
PearlMS left his summer
range on 12 August 2015, taking the western circum-Gulf route as opposed to the
trans-Gulf route. At the end of the first day, he overnighted at a roost along
the Atchafalaya River, then continued overland through Texas and Mexico, keeping
within eyesight of the coast except when crossing the Texas/Mexico border,
where he flew 80 miles inland around Reynosa.
On 22 August he passed near the famous River of Raptors migration station
near Veracruz, Mexico, but was probably a little too far west to be among the counted! He followed the contours of Central America
and in mid-September reached the lush Pacific forests of the western Colombian
Andes. PearlMS moved southwest along the range and slowed some, gaining energy required
to traverse the high mountain peaks. Having crossed safely, he spent a few days
along the Caqueta River in Colombia, then continued through northeastern Peru into
the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Here, where
forested rivers provide ample food for migrating kites, PearlMS slowed again to
take advantage of the abundant prey.
On 13 October 2015, only
days from reaching his wintering grounds in southern Rondônia, Brazil, PearlMS’s
transmitter went quiet. Unfortunately, the most likely explanation is that he
is dead. Dr. Coulson has engaged the help of local scientists, hoping they can
access the location of the bird’s last signal to look for any evidence. His
last transmission came from a remote area of mixed forest and pasture within a
very large farm near a dam, the Saldanha Small Hydroelectric Project on the
Saldanha River in the municipality of Alta Floresta D’Oeste in Rondônia, Brazil.
Although the biologists have not yet gained access to the area, they intend to
persist, hopeful they may find some useful clues.
