Electronic Tracking Follows Epic Migration of Osprey

By Tom Pelton

Published March 25, 2014 at 3:01 PM EDT

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is using tiny cell-phone like devices in backpacks on osprey to follow the migration of the fish hawks from South America to North America.

Osprey populations have multiplied in the Chesapeake Bay since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the insecticide DDT in 1972. But the birds still face threats during their long migrations -- including oil spills in Venezuela, and being shot by hunters on islands in the Caribbean. Wildlife enthusiasts who want to follow the daily adventures of three osprey -- nicknamed Woody, Tango, and Nick -- can watch their movements online at www.cbf.org/ospreymap.

Photo by John Rodenhausen/CBF

Tags

The Environment in Focus The Environment in Focus

Tom Pelton

Tom Pelton, a national award-winning environmental journalist, has hosted "The Environment in Focus" since 2007. He also works as director of communications for the Environmental Integrity Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to holding polluters and governments accountable to protect public health. From 1997 until 2008, he was a journalist for The Baltimore Sun, where he was twice named one of the best environmental reporters in America by the Society of Environmental Journalists.

See stories by Tom Pelton