(Toledo, OH) A new study shows how songbird migration to the Great Lakes may save a rare species.
University of Toledo researchers tracked dozens of golden-winged warblers as they migrated from their winter homes in Central and South America to the North Coast of Ohio-- and found deforestation in Venezuela and other locations is reducing the rare species population.
The five-year study showed declining populations of the birds wintered in South America where they may be losing their habitat, while stable groups of golden-winged warblers nested in Central America.
Researchers used light-level geolocators attached the birds about the size of a ping-pong ball and weigh less than three pennies to track their migration.
The species is under consideration for federal Endangered Species protection. But researchers concluded saving that South American forest may be key to saving the bird species.